That's Fit

Welcome to the Good, the Fat and the Hungry. I'm Karla and I have been -- or am -- all those things. Here, I will share with you my lifelong struggle with my weight and I hope you'll follow along on with my determined attempt to lose nearly 40 pounds. I promise to tell you every win and setback along the way every Tuesday and Friday.

Sex and the City was one of my favorite shows. I used to watch the show and wow over the lives these savvy women were living in the Big Apple. They shopped, they partied, they were true girlfriends and life was good. My 400-pound frame would lie in my bed in North Carolina and eat cookies or ice cream and wish that my life was like theirs -- fit, fun and fabulous!

Who knew that five years and 218 pounds later that the same life I wished for would be mine. I now live in New York City, enjoy Sunday brunches at outdoor cafe's in SoHo with my own circle of girl/guy/gayfriends, hop cabs from one club to the next and meet for fancy dinners monthly. We bike ride through Prospect Park and watch movies under the stars at Bryant Park. We enjoy Broadway shows and are blessed to experience every aspect of New York City living. But wait, that only covers the city, now for the sex.

At my former weight, sex was good. As an overweight lover, I can admit I had limitations. I had come to accept that there would be no hanging from chandeliers without subsequent ceiling repairs, so I passed on the extras. Turning off the lights was not enough darkness for me to get naked. I needed a total city blackout! No matter how many years I had a partner, I was too insecure to show myself completely naked. Over the years, it almost became game-like in the creative ways I would avoid exposure. My over-sized body had one partner officially dub me, "Queen of the Quickie."

At my current weight and with THESE hips, I have to resist the urge to run thru Brooklyn naked! Now that I've lost the weight, no chandelier is safe. Though currently celibate, I HAD to take the new body around the block a few times before I jumped back on the wagon. And if I may say so myself, the new body works just fine, matter of fact, it works BETTER. I can do things I never imagined.

Being a contortionist in bed was never my aim and in no way was it even a thought when I decided to lose weight. I wanted to walk a flight of stairs without needing oxygen at the top. I no longer wanted to be the one who entered the room where folks averted their gazes to avoid eye contact. I wanted freedom to live. As for the sex, let's just call my new-found flexibility a pleasant surprise. A better body makes everything better.