Introduction - M

Hi, I'm Michelle. I'm a 21-year old college student who is deciding, for the last time, to get in shape and lose weight. I've struggled with my weight for pretty much my entire life and I am the textbook definition of a "yo-yo dieter." Over the past several years, especially since starting college, my weight has been steadily climbing. And climbing, and climbing, and climbing...

I'm not looking at this as a diet. A diet, to me, implies that it's something temporary. I don't want to eat healthy and exercise and lose a ton of weight, just to gain it right back (which is what I've always done). I want to learn healthy habits so I can remain at a healthy weight for the rest of my life. I'm tired of being ashamed of the way that I look. I'm tired of being embarrassed at how little physical activity I am able to do. I'm tired of not being able to find cute clothes that fit me and look good on me. I'm tired of cringing whenever I see pictures of myself. I'm tired of vowing to myself that I'll eat healthy, and then turning around and eating the exact opposite.

I'm excited to start this project with my sister. I know that nobody will probably ever read this, so this is basically just between us. It's nice to have an accountability partner. I think that knowing I have to post my weight and how I've been doing every week will keep me on track. I've always dieted alone in the past, and since there was never anybody or anything to help keep me on focused, I lost my motivation really quickly.

I don't have a set plan right now. I just joined a gym and my goal is to exercise 30 minutes 5-6 days a week. Right now I'm really out of shape, so I'm trying to start slow and slowly build up to doing 60 minutes of cardio + strength training. I'm not going to be counting out my calories exactly, but I will be watching what I eat, cutting out unnecessary snacking, and trying to eat more natural foods versus packaged foods. I am also trying to learn how to cook and will hopefully begin making more and more of my own meals so that I'll know exactly what ingredients are going into my meals.

I weighed in this morning:

233 pounds is the most I've ever weighed. I'm trying hard to not let it get me down because this is just a starting point. I'm 5'10 and my weight puts me into the "obese" category, which is really scary. Like Lynn said, one of my main goals right now is to be considered "overweight" and not "obese."

To close, here are some "before" pictures.