Greetings, all.

I found this site today and it looks liek a great and supportive community. I hope to share my progress with you all.

About me:

I am 42 years old, married to a wonderful supportive woman, and have a radiant 5 year old daughter.
I currently weigh 311lbs, and am 5'11". I have been heavy all my life (250lbs at age 20, 315lbs at age 30), and have always worried and fretted about it, with corresponding damage to my self-image and confidence. For all that, throughout my adult life I have rarely been a total slug, and have enjoyed being semi-active, walking, learning martial arts etc.
However, I have only once seriously tried to take that weight off and get fit. In 2005 I started a serious programme of diet and exercise. I worked out regularly (weight training, walking and swimming), ate a lot better (weight watchers points system but didn't actually join WW), and lost 40 pounds in 4 months. Then a personal incident occurred which derailed me completely. I was working, taking care of wife, daughter, and house, and exercise just fell by the wayside. Diet did too, as I am a stress/comfort eater. Nowadays life is normal, but I am back to just a few pounds shy of my all time high weight.
But it was working until then. I know it can be done.

So what happened? I was on holiday in Vancouver with my family last week, and somewhere inside me a switch got thrown. I wasn't going to just whine and fret anymore. I'm going to change.

I've always been a proponent of personal responsibility, a go-it-alone type, but I've been thinking that joining a community of people doing the same thing can only help. So here I am, inviting you all along on my journey, and joining you in yours.
Maybe we can help each other along the way.

Sorry if this is long-winded - I had to get some of that initial stuff off my chest.

welcome to the WLF, great to see you here. Make sure you read the sticky threads which should give you a great idea on where you want to go and what you need to do to get there