Everyone has to start somewhere.

As a kid I hated to eat broccoli. My parents would not let me leave the table until I ate every last bit of it. As I grew older I did not mind it so much as long it was slobbered with butter and salt. Then I stopped eating it all together unless it was buried in some slimy chinese food.

In my 20's I barely ate anything that resembled "real food". Fast food, pizza and chinese filled my plate unless I was too lazy to go out and I would make macaroni and cheese or canned ravioli at home. Sure, you burn it off when you are young but then things started to catch up with me.

At 5'6" in my teen years I was 150lbs with a 31 inch waste. I wasn't a muscle head but my body was short and stocky so I was naturally solid. I ran track in High School and was never really that good at it... Always loved to sprint but never had the spirit to push myself to be great. After high school came college. Did I get the freshman 15 (lbs) you ask? No... I was too focused on getting my work done that I barely ate... or when I did eat it was just enough to get me through the day... certainly not healthy.

After two short years, while working my first desk job after college, I blew up like the friggan Michelin Man. You know how it is to have the vending machine close at hand... with pockets full of dollars and change hitting a few simple buttons bought me pretzels, candy, chips and those damn animal crackers I oh so loved to eat.

Soda. Tons of soda. I think I pissed in colors of cola and orange.

I blew up from being around 159lbs to 242lbs and a 32inch waist became 40inches. I dieted and brought myself back down... then gained it all back again. Twice... yes I did that twice. Currently I am at my heaviest at 272lbs and 44inch waist. You know you are getting rounder when your waistline is starting to catch up your height in inches. Well I may not be there just yet, but I am certainly in a very unhealthy state. High blood pressure... probably diabetic or close to it... I find myself feeling like crap daily. On top of that when I am out at a department store and look into the full sized mirrors, I can see my whole body and experience the shocking... holy crap moment... Is that what I really look like? No wonder I feel like crap all the time. Even though my waist size stopped widening... it did not stop my belly from flopping over my belt line.

Sound familiar? Anyone else have one of those holy crap moments? It is easy to forget what you look like when you only see your neck and head in the bathroom mirror day in and day out.

Now I have to do something about it. I just turned 38 and have two small kids. I want to be around (not round) for my kids when they are older... and with my current track record... I won't be.

I will be making some lifestyle changes starting Monday, April 1st. Why not start today you ask? Well I am human... Easter is tomorrow and I have a nice turkey I will be gorging myself as my final hurrah.