I've always been a beach bum. I love the beach, everything about it. When I was a teenager, I spent all the time I could out at the beach. It suited me too, I was a tall and tan blond little thing, and I turned heads wherever I went. In my early 20s, I noticed that my metabolism was starting to change. The food that I ate was really affecting me more than ever before. I couldn't just shrug it off like I used to. My hourglass figure was starting to change. The difference wasn't that big, but I really took it to heart. I noticed that my stomach was starting to hang a little out of my bikini bottoms, and I was getting love handles. I was definitely worried, but not devastated. I figured the problem would work itself out, and I tried to eat a little better, so that I could prevent anything worse from happening. I didn't know it or understand, but that never really works out. I wasn't getting any exercise, and I still wasn't eating great - I was just eating slightly less of the bad stuff. So I was still gaining weight, just at a little slower rate.

Well I remember one summer I had a bit of a breakdown. It was the first good day of the season, and I decided I wanted to go to the beach. So I got everything ready, and tried on my swimsuit. Wow, I really didn't notice how much weight I had gained over the winter. I could barely fit into my bikini, and I was bulging right out of it. When I saw myself in the mirror I just started crying. I felt miserable, and didn't want to face the world. I just couldn't do it. That was definitely my turning point. I decided right then and there, that next season I was going to put on my bathing suit and look fantastic.

That summer I started roller-blading. I didn't drive anywhere anymore, I just skated to wherever I needed to go. It was way more of a workout than I thought it would be, but soon I got used to going long distances and longer periods of time. That's how I knew I was beginning to get into shape. I also took a yoga class, and stretched every morning. That gave me energy to face the rest of the day.

The big problem was diet. I didn't know how to handle that, I always had a really fast metabolism before and I was used to being able to eat whatever I wanted. I didn't know how to keep myself from eating bad stuff. So what I did was take Nutrisystem diet program. I have had friends who took them, and some had great success. What the program did for me was keep my eating habits in check. I didn't have the appetite to binge on junk food anymore, so I had to make sure that what I did eat was worthwhile. Junk food filled me up and made me sick, so I found it easier and easier as time went on to stick with healthier stuff. I have a lot of vegetarian friends who know a lot about health food. They even got me to go out to vegan restaurants here and there. I slowly learned what I liked and what I didn't. I never had to cut meat out of my diet or anything like that, I still ate things that I liked. I just tried to compensate with exercise. I can't believe my success, I reached my goal weight of 115 pounds in just 8 months! I attribute most of that to Nutrisystem, otherwise I wouldn't have known what to do with my cravings and appetite. Also I've been able to successfully stop using the Nutrisystem, and am keeping up my healthy lifestyle. I think I look better this season than I ever did before.