My Name is Jessica. I grew up in a small town outside of Boston, MA. In August '08 I packed up my life with my husband Martin (and two cats), and ventured down to Myrtle Beach, SC for a new, exciting chapter in our lives together. I work as a Special Needs Aide in a local Elementary School while my husband works from home from a Massachusetts based medical software company. I am so glad that you stopped by my site to learn a little about myself, and why I chose to create this site about obesity issues. I would love feedback and questions, and hope that you tell your friends about my site!

For my "Capstone Experience" (aka Senior Project) at Framingham State College, I wanted to do something a little different than the typical lengthy research paper. It was my initial dream to take my idea of delving into the issues of and relating to obesity in our society today. I am hoping to create a platform to not only help me finally graduate with my B.A., but to find a way to help people become more aware of ways obesity is affecting our nation (and beyond), and what we can do to change this growing problem (no ridiculous pun intended!).

Although a huge chunk of the past four and a half years of my life have been focused largely on my own issues with obesity and weight loss, I would have to venture a guess that it has been more like twenty years that issues such as weight, size and body image have been a part of my life.

As a basic "rule of Jessica", I have tried to not have any regrets about my life, and the situations and decisions that have brought me to this day. Although, I find it upsetting that as a teen, I allowed myself to be bullied into believing that I was fat, and needed to lose weight. So, I suppose that my hope is that at least one young girl (or boy) will read my story, and take advantage of the articles and resources I present here to help them focus on living a healthy, active life. Too many people fall prey to the unreasonable and unhealthy stereotypes that we as a society are sometimes compelled to attempt to live up to.

As an adult who did fall prey, and eventually lived up to the stigma by gaining weight, and a lot of it, it took a series of traumatic events with my husband to help shake some sense into me to realize that I needed to make some serious changes in my life.

My husband became ill soon after we were engaged, and I spent the next four years becoming an adult, learning to care for his many medical needs. He has ultimately regained his health and returned to work. Without getting into all the details, I just eventually came to this conclusion:

How silly would it be to have worked so hard to get Martin healthy, from an illness that he had no hand in getting, to only then get to a point where he has to take care of me as I begin to develop an array of obesity related illnesses, all of which would be my own fault.

Martin and I deserve to have a long and healthy life together as any other married couple, so I decided to make myself a priority again, and regain control of my life.

It has not been a total picnic, but over the past four and a half years, I have worked hard (with plenty of struggles along the way) to lose 100lb. I am not at a “goal weight” by any means, and this project will hopefully reinforce in me, the fact that I am a changed woman, and need to keep up my new habits of healthy eating and regular exercise.

*As an update as of Summer/Fall '09, I am going to be incorporating some other topics such as recipes I love or created with my hubby, fashion, hair and make-up finds, and lots more discussion of body acceptance and the positive thinking you need to conquer your weight issues without the usual unreasonable goals of a size 2, which is just not possible for most of us out there. Curvy women rock, and I am proud of the opportunites that I have to inspire people through websites like Spark People and SKORCH Magazine. I really love feedback, so post a comment to a blog, or message me with some ideas of things you would like me to discuss! xoxoJ'OB