I have been contemplating what I am about to write for some time.  By nature, I have always been a fairly private person when it comes to my personal life and although I do share a blog, it is usually about life in general not things that are real personal.

That all changes today as I feel I need to share a struggle that I have been dealing with for many years as I have made a new plan to deal with it.  For those of you who I have met in person know, I have been dealing with weight issues for most of my life.  I have been overweight since I have been five years old.  For many years I have said that I wanted to lose weight and have dreamed of losing weight but I never seem to make it happen.

Five years ago I hit my heaviest when I hit 300 pounds and at that point I knew I needed to make a change.  At that time I tried Nutrisystem and it worked well as with this diet and an exercise program I began, I lost about 50 pounds.  After achieving that goal I attempted to wean myself off of their food and eat "normal" food.  That did not work fully as I began my old bad eating habits.  Somehow I did manage to keep off most of the weight I lost.  In the five years since, I kept saying that I wanted to lose another 50 pounds as 200 pounds would be a more ideal body weight given my height and frame.  About a year and a half ago I began Weight Watchers along with exercise again and I began seeing results again.  I started this after I had undergone a cardiac ablation procedure to correct an irregular heart beat.  This heart condition was not tied to my weight but having a cardiac procedure gave me motivation to want to lose weight again and I was doing good initially with Weight Watchers.  It was not long until my old habits returned and I gained back the weight I lost with Weight Watchers.

I have tried getting back on Weight Watchers several times since but it never seemed to last long.  However, this needs to change as I want to achieve my long term goal which is to be able to wear a size XL shirt or smaller.  A few weeks ago I attended Creation Entertainment's Salute to Supernatural in Chicago and I had my picture taken with Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki.  The picture didn't turn out bad but I kept thinking--wow what would it have been like if I was at my ideal body weight.

I have already signed up for the Chicago convention for October 2011 and purchased my photo op ticket.  Therefore, it is my goal to have this picture taken in a size XL or smaller shirt!  I have decided to share this with everyone because this holds me accountable to keeping with my diet and exercise program.  This past Wednesday I resumed Weight Watchers and today (Sunday) I went to the gym for the first time.  My plan is to post here daily with how my day went with my diet and exercise routine.  On a weekly basis I will also post the number of pounds gained or lost with an updated picture.

So this week is my baseline picture:

Thanks, in advance, for the support and look for an update tomorrow!