What I've learned: my views on diet and exercise

I have a problem.
It's a good problem to have...it's just not a good time for the problem.
My clothes are too big. Ok not TOO big but bigger than I like them to be. My dress pants are all big on me and several sweaters and shirts are bigger. Now of course I love that these clothes are bigger but the problem is it's getting annoying wearing pants that are baggy. I hate baggy clothes. It's almost as bad as wearing clothes that are too tight.
Now the problem: I have no money to buy any new clothes. And I'm still not crazy about buying new clothes when I really hope that I can continue to get smaller. However, right now it's about the furthest thing from my mind so I may just have to go buy some fairly cheap clothes like at Target or something to hold me over. I've got too much other crap on my mind to worry too much about losing weight. I still try to a certain extent but it's not at the forefront of my mind right now. If I decide I want a dr. pepper, damn it, I'm drinking a dr. pepper.
Which leads me to think about one of the things I've learned from all this stuff in the last few months..what I want, what I don't want, etc.
What I've learned about myself (and other stuff that I thought before just reaffirming it):
1) I refuse to be obsessed with losing weight. It's not worth it just to lose weight. I want to be concerned with being healthy but not to the point that I won't eat ice cream (and other treats).
2) I want to love myself just as I am right now. I am far from being fat. I am absolutely beautiful just the way I am right now. And if another guy comes along, he's got to know that. He can't say he thinks I'm beautiful the way I am but at the same time elude to the fact that if I were smaller he'd like me even better. It doesn't work that way.
3) I will not let anyone make me feel badly (including myself) that I am not skinny. Or make me feel bad if there is a period of time when I decide I'd rather drink soda than water, or watch a movie rather than go for a walk or something. I'm working against a lifetime of a love of junk-food and a family history of being overweight. It's hard to change and I know it's not going to happen immediately.
4) If I actually do get married and have a family I want us to be balanced. I want us to be able to enjoy well-balanced, healthy, fresh meals along with not so healthy foods sometimes and still enjoy a few cookies, some ice cream and birthday cakes ;-) In other words I don't want to be a complete health nut. That's just not me. I will never be "granola." I will always think of chicken and pesto pizza as being absolutely wonderful, along with chocolate fudge brownie ice cream.
5) Also if I ever have a family, my kids will never hear me talk negatively about my body. And I think this is just as important for boys as it is girls. I will also never criticize my child's size. I will do what I can to make sure they are as healthy and active as possible. Given my family history there is definitely the possibility that my kids could struggle with their weight but I don't want them to think that makes them less than absolutely wonderful.
6) I don't like traditional exercising like videos and treadmills (although sometimes I can make myself do those things). Exercise in and of itself sucks. It's boring. I like exercising when it doesn't feel like exercising. Going on walks on a gorgeous day (snow included), hiking (well when I was somewhere with kick-ass hiking trails), rock-climbing, tennis, swimming, dancing. . .stuff like that. I also like doing these things with another person especially the climbing and tennis cause you need another person to do it with you.
And finally. . .the getting healthier and everything is something I will only do for MYSELF and no one else.

Ok so that is part one of the what I've learned series.