A little about me

First off, let me say I'm thrilled to be a part of this great community. Even after a year and a half on my weight loss journey, I still need the support of others!

My name is Melissa. I'm 30, have been married for nearly nine years to my best friend Jason, and we have one daughter, Anna Marie, who is five and a half. She'll start kindergarten this fall, a late start due to her October birthday.

I'm the news editor at a small community paper in north Mississippi. That means I have the "honor" of attending all sorts of government meetings, school events, and other community happenings. Then I have the "honor" of writing about them and putting together the front pages for two sections and an editorial page. I also write one or two feature stories per week, and a local editorial.

Phew!

I've been overweight for most of my life, compounded by my love of food and my aversion to exercise. My mom told me that I'd grow "up" as a teen and "thin out." She didn't know I'd stay 5'2" and round.

When I got the news editor job, I knew I'd be in public a lot more and needed to feel more confident about my appearace. I was also turning 29 then, and knew that if I didn't try to lose some weight now, I'd have a harder time (and more health problems) as time went on. I walked into our local Weight Watchers meeting weighing 237 pounds in August of 2005.

I now weigh (as of last night) 163.5, a loss of 73.4 pounds. It hasn't always been easy, but I figure the longer it takes me to lose it the better I'll do at keeping it off (right? That's the upside to this, isn't it?) I have about 30 pounds left, which will mean my weight loss will be somewhere in the 100 pound range.

I haven't lost any weight the past two weeks, which kind of has me down, but I know it's just a temporary plateau and I'll power through it.

Again, I thank Jules for inviting me into your community. Hopefully, I'll be able to give some help in return for all I've gotten! And I look forward to getting to know each of you better.