Welcome to the official kickoff of the Just Bee 'n Me 50 by Fifty Challenge! A few weeks ago as my 49th birthday was approaching I had an idea...what if I used my blog to chronicle a personal year-long 50 pound weight loss challenge that would culminate on my 50th birthday in 2011...? After thinking about it and praying about it, I decided to take the plunge and go public with my weight loss journey. I started something called "Weigh in Wednesday" way back in 2005 when I started my blog, but the effort fell apart during that very difficult/divorce year and I dropped it. So, here I am again...ready and willing to share this new adventure with you!

I have much more to lose than 50 lbs., to be sure, but I know from MANY years of losing and re-gaining weight that it is best to stick to realistic, attainable and maintainable goals. SO...one pound a week for a year...can I do it? On my own steam and with my own "will power"...not likely if history repeats itself, but with the Lord's help and guidance, you bet!!

To keep this real and to provide a proper record of the journey, I will be posting a weight loss ticker at the top of my posts, which I will update weekly after I weigh on Fridays (to be known here as '50 by Fifty Friday"). In addition, my hubby took a full length "Before" photo of me at my birthday party on Saturday and I'm sharing it here. I'm hoping that the follow-up "After" photo a year from now will show a 50 (or more?) pounds lighter me. (I may also share some in-progress photos along the way as appropriate)...

In addition to sharing my progress, I plan to share some highs and lows, challenges and victories, and lessons learned from my weight loss experience which I hope will be a help and encouragement to anyone who may be on or who is contemplating being on their own weight loss journey. I will be using the Weight Watcher's points plan as my "diet" (lifestyle change) as I have LOTS of materials, booklets, etc from them from the MANY years of on-and-off participation in their program. As a money saving step, I will not be joining and attending a weekly meeting, but instead will make my "50 by Fifty Friday" posts my "meeting" with all of you, my new accountability partners...

So, here goes! I would appreciate your prayers dear friends as I know they will play a key role in my success. Also, I'm not asking anyone to share this on their blog like we sometimes do for giveaways (although you can), but I would LOVE it if you would become a Just Bee 'n Me "follower" if you aren't already, and also please add Just Bee 'n Me to your blogroll pretty please so more people will hopefully make it by here and be encouraged...  I'm also working on a Just Bee 'n Me banner for posting on your sidebar if you so desire...I hope to have it ready by next week. THANK YOU in advance for sharing this journey with me!!!