Operation Shrink Charlie's Big Butt

Dear precious readers-

I started this blog as a joke. Operation Shrink Charlie’s Big Butt was a Facebook status that got shocking laughter after I had lost my first 12 pounds, and was working the diet at 226. (If you do the math, I started at 238.)

After that, the blog simply took on a life of its own.

And so did the diet.

It has been a heavyweight championship fight from the beginning. I have struggled with weight since I was 8 years old, always being too fat for my age/height/life. It took a really bad picture of me on Christmas morning to wake me up and show me the light.

I could do this. I could lose the weight. I just had to make the diet a priority. Which isn’t exactly easy.

Because my life is brimming with good things and distractions.

Like marriage. I happen to be married to a super hot and wonderful fella, Matt, who loves the stuffings out of me.

And the kids. Amy, Natalie, and Tim, who are all 10 and under. Super smart, and it takes a lot of work for Matt and I to stay one step ahead of them.

And my faith. Which should really be top o’ the list for good things, because Jesus has saved my not-so-scrawny neck more than once. And more than twice. It’s impossible to keep score at this point of my life all the miracles He has thrown at me. But He keeps sticking around, so I do too.

And school. I was attending Lincoln Christian University till I couldn’t afford it. But I’ll make it back one of these days.

And my music. I am a self proclaimed song writer. Sure, I can’t play piano worth a crap, but I do it well enough to get the point across, while only slightly embarrassing myself.

And I keep writing on my books. I have one completed manuscript and 3 other books in progress. Including the weight loss book “Dancing from Fat to Freedom.”

So the diet had to become a priority. When this blog started becoming a cult classic (at least in my own mind) I realized that this did something more than tell a funny story about diet and exercising. It brought a community of women together. All of whom are struggling with weight, just like me!

So “About Charlie” really couldn’t have happened without the people “Around Charlie.”

The comments and emails and phone calls are my support system, my life line, and the reason I keep working this diet. I keep counting calories because of you. Because we all need to know that it can happen. That we can conquer the weight.

I’m just the (idiot) lucky duck who is going first!

67 pounds and counting!