...I was also harrased like there was no tomorrow in every way feasable. The absense of friends, overabundance of the cruelty of my peers, and lack of activity continued to spiral and turn me to my comfort food more and more up until I nearly commited suicide at the age of 10 (I kid you not, the neighbor caught me and told my parents and I was thrust into counciling). Quickly my parents pulled me from the school and into another one which was just as bad. This processed continued, as well as moving 4 more times and 3 more new schools, until I had swelled up to a grand total of 240 lbs when I entered my freshman year of high school. Once again, the teasing, harrasment, and pure agony inflicted on me by my peers was unbelievable (I've suffered every single type of harrasment at school and it pushed me into several fights). I didn't stay at that school for very long, and eventually my family moved again clear across the United States. It was at that point, and at another new school that I began thinking "if I lost the weight then maybe school will be bearable". That was near the end of my freshman year. I've always been enamoured by music and it has always been a prominent part of my life, so for the next year I signed up for marcing band. In my sophomore year I lost around 20 lbs just from the practices and exercise from marching band; I dropped from 240 to 220 (I am 5'5" and a medium frame). I also finally began making friends, and they became the best friends I have had my entire life. Along with music, I've always been academically inclined and being so I was nominated for a Nationally reknown leadership summit in New York City which I attended at the end of my sophomore year. There I met some of the nicest people alive on Earth and it was also in NYC that I lost another 5 lbs (in 10 days) just from all the walking and the restricted eating schedule. I was wearing a very tight 18 jeans and by the end of the trip they were lose and baggy. when I finally got home, estatic about my trip and my weight loss I thought "well if I feel this good after only 5 lbs, how good will I feel at 10 lbs". That summer, I began eating right and exercising. At that point I was so out of shape that I could only do a 20 minute Tae-Bo workout without feeling faint. But it was a starting point. I walked two miles in the morning at the local park, and in the afternoon I did a Tae-Bo workout. I also began cutting out junkfood, soda, and along with my mom restocked the entire kitchen with fruits, veggies, whole grain breads and lean cuts of meat. I also became nutritionally informed on what the average person should take in caloriclly to sustain their weight and what I needed to lose. As I began working out and getting into better shape I rediscovered my long lost love of exercise that I abandoned in my childhood. Granted I was so out of shape that I couldn't work out for a prolonged period of time, I would workout in the morning, recover durring the day, and do it again at night. Some people absolutely abhorred the process of exercising in the weight loss process, but I relished the sweat coming off my forehead and the exercise high became my best friend again. It took nearly a year but eventually I lost 100 lbs and now I am at a very healthy and muscular 142 lbs. At first glace I look to be about 125, but I am in the process of building lean muscle with resistance bands, and Tae-Bo resistance workouts and have gained quite a bit of lean muscle. As I began to become closer and closer to my goal weight I began to eat normally again; treat myself to a dessert once a week, or allow myself my favorite homemade pumpkin bread. Now I am eleated with how I appear and I will never ever go back to the way I was before. I never realized this, but I was never really happy just doing nothing and shoveling food down my throat. But one of my biggest hobbies now is when I exercise (Billy Blanks is my idol; I have at least 10 different Tae-Bo workouts). Even now I have just started a new job at Starbucks and part of the training is coffee tasting and pastry tasting; I can eat a pastry without worrying that I am going to gain weight. Eating right is still a must: very little of no red meat (last time I had it was two-three months ago), lots of fruits and vegetables, healthy whole-wheat breads or rye breads (white bread is nasty, I can't even fathoming eating it anymore), and when I am yearning for sugar I grab a yogurt out of the frige. I am so happy with how I look and just my general outlook on life has changed drastically. My personality has changed and this entire process of change, discovery and realization that I can do anything I would never take back or change for anything. For everyone out there who wants to lose weight, it begins with you. You CAN do it, and you WILL do it if you want to,. Changing your life to a healthy style is the key: not fad dieting, not crazy 500 calorie a day diets, not diet pills (which are nothing more then chemically processed steroids). I will end with a qoute from Billy Blanks who in his workouts and through his passion for life has helped me to change in so many ways "Where I am today is where my mind put me; and where I'll be tomorrow is where my mind put me. So don't give up"