I am a 56 year old woman, 5'5" and 246 lbs. Divorced mom with 5 grown children. Ironically, I pretty much maintained my weight through my 5 pregnancies. Didn't start to gain weight until mid-late-30's. By 44, I was over 200 lbs.

Started going to Weight Watchers and lost weight -got down to 158 lbs.! Unfortunately, thought I had learned everything I needed to know, so didn't go to meetings to learn to maintain weight. Slowly started to put back on the weight and now I am almost 250 lbs!

My lifestyle has changed over the years also--my activity levels have slowed to pretty much zero! I spend most of my day sitting at a computer and have no outside activities! On the good side, after smoking for most of my life, I quit 4 months ago (that was responsible for last 35 lbs-I was 211 before I quit smoking)!

The worst part for me is that my 4 daughters are all overweight too--which I feel responsible for, because I've set a poor example. I also LOVE to cook for my family and make large fatty meals.

I used to be very social, but I've become a bit of a hermit socially because I don't want my friends to see how fat I've become. Also, it seems the more weight I put on the less I care about my appearance-rarely wear make-up, just pull my hair back and don't really care what I wear, as long as it baggy and comfy!!

Last Saturday (1/16/2010), I started Weight Watchers with my oldest daughter, Jeanne. Two of my other daughters, Holly and Lori, are starting their own weight loss plans too!

My only New Years resolution this year was to live outside my comfort zones and be joyous. So here I am, journaling, posting a fat picture and committing to lose the weight that is holding me back in life. While part of my weight loss goals are to look better (duh), my ultimate goal is to get healthy. I have high blood pressure, borderline diabetes, asthma, bad kneees--all weight related!