My struggle with weight has been lifelong. From elementary school to beyond the college years, I was always overweight—and that affected my life in big ways. I constantly avoided anything athletic, never having any desire to participate in school sports. (I can remember always being picked last for teams and praying constantly that the ball wouldn't come my way.) Emotionally, I was so insecure, and physically, I was always "on the edge" of healthy. In high school, I had to visit the nurse's office every month for blood pressure and diabetes checks. Everything was always "borderline" and every doctor prescribed the same thing—weight loss.

Hi, I'm Michael ("austinmikey" on the NutriSystem boards), a 28-year-old bachelor living in Austin, Texas. I'm a project manager in the computer hardware industry, and in my spare time I enjoy working on my old 1965 convertible Mustang and taking long cruises through the Texas hill country. This is my weight-loss story.

Through middle school and junior high, my weight issues followed me...and so did the insecurities. While everyone else was developing their social lives, pursuing sports or girls, I began to focus all of my attention on school. (Although I hated being fat, dedicating myself to academics allowed me to graduate as a valedictorian in high school and opened the door for me to attend Notre Dame. Talk about being blessed with a curse!)

But then came the dreaded college years, when all-you-can-eat dining hall buffets and late night pizza were the norm. Worse, tragedy struck at that time when my 18-year-old sister Janel suddenly died during my sophomore year. We were extremely close and it hit me hard. I spent endless hours depressed in my room, sleeping, missing class…and eating. I was able to work through my depression and finish school, but at the toll of gaining 40 lbs. during my four years there. Then I entered the working world and with the cubicle lifestyle, the weight got worse, and, as before, so did the insecurities.

At work or in social situations, I've always tended to blend into the wallpaper. Whether giving a presentation or going out with friends to a nightclub, my self-consciousness would always hold me back. I always tended to "sit back and watch" and never seemed to find the desire to take an active part in things.

A Reason To Change

It took a milestone event to get me to finally change. My 10-year high school reunion was scheduled for this past Labor Day, so I used it as my motivation to finally lose the weight. More importantly, my age and my health led to that decision. Only a couple years from turning 30, I realized that if I didn't do something now, losing weight was only going to get harder with age.

Last fall, I weighed over 250 lbs., and I knew if the weight progressed, that I was on my way to big problems. Given the track record of genetics in my family, I knew that I was on a fast track to high blood pressure and diabetes. Plus, I was just plain tired of not feeling good, and having low confidence and no self-esteem.

I did the research and ultimately chose NutriSystem Advanced mostly for the convenience; the plan seemed to fit perfectly within my lifestyle. Being a bachelor and a young professional, the fast food lunches and after-work happy hours were all-too familiar. I'm not much of a cook, and besides, cooking was just too much work for a busy guy like me. I had no idea what to shop for at the grocery store, unless it came with instructions for popping it in the microwave. That's how I knew NutriSystem and their convenient prepackaged foods would fit right into my lifestyle!

I started NutriSystem diet on January 13, 2006 at 244 lbs. and wearing size 38 pants. Only 6 months later, I hit my initial goal and lost over 50 lbs.*! Today, I'm at 185 lbs., have lost a total of 59 lbs.* on NutriSystem, and I now wear size 32 pants.

The Food Gets An A+

Beside the convenience, my favorite thing about the NutriSystem review program is the food! The feedback I'd read about the food before I'd started was good, but I was still pleasantly surprised the first time I opened up my first meal and found it to taste really good. I was really surprised to be losing weight by eating good food! Just as important, I didn't feel hungry all the time.

The only tough task on my weight loss journey was changing old habits. In fact, in the beginning I didn't actually tell anyone that I was using a weight loss program. I'm not exactly sure why I decided to keep it a secret. Maybe I still wanted to blend into the wallpaper. I think the biggest reason, though, was fear of failing and having any skeptics tell me, "I told you so." But once the weight loss was noticeable, the questions came pouring in. Everyone would stop and ask me, "What's your secret?"

Finally, I had to let the cat out of the bag. Now I proclaim with confidence that man NutriSystem was the key factor to my weight loss. My family and friends are extremely proud of me. In fact, my success with the program has inspired a few them to try it out and they are well on their way to their own success stories, too.

"I'm dating now!"

I'd have to say, the most rewarding part of this process is how good I feel. My newfound confidence is great. Besides the physical changes, my friends tell me the most notable change is my positive perspective on life. The old, gloomy me is now someone energetic and optimistic. Feeling great has opened up a whole new world for me; I find myself willing and wanting to try new things, travel, and socialize. Now that I've got more energy, I find myself trying new things like participating in walk-a-thons, jogging, and preparing for my first 5K run. I would have laughed if anyone asked me to try these 59 lbs.* ago!

This new confidence has also improved my career and my dating life. I find myself becoming more interactive in meetings and comfortable delivering presentations in front of big groups. And I'm dating now! I'm ashamed to admit this, but up until now my weight pushed me to completely shy away from girls. Talk about a lonely 28 years! It's so great to have the confidence to be in the dating scene now.

The Big Reunion

And, of course, in September I attended my 10-year high school reunion. As I mentioned before, I used the reunion as a big motivating factor for losing weight. It was so entertaining to see the reactions from my old friends! Knowing that I was thinner than I was in high school, I walked into the event feeling great.

I remember standing in a group of friends as an old classmate, whom we all knew well, greeted everyone. She completely skipped over me and I stood there surprised. I walked over and introduced myself and she was shocked at how different I looked. (This happens to me all the time now. It seems people who I don't necessarily see on a regular basis will either ask, "Is your hair different?" or say, "You seem taller." "Have you lost weight?" is almost always the third guess.) One of the best compliments I got that night, though, was when someone told me that I was one of the few classmates who looked better now than when we graduated!

I am so thankful for the NutriSystem bulletin boards and for all the people who shared their support with me. All of the positive comments, emails, and other confidence boosters definitely helped push me along the way. I'll always be thankful for NutriSystem for providing a program that works and resources that give a community of support.

If I had to offer support for anyone who doubts they can lose weight on NutriSystem, I'd tell them to start with small steps. We have to learn how to crawl before we walk. Small changes will go a long way. If you hit a slump or break the program, get back on track and start again. Before long, the progress will be noticeable and you'll never regret it. I know I don't.

My life has completely changed and I'm absolutely certain that none of it would have been possible without the NutriSystem program. Thank you, NutriSystem, for making it happen!

—Michael