Hey my name is Dan I'm 25 and from Michigan. I'm a Firefighter/EMT and I enjoy spending my free time with friends and family. The biggest reason I'm tring to lose weight is for the health benefits and because of my ambition to someday join the airforce and become a PJ. I've been pretty heavy since I was about 8, I'm pretty active and played a lot of sports when I was younger. I know my excessive weight is a tribute to years of eating large amounts of unhealty food. I like doing research in the medical feild so I can better help the patients I treat, I first learned about the South Beach Diet while doing research on CAD and doctor Agatston's work on the subject. I don't think I lack the knowledge on proper diet so much as I lack the motivation. I one time lost over 80 lbs. on a diet only to sabotage my self when I was that close to achieving my goal. This time along I hope I can find the motivation to stick with it long enough to stick it out and accomplish what I set out to do.