Every year means every year!

I'm sorry to have been so lazy as not to post any picture from 2015..! I promise i'm still at it. And like most of you, I find it so very hard to keep the blasted extra weight off. ugh!! Hope everyone is doing well, exercising daily and making pretty good food choices most of the time. I wish you all the best! Look for a Wedding Gown Challenge pic August 2016. xo,  MeMe

Okay, so this wasn't easy this time. I really can't put on another ounce if I expect to get the zipper up next year. I've had to watch my weight since I was about 12. And I see no signs that it will get easier. I run daily, eat right, and also eat oh so wrong..! I better cut back on that last category. Hope whatever you tried on today still fits. And if not, let's go for next year..! All my best,  MeMe

Wedding Gown Challenge - Here it comes again!!

Yep, the first Friday of August, every year. I pull out my wedding gown and enjoy the fact that it still fits. Of course it fits. I was a healthy weight 16 years ago when I got married, and it's been up to me to maintain that healthy weight. And btw, I think it's really hard. If I ate and exercised based on my impulses, I'd have that "obesity disease" too..!! Hope you're doing great and doing what it takes to keep yourself healthy, no matter how hard that may be. 

Yes, I will put my wedding gown on this Friday, just like every year. And yes, it will fit..! I run daily, watch what I eat, and refuse to become overweight or obese. Period. Happy Wedding Gown Challenge..!

Yep, it fit..!

I pulled it out and put it on, and yep, it fit..! Of course it fit. I was a healthy weight in 1997... Why wouldn't I still be..?? Two kids, slowing metabolism, "fat genes"..?

Oh hell no!! No excuses.

Happy Wedding Gown Challenge 2010 - Get it out and get it on, Ba-bee..!!

Look, you go into adulthood at a healthy weight and then you maintain that healthy weight. Period.

This little Wedding Gown Challenge isn't about the gown or marriage even. Feel free to find your own symbol or item that fits throughout adulthood. For me, it's been my Wedding Gown year after year.

I'd never use my marriage or my children or this obesogenic American junk food culture as an excuse to forfeit my health. I eat within my means, exercise daily, and exercise enough that I even have room for plenty of tasty indulgences..! Each of us has to figure out our own rhythm, nourishment needs of our body and exact food choices, but we also must take responsibility for our weight and our health.

And please don't email me about exceptions. If you have Prader-Willi or Pica or are on Prednisone, I'm not talking about you... And certainly not if you're suffering from Cushing's Syndrome either. And for those struggling below the poverty line, there are special circumstances at play and special programs necessary.

I'm talking to the 85+% of us who have what it takes to eat right and exercise daily.

Happy Wedding Gown Challenge..! I took fun professional photos in my gown, but my favorite is this snapshot just afterward in the elevator with my precious daughter...

Notes:
Great article from Abby Ellin of the New York Times re: post-nuptial weight gain...
Great study reinforcing the fact that maintaining healthy weight (no more than 9lb weight gain for women after age 18) gives you much better odds of healthy aging...

Go, MeMe Roth, Go..! I Support Your Efforts..!

Go, MeMe Roth, Go..! I Support Your Efforts..!