Summertime.

While I'm not a fan of the super hot, humid weather we get in my little corner of the world, summer has always been a time that weight loss comes into full focus. I'm not sure it its becuase the sun washes away by S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder -- my favorite abbreivation for a psycholocial disorder, by the way) or that seeing skinny girls in tank tops and short shorts brings out the jealousy in me.

What every it is, a walk on a sunny evening really serves to improve my spirits and all that sunshine makes it easy to be outside. In the past, summer has been one of my greatest weight loss periods. I rememeber one summer I rollerbladed four miles a day. My mom says I had never looked better.

Now that Mom is home, we'll be embarking on this journey together -- motivating each other and being workout buddies. They'll be salads and shopping trips, exercise and talk therapy. Hopefully this summer we'll be able to see each other reshape our figures and get healthier.

To help us on this road, I got the Wii fitness game -- EA Sports Active. It's an innovative game that includes a resistance band and a leg strap so the game can include weight training. You can use it with one person or two and with or without the balance board. I've played a couple of times and am finding somethings I really like (boxing that includes kicks) and somethings I don't (darn those squats!), so I think it will be a great addition to my exercise routine.

Self Esteem Boost

For many of us constant-dieters, our self esteem is tied to the number on the scale or the one in our pants. So, I'm often looking little ways to boost my self esteem -- buying a cute top that accentuates all the right places or a great pair of heels.

Another great place to get an instant boost is at the hair dresser's! Last Saturday, I went over to my old hairstylist -- Candi -- to get my style on. As I usually do, flipped through the books and found three styles that appealed to me. My hair is thin and doesn't always do what I want it to, so I trust her instinct about what styles will take. I also gave her cart-blanche on my hair color, just suggesting that I like auburn and blonde.

So off came my glasses, and four hours and whole lotta trust later, I have a beautiful new cut and color. As usual, she did a great job! I've got three colors -- Blonde, Red and Chocolate Brown, a chin lenght cut and some sassy bangs.

And even better, all week, I've been getting compliment after compliment on my new look. It sure feels good!

If the shoe fits.

In the last few weeks, I've had to explain my blog name to a few people. I realized that its a whole lot easier to explain to women than men. For men, I've had to tie it back to the movie, "In Her Shoes," and the quote in the header.

Women, on the other had, seem to have a better understanding of the tie into weight loss. Then, today, I received a tweet from my friend Julie who said she thought she finally understood the meaning, and my friend Kristen wrote this great post about shoes!

So, I thought I would write more about why I gave my blog this name. I've always been a shoe kinda girl. I even worked at three shoes stores during my days in retail. Now, I'm not sure I made any money -- I think I probably spent at least what I made! And, I've always been heavier than my friends so when we go shopping, they want to hit stores that don't sell my size -- so I always go straight for the shoes.

That is one thing I love about shoes -- no matter what I weigh, I'm always a 8 1/2. When I gain or lose, I can always wear the shoes in my closet. And, I can get shoes any where, even a store that doesn't carry my clothing size.

I love the way a great pair of heels makes me feel too!