Hello! I'm Kate, I'm 24 years old and I live in Chicago. I work as a graphic designer in the publishing industry.

I've had a weight problem my whole life. It's always been there. I think I was the youngest person I know to go on Weight Watchers, I started when I was in 4th grade. I've also been on Jenny Craig, South Beach, you name it, I've probably tried it. I've been up and down with my weight, but I've never achieved my goal. The last few years I've been steadily gaining, until I woke up one day and I was the heaviest I'd ever been. I've worked hard since then, and have gotten down to where I am now, but I want to keep going and not fall off the wagon like I have so many times before.

I've always made excuses for myself, for why I couldn't lose weight-- "I'm too stressed", "I don't have time", "I don't have enough money for healthy food/gym"--but those were just crap, really. The truth is that I love food, and have an emotional attachment to it, and to think that I have to give that up the lifestyle I've become accustomed to is incredibly terrifying. But it's also liberating. I don't want to feel trapped anymore. I want to feel healthy and strong and good about my body- I don't want to be the fattest girl in the room. I don't want to feel like I can't live the life I really want to because I'm worried that I'm too fat to do it.

So here goes!