So, I thought I'd write something larger than a comment to introduce myself. I also think that if I'm totally honest, where anyone and everyone can read it, it might just hold me a little bit more accountable. My name is Mary and I'm a wife and mother of two. I'm also a music teacher and I struggle with finding time to prepare and cook food for my family. I'm also a food addict who uses food to comfort myself, celebrate, mourn, medicate, and anything else you could possibly think of. I come from a family where both sides of the family struggle with weight issues but I didn't really have a weight issue until high school. Before that, I was very active in sports and just didn't seem to have a weight problem. Of course, I didn't think that at the time! Hindsight is 20/20.

Growing up my mom was a fad dieter (even though she only ever needed to lose 10lbs) but when she was on a diet, the house was too. At the same time, my older sisters (5 and 7 years older than me) were struggling with their weight and we became a family who tried diets every other week. Or at least that's what it felt like. My dad and sister even went so far as to try hypnosis and smelling special markers before meals. I'm not kidding....that was a thing. Because I was so much younger than my sisters, when they left for college, it was almost like Empty Nest syndrome for my parents--they stopped cooking entirely and we went out to dinner every single night. It got to the point where the servers at restaurants recognized us, had nicknames for our orders, and would put the orders into the kitchen as soon as they saw us. And then I went away to a boarding school for my junior and senior year of high school. We had a cafeteria for breakfast, lunch, and dinner but we also lived in dorm rooms and had mini-fridges in our rooms....needless to say, I could have as much junk food as I wanted and eat it whenever I wanted. So my bad habits became worse.

I remember being a senior in high school and deciding that I wanted to look good for my senior recital, prom, and going off to college. So I began the Atkins Diet in January 2004 and by the end of the school year, I'd lost 40 pounds, going from right around 200lbs to 160lbs. I felt awesome! I mean, I was sick of eating eggs, bacon, and tuna fish but I felt awesome! I remember that I was able to wear a size 12 dress to prom and was so excited. I just knew that I was going to keep it up and wouldn't have a weight problem ever again! And then I graduated and moved home....and then started college....and I very quickly jumped back up to 200lbs and then, all of a sudden, I was OVER 200lbs! That was something I'd told myself that would never happen, I would never be over 200lbs and suddenly that number kept creeping up.

In 2008, I met my now husband at college. He is also a food addict and a junk food junkie! Big time! Like he can eat an entire box of Little Debbie snacks, by himself, in one day. He can also drink a 2 liter of soda by himself for one meal. Yeah...so my weight gain continued. In 2014 I had my first child, a precious little girl. I weighed almost 260 by the end of my pregnancy. September 2015 I decided to try losing the weight so I could have more energy and play with my daughter and in May 2016 I hit a milestone....I was under 200lbs!!! I couldn't believe it! I'd hit ONEderland! I promised myself that no matter what, I'd never get back over that dreaded number of 200. I was determined, I was dedicated. I gave away all of the clothes that I'd shrunk out of. Then in October of 2016 I found out I was pregnant with my son. It was not the easiest pregnancy, with a lot of health scares that required extensive testing, and my home life was going through some turmoil as well. Remember, I'm an emotional eater....so when I went in to the hospital to deliver, I was all the way back up to 250lbs. I'm now 10 months postpartum and still weigh 230lbs. I know that I need to lose weight, I know all of the reasons why I need to lose weight, but I still can't seem to break up with sweets and my emotional eating. I'm really hoping that this bet will give me the motivation to get my act together and get my eating back under control. If you managed to read all of this and make it to the end, thank you :)