I began this project of losing weight reluctantly. Actually, more like kicking and screaming. It started with a blood sugar test that was a little high. I was diagnosed –incorrectly, as it turned out– with pre-diabetes (also known as insulin resistance), and was referred to a dietician. She prescribed a diabetic weight-loss diet. I had a proper tantrum for about a week, at the very thought of giving up my freedom of gluttony. Food has been an important part of my life. I enjoy eating, talking about food, cooking, reading cookbooks... I saw an end to all that, and with it an end to a great source of pleasure in my life. Not only that, but being a foodie has been, at least in my own eyes, a large part of my identity, and I was reluctant to give that up.

I also didn’t want to contribute to the cult of thinness so prevalent in our culture. I hold the minority viewpoint that there is nothing inherently more beautiful about being thin. I dislike the way fat people are discriminated against, and I was worried that in losing weight I would somehow be participating in that prejudice.

However, having a sister who died from complications of diabetes, I am at high risk, and I take it seriously. I knew that for the sake of my health, this was something I would have to do.

I have lost weight before. I always figured that was something you had to do periodically, if you wanted to lead a life of culinary abandon. I’d subject myself to a few weeks or months of deprivation, in order to reach my goal weight, so that I could go back to eating "normally." I was an intentional yo-yo dieter (although each time, I started from a higher weight and stopped a little sooner). My plan was to do the same thing this time, and so I made a pact with myself to give it 12 weeks, and then decide if I wanted to go on.

I started out dieting on my own, following the diabetic exchange list. I actually did that faithfully for about 16 weeks and lost about 25 lbs, before I got bored, started getting slipshod, and hit a plateau. However, I decided that I would go on and try to get down to my goal weight of 150 lbs. That was when I decided to join Weight Watchers. I had lost weight with Weight Watchers before, and found it to be a healthy regime, and I felt it would give me greater variety than I'd had with the exchange diet.  In September of 2004, I subscribed to Weight Watchers online.

It was through Weight Watchers that I quit dieting, and started just eating more healthfully. It has been a gradual transformation, and how that happened will be one of the subjects of this blog. I will say here that what has brought about the change are the ongoing conversations and support I’ve found on the Weight Watchers message boards, especially my friends on the Nifty-50’s board.