So just what, you may ask, is the plan?

Actually, the plan is what it always was. Weight Watchers for food control, Buff Brides for strength training, yoga and pilates for flexibility, and walking and rowing for cardio. This plan can work and it can work for life. When I followed it I felt good, I lost weight, I got stronger and more flexible, and it was never that hard.

Of course, there is one big flaw in all of this. The plan failed. So why am I keeping it? As I said above, it works. My motivation, my willpower, my desire to change, and my incentives were the problem. Yes, those are pretty big things. But this time I'm trying to keep it simpler. I'm not making vows to lose 2 pounds a week or to blog every day. I'm not going to obsess about things because that just sends me running to the cookie jar.

Mellow. That is my new buzzword. Calm. Sensible. One thing at a time. Hence, the ten goals at the sidebar. For now, I ignore goals two through nine. Right now I am all about goal number 1 - losing 10 pounds. That's it.

But I wouldn't be me without a few rules for just how I am going to lose those those pounds. And so, for the next ten weeks:

• I will go to weekly meetings.
• I will stick to my daily and weekly point allotments, planning and shopping in advance.
• I will record everything I eat and drink.
• I will be active. I will walk at least 40,000 steps a week. I will row for at least 30 minutes a week. I will strength train at least twice a week. I will do yoga or pilates at least once a week.

Further incentive: enter stickk.com and the anti-charity. I don't actually plan to contract through stickk since it does not provide a way to rewrite the terms to my specifications and that makes my little legal mind cringe. However, I adore the concept and so I have come to an agreement with D. I lose ten pounds in the next ten weeks or I send $100.00 to Mike Huckabee's campaign. If he is out, the $100.00 goes to the Institute for Creation Research. If I get my ten pound star within the ten week period, the $100.00 goes into my reward fund and I move on to goal number two.

Disclaimer: I will defend to the death anyone's right to support Mike Huckabee and the creationists. The first paragraph of my personal creed requires me to respect the opinions and beliefs of others. I am truly sorry if I have offended anyone by using a contribution to his campain as an incentive to stick to my plan. However, I am a raving liberal and as such, regardless of how much I admire Huckabee's commitment to health and weight loss, I am more likely to turn into Britney Spears than I am to support a Huckabee presidency.

So that, in a nutshell, is the plan for the first ten pounds. Tomorrow night I go to my meeting and find out where I start. But the points counting starts with breakfast!