Back to the beginning

As most of you already know, it was exactly two years ago this week that my weight-loss journey began. It all started in January 2010 when a co-worker organized a Biggest Loser competition at the office. Several colleagues from the newsroom were signing up and after a bit of prodding, I paid my $20 and got on the scale.

I felt terrible that first day. I was ashamed of how much I weighed -- 271.8 pounds. I can remember that first weigh-in like it was yesterday. Only the organizer of the contest knew my weight, but I was still embarrassed. It was difficult to face.

Two years later, I'm signing up once again for the contest at work and I'm proud to tell anyone who'll listen about my success. My progress has been slow, but maybe this will be the motivation I need to seriously buckle down and get a jumpstart on those last 30 pounds.

I weighed in for the contest today ... 183 pounds. That's a little higher than my scale at home, but that will be my starting number. And, starting next week, I'll continue to officially weigh-in on Fridays (on the scale at work) and post weekly about my progress.

One final note, a photographer at work took photos of me last January. I had lost about 75 pounds at the time. He's been bugging me for months to get new ones, but I just wasn't ready. I finally committed to doing it in January. Well, January is here. So he's taking the photos tomorrow.

I'm feeling a lot more nervous about it than I expected. On one hand, I want the photos because maybe they will help me see the progress I am making. On the other hand, I don't really like the idea of people looking at me. I don't like being the center of attention. (But I will probably post them here tomorrow because I figure people do like to see the before and after photos.)