Hi. My name is Kathy, and this is not the first time I have travelled this road. In fact, this is my third. You know what they say about the third time, well, I am hoping that I will finally get it right this time. I have always struggled with my weight, and all the baggage, physical and emotional, that comes with the excess weight. I can't blame my weight on bad genes, or some chemical or hormonal imbalance, it is simply that I have eaten too much, and exercised too seldom. This time, the stakes are higher, and the consequences too great for me not to do this right. I know what it is like to be turned away from jobs because of my weight, or be told that the reason I don't get jobs is because employers believe that if you don't care enough about yourself, how will you care enough about the job you are hired to do.

When I put my mind to lifestyle change (I hate the word diet. It is too much like being handcuffed to the empty end of the buffet table, and all you can do is look at all the pretty food at the other end. Sooner or later, you are going to figure out a way to break free and make all that pretty food yours.) and exercise, I am successful in my endeavors to lose weight and get into shape, but I always seem to derail myself.

This time I started out at the heaviest I have ever weighed, 334lbs. My knees hurt, I have Type II Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Sleep Apnea, and have recently been diagnosed with NASH (Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis), or Fatty Liver Disease, with a level of cyrrhosis, already having occurred. I am considered "morbidly obese". I no longer want to go through life with those issues hanging around my neck. I have a 16 year daughter that I want to see grow up into the beautiful woman I see her becoming. I have a husband who loves me unconditionally, and I want to grow old with him. The only way I will accomplish this is to regain control of my life, and get to the business of rediscovering "me".