I grew up in a family that did a lot of barbecuing. My Dad was an excellent chef, and he made us steaks nearly every weekend. I really got the taste for steak, and had as much of it as possible, every time my Dad brought it to the table. When I think about it now, I wish I'd taken it easy, but I was just a little kid. I was good at sneaking extras, and my parents didn't really notice.

By the time I was in 8th grade, I was already becoming a heavy kid. I didn't think much of it, and I definitely didn't think it had anything to do with my diet. I just thought I was hitting a growth spurt.

My diet continued as it was - lots of red meat - on through high school. When I was a teenager, I also developed a taste for beer. My Dad drank a lot of, and always had the house well stocked. I would sneak away cans whenever he wasn't looking, and I was eventually getting my own. I never quite became an alcoholic, which is a miracle because I was drinking a lot, but I did go through heavy binges. All the beer was putting on extra weight as well.

When it came time to go off to college, I was really anxious. I didn't want to go away to college looking like I did, I was huge! I weighed 225 pounds when I was 18 years old. Well things didn't get any better. At college, I started trying to bury my problems with more binge drinking. It was easier than ever before, because I was away from my parents, there was a lot of alcohol around, and lots of parties. By the end of my sophomore year I had reached the 275 pound mark. I wanted out. I didn't want to deal with this anymore, because the only way I knew how to deal with it was through drinking, and that was a dead end.

That summer, I had some time to myself and I wanted to do something about my weight. I had a friend who had taken a lot of nutrition classes, and she told me what I could do to eat better. I did well at first, but I knew I had to do something about all the steak I was eating. My Dad was retired at this point, and doing even more barbecuing than ever before. I'm the type of guy who when he does things - really does them. I mean, I figure if you're going to do something, do it right. So I just quit eating beef. But I talked to my nutritionist friend about what I could do to replace the things I was getting from beef. There was a lot of stuff I didn't know, and never would have guessed. But I ate good, I ate right, and I even started working out. I didn't want to just lose the weight, I wanted to turn it into muscle. I mean I figure it's good for something, right?

It's now been 4 months since I began my healthier lifestyle. I'm proud to say that I've already lost 36 pounds. I'm actually happy about going back to school, where before I was full of anxiety. Because I know now that I have the strength to face it. I can do better.