The ONE HOT MAMA Club starts TODAY...

WOW! There are a lot of you who are interested in losing weight and for a whole plethora of reasons. Many of you commented that you have tried every diet on the planet...The Grapefruit Diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, The Curl-up-in-the-fetal-position-and-cry-because-you-are-fat Diet. Many of those, with the exception of the last one, will help you shed the pounds you wanted to get rid of for a class reunion (eh-hem), a wedding, after a baby, etc. But how many of us put it all RIGHT BACK ON when that event is over? ME! ME! ME! And apparently, YOU! YOU! YOU!

So, for those of you just joining us - go back to the first OHM! post and catch yourself up, it's not too late to start!

For those of you who started with us last week, you now have a better idea of how many calories you WERE eating and how many you SHOULD be eating to reach your goal weigh before the year 3000! So, TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! My dad used to say that in the morning as he was dragging me out of bed for the bus and it used to get on my nerves...but low and behold, it's one more think that your parents say that one day makes a whole lot of sense.

So, your assignment for this week is as follows:

1. Post your findings, "a-ha" moments, your gripes and any weight loss or gain in the comments section below (ANYONE can do this, even if you didn't "sign up" on the last OHM! post)

2. Stick to the calorie level you chose after reading the first OHM! post the whole week. If you know there will be a day that will be next to impossible for you to stay within your calories, cut back on the days leading up to your event or those after the event. Save 50- 100 calories (no more) for a couple days to be able to have a piece of guilt-free birthday cake or a pina colada (or two).

3. WATER! WATER! WATER! I will hound you on this one! You will find, even if you go over your calories one day, water will flush away the "sins" as well as the salt and other toxins that your fat cells (little demons!) want to hold on to.

4. The main thing I want you to think about this week is HOW/WHERE you eat. Do you eat in your car? In front of the TV? While running around the kitchen making lunch for your kids? It is a known fact that if you are not paying attention to your meal, your brain can make you think you are still hungry b/c you didn't FOCUS on the tastes, textures, satisfaction of your food. Did you ever look down at your plate and think, "I don't even remember eating all that! How did that happen?" That is because you can actually fool your brain...those days you will without a doubt OVEReat! We don't want that. So, whatever it takes, make sure you focus on you. Maybe feed the kids, send them outside to play and sit down alone with some soft music and ENJOY your meal. It's not easy to do with kids, but turn off the TV, put the magazines away and enjoy your food. Taste it. Savor it. Your waistline will thank you.

5. Exercise will come in due time. We need to work on some other things before jumping into an all out triathlon training program. But while you are working on starting some new habits you can slip in some exercise you would never realize could add to your weight loss. The following are some fun ways to up the ante: take more trips up and down the stairs while you are cleaning, stand while folding laundry or talking on the phone (or blogging!), use a hand can opener, actually PLAY outside with your kids, walk the dog, jog to answer the phone, park at the far end of the parking lot when you go shopping. What other activities (keep it clean ladies...but, yes! you can do THAT to burn off calories, too!) can you think of that would add extra activity into your days?

Until next week! Keep good records!

Write EVERYTHING down that goes in your mouth! EVERYTHING! You'd be surprised how a bite here and a handful there will add up and completely throw off your day!

Pass this post or a link onto your friends and blog readers! The more the merrier!