Hi! I'm 47 years old, and I've been overweight for most of my life. There have only been a few times that I've been a "normal" weight. Other than in high school, when I still was a good 10-15 lbs overweight, the last time I was happy with my weight was when I lost weight for my wedding. That was over twenty years ago.

I've been floating around 200-230 ever since. Every doctor I've seen has told me to loose weight. I have suffered from high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I've even had open heart surgery to replace a valve, although surprisingly, this was not weight related. Let's not forget all the gentle, and sometimes not so gentle, encouragement from my wife to take better care of myself.

Despite all the warnings and encouragement, I remained steadfast in my obstinance. I knew I wanted to loose weight, and I tried many times, but I had no success.

It wasn't until I had a life changing event that I