Just joined

Hi, my name is Jackie, and today is the first day of the rest of my new HEALTHY life. I'm in my early 30s now, and have struggled with weight most of my life, but I have never been as overweight as I am today. Being thin or having a sexy body doesn't mean much or motivate me, but I would love to get my weight under control to feel healthy, active, and energized again. There's no better time than the present to get started.

My husband, myself, and some friends have challenged ourselves to do a 6 month biggest loser type contest, with the longer term goal of attaining and maintaining a healthy body weight, and more active lifetstyle. I don't really care about winning the contest (although I AM competitive!) so much as having some support to keep me motivated and on track.

I weighed in this morning at 267 lbs :-( but hey it is only a starting point, right? My goal is to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week. My ultimate long term goal would be to get back down in the 160s where I was 10 years ago, but as a shorter term goal, I'm going to try and drop 45 lbs during our six month challenge.

Our biggest roadblock will be our love of food and wine. I'm hoping we can still enjoy those things, but with some better portion control, and also discover new healthier versions of our old favorites. We both love to cook and are willing to put in the time to make meals from scratch, and stay away from processed foods.

By this time next year, hopefully I am under 200 lbs and closing in on my goal weight!