Time To Start!

Alrighty then....Day 1 of being more health-conscious. I'm daunted, but determined. Let's start with some vital stats, shall we?

• Height: 5'6
• Weight: 195 (last week when I was at the doctor's office their scale said 189 and I did a mental leap for joy....but since my scale at home is the one I'll be using, I must go with the higher number. Damn.)
• Waist: 44"
• Hips: 46"
• Bust: 46"
• Thigh: 24"
• Arm (bicep): 13"
• Clothing size: pant 18, shirt X-large to 2X depending on style, bra size 42D (I really should swallow my modesty and get measured by a professional, not sure if that's the proper size I should be wearing or not)

So....that's what I'm starting out with. I think I'll do this once a month to see how the numbers change. My ideal weight is 130-140, and ideal clothing size is a 10-12. I wonder how long it'll take to get to these numbers? More importantly, can I stick to this long enough to really make it happen this time?

I've been reading up on insulin resistance, as I believe that's my main culprit to deal with. I'm still fuzzy on the scientific/medical details of how it all works, but this is how I understand it right now: the pancreas makes insulin (a hormone) and it gets delivered to the cells in the body to stabilize blood sugar. But, for whatever reason, the cells don't respond....kind of like if someone knocks on the door but no one answers. So, the pancreas creates more insulin to try and deal with it all, and the end result is that the body is flooded with more insulin than it can deal with. Of course, being overweight and eating bad just exacerbates the problem and makes the cells even more resistant. Carbs turn to sugar in the system when eaten....which the body needs and turns into energy when they're good carbs. But the bad carbs just exacerbate the problem because they just raise the blood sugar levels up requiring more insulin to deal with it all.

Exercising, losing weight and eating healthier will help in multiple areas: it will regulate insulin levels, it will regulate other hormone levels, it will help my body absorb nutrients better and make sure everything is functioning properly. Which in turn will also help (hopefully) reverse the hair loss situation. The problem isn't so much that I'm losing hair, because everyone loses hair. My problem is that the hair that is falling out isn't being replaced by new growth, due to the cells/hair follicles shutting down because they're not getting what they need to function properly.

I've rambled on long enough. Time to get up and get moving!