Introducing the Diminishing Duchess

Welcome to the world of the Diminishing Duchess.  I (the Duchess) am a 28-year old grad student living with my wonderful husband and daughter in Swamptown while I attend Swampville University.  I'm turning 29 soon, and this year will be the year that I lose weight.  Like so many other weight loss bloggers I've been here before, only to fail a week or a month down the line.  This time I'm all in.  Grad student stipends do leave something to be desired but we have invested what we have in my health and this journey.  In the last month, I have purchased, acquired, or arranged to acquire:

• A digital scale
• A 12-month subscription to Weight Watchers online
• A paid-in-advance entry into The Diet Bet's new 6-month "Transformer" bet to lose 10% of my body weight by June.
• A Nordictrack C700 treadmill:
• An awesome beach cruiser bicycle, as well as bikes for my husband and daughter
• High quality running shoes
• A bento box
• A Fitbit Force
• A Weight Watchers Active Link
• A bead-style charm bracelet, for which I will get a new bead for every 5 pounds I lose
• An excel spreadsheet with the date of every Sunday from now until July 2016 written down, and my projected weight at each week (assuming a loss of 1.5 lbs per week), as well as space to record my actual weight against those projections

Some of these (the Force, the bike, and the bracelet) are gifts from my wonderful parents, who are also invested in helping me on this journey.  In addition, I already own an awesome Nordictrack recumbent stationary bicycle, and this week my husband and I are converting our spare room into a little mini-gym with the bike, treadmill, and maybe a tv with a satellite hook-up.  He has committed to working out with me in the mornings before our daughter wakes up.

On Sunday I will do my first official weigh-in for the Diet Bet.  Those pictures will (gulp!) be placed online here for the world to see so that my journey can be tracked from beginning to goal.

Things you can look forward to here:

• An honest, maybe even personally embarrassing account of my journey, from food cravings to skin elasticity issues
• A review of any awesome recipes I find, and maybe even pictures if I manage to cook them without setting fire to the kitchen (something that has happened to me before.  Multiple times.)
• Tips and tricks about dieting, fitness, and lifestyle change, as well as an accounting of the emotional and relationship changes that occur when your body is transformed
• Probably some funny stories about my hilarious daughter and my great husband

So check back Sunday for the official beginning of my journey, completely with guaranteed-to-be-unflattering photos.  Stay tuned as I change my life over the next few years, and maybe come with me for the ride.