An Introduction

If you've taken a glance at the list of Cincinnati Losers lately, you may have noticed there's another name there now. I was thrilled that I was asked to become a Cincy Loser and it's high time I introduced myself.

My name is Carla Gesell-Streeter and, with my husband Tom Streeter, I write Hoperatives.com, a Cincinnati beer blog devoted to "Believers in Better Beer (In Cincinnati and Beyond)". I also blog at RadioCarla.com and soon will be reviving the newly re-designed Diminishing Returns blog.

Compared to the other Cincy Losers, I'm the tallest (6' 0"), the heaviest (288.8 pounds as of yesterday) and the oldest (48). I've been doing this weight loss thing for a looong time. I realized today that I've taken water aerobics classes in four different states. I've been a member of Weight Watchers in three states plus online. I tried Nutri-System when I was working at a radio station in Illinois. With my husband, I've done medically supervised liquid diet twice (we documented the most recent time at our Diminishing Returns blog. Weight loss surgery is something I won't consider at all.

As the daughter of a dietitian, I grew up eating whole grains and drinking skim milk. But, junk food became my way to rebel. I literally was a closet eater since I hid my Hostess treats and candy bars in my bedroom closet. Thanks to a teenager's metabolism and a large frame, I didn't really see the effect of this bad eating. Thirty years later, it's caught up with me.

As I start off on the weight loss journey again, I have several tools that I'm using. Some are ones I've used in the past, some are new and one is fairly radical. On Friday, I'll share with you the tools I'm using in my "War on Weight" the 2010 edition.

--Carla