I am doing what I am supposed to be doing right now. I smile knowing that I have the most wonderful husband, family, and friends. I work with friends whom I can learn from and whom I respect and who respect me.

I wanted to lose 30 pounds healthfully and still be able to enjoy my college experience. Having succeeded in doing just that, I wanted to share my experiences with others who could benefit from my direct knowledge of the difficulty of trying to balance college life with being healthy. It became a journey about healthy lifestyle choices, including tips and tricks for creating a new relationship with food where I was in control and could learn to love food healthfully again.

While fad diets might seem like the quick-fix solution to lose weight, they won't help you get healthy in the long run.

The only reason I write at all is because I am going through, and growing through, something in my life I want to share with others through my personal experiences.

When I was young and growing up overweight, I believed the "eaten" was more powerful than the "eater," meaning the food was more powerful than I was.

Worrying is just a prayer for the worst possible scenario.

Growing up in my family, it wasn't important that we always be the best; it was important that we were going to try to be our best and give it our all.