Ok The Doctor Says I'm Fat...Now What???

I am a 37 year old, 5'10" black female who has always taken great pride in her appearance and being able to eat whatever I wanted without really putting on any major pounds.  However, nine and a half months after giving birth to my 2nd child I recently had the dreaded "if you would just lose 20 pounds..." conversation with my doctor that I swore would NEVER happen to me!  The craziest part of it all is I didn't gain the weight while I was pregnant but I gained it in the time AFTER giving birth.  WTH...who does that????  I am SOOOO angry at myself for allowing my weight to get out of control!  Today is the day I gain control again!  I am always tired and something "ails" me all the time (headaches, stomaches, acid reflux, severe swelling in my feet, ankles, & legs, etc).  It's time to make a change because my husband and children deserve to have a healthier version of me.  To keep myself motivated and accountable I have decided to share my journey with all of cyberspace.  I hope that through this process I will be inspired and can inspire others.  

So the doctor says I'm fat so now what do I do?  I guess my first task will be to face the music and take my measurements and document them here.  My doctor already told me no weight training...straight CARDIO...so that pretty much answers the question of what type of exercise I should do.  I've been dibbling and dabbling with the Couch to 5K Running Plan (http://www.c25k.com/) so I think I'm going to stick with that but work to become more consistent.  The final and probably the most challenging for me will be to come up with a nutritional plan.  I thought about doing Weight Watchers but I don't want something that has a financial obligation tied to it because I know me and it will just lead to me making excuses and throwing money away.  I'm going to try portion control and surf the Net to find some eating plans that are realistic for me.  One thing I know that's going to be key is WATER, WATER, WATER!!!! 


Signing off for the evening to take measurements and peruse the World Wide Web for some advice regarding diet.  I look forward to the outcome of being back to my old energetic and slender self but the thing I look forward to the most is the journey and those that I'll meet along the way and bring with me over the finish line!  Let's go! :-)