... but, when I was born, my parents had a deal --  Mom got to name all the boys and Dad got to name all the girls.  Mom really wanted to call me Valerie, and I think I would have made an okay Valerie.  Dad was enamored of a popular country/pop singer, tiny woman with red hair and a big voice.... you guessed it!  I was named for Brenda Lee!

It took me a while, but I grew into the name.  It fits with my Celtic ancestry.  Brenda means 'firebrand' and 'dark-haired' and 'raven's wing'.  It fits.

Brenda Sinclair Sutton

The Diet

Anyone who has been following my Live Journal knows that there used to be a lot more of me.  This summer I caught a glimpse of someone in the security camera screen at the bank and thought, "Who is that large, dumpy, sad creature?  Then I realized.... it was me.

I was wearing size 16 clothes then... but they were tight, and I topped out at 183 pounds.  That's the most I've ever weighed and not been pregnant!  So I began a concentrated assault on the unnecessary parts using the Zone Diet (40% carbs, 30% proteins, 30% fats) in balanced meals with two snacks and a lot of water.

Now it's the winter of 2002, six months and forty pounds lighter, I am throwing away the Lane Bryant catalogs and shoppin' for new clothes!  It feels so good to get my body back, to have energy, to not get winded just trying to walk up the stairs.  Still got about 15 more pounds to go, but I can do it.  Just today I had to punch another hole in my belt to get it to fit.  I'm nearly a size 10!  Yeeeehaw!