This is my first blog entry. I have been "dieting" for 3 weeks. I reached a turning point a month ago while vacationing in Charleston with some friends. My friends' mom is 80 years old and she did better walking around the city than I did. I was embarrassed and ashamed. I was exhausted all of the time and felt as if I was 82 instead of 52. I never thought I would see the day when I weighed over 300 pounds but I did. When I finally got the nerve to get back on the scale I was 304 pounds. I couldn't believe my eyes and it scared me to death. What should have scared me to death was emergency angioplasty last summer, but it didn't. It made me depressed and angry but not enough to actually put an effort into losing weight. In fact, I even gained some weight. Thankfully the wake-up call finally came while sweating my way through the streets of Charleston. I am proud to say I have lost 8 pounds...one small step down a long road, but I will keep it going...for my closet's sake (so many clothes, so little that fit) as well as for my health and happiness. I am using the tools of CalorieKing to guide me and common sense to make my food choices. I'll try to blog with humor. Hopefully it will be therapy for me and entertaining (and maybe someday inspiring) to you all! Happy Day.