WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY: I'm finally ready to focus on me

This is "Cherrylicious," one of my homemade creations that I feature in the upcoming cookbook.

(www.FatGirlLovesCake.com) - For the past two and a half years, I'm been living in daily crisis. First, my little one and I survived domestic violence only to be revictimized by family court by a false allegation made by a disgruntled person I was having the domestic violence issue with. Then we survived Hurricane Sandy and a few weeks later my mother died.

I was so busy fighting to save my child, I had no time to process anything else. Thank goodness for good friends and blogging. It really helped to write it out and my amazing support system was there for me in the darkest of hours.

Now, I'm fighting to get us out of crisis living and be reunited. Thankfully, I'm not alone in that fight either as strangers around the world are joining me in the fight to save my child. But recently, I had the chance to look in the mirror and at photos I've taken along the journey to freedom. I hardly recognized myself. The final push came from covering Curvy Con, a new community event that help plus size bloggers, women and those who love them build body positivity.

Now that I've finished testing recipes for the cookbook I'm writing for my child that's full of amazing recipes that my mother taught me, I figure this is just as good a time as any to work on me. To clarify, I'm not really trying to lose weight (although I need to lose about 60 pounds.) I'm trying to be healthier. I have no intention of giving up bread permanently, although I may give it up for a few weeks. I have intention of never swirling my fork around fettucine alfredo before stabbing a piece of grilled chicken and hoisting it in my mouth. It ain't gonna happen.

So what I am doing is acknowleding that I've let myself go. I've forgotten that if I'm not around no one will be fighting for my child so this is really about saving my child, more than improving my waist line. By default, I'm going to lose weight. My arms will flap less. My belly will no longer sit on my thighs. I'll lose the second chin but it's what I'm gaining that I'm focused on. I'm at war to save my child so in order to fight that war and win, I need to be as strong as I can.

I plan to post photos, tips and videos. I'll even go LIVE a few times but for the  most part you'll read about my journey here on my blog, FatGirlLovesCake.com and on Twitter at @FatGirLoveCake.

I'm also launching C.A.K.E. Magazine which will focus on when fashion meets food. It will feature beautiful, real women, amazing bloggers and gorgeous clothing. There's a freebie food coupon in each edition because I adore food way more than I like clothing.

So I hope you'll join me on my weight loss journey to gain our freedom!