Hello there

My name is Shaunta.

I weigh 320 pounds.

Three weeks ago I weighed 323, the most I've ever weighed.

Why Once Upon a Fat Girl? Because I'm a writer. Clever, huh? And because fairy tales have happily-ever-after endings.

Here are the facts of my life right now:

I have three kids. A son, Nick who is 12. And two daughters, Adrienne who is 13, and Ruby who is 17 months old.

I'm married to Kevin, who works so hard so that I can be a stay-at-home-mom. I love him to pieces, even though he does bring home ice cream to tempt me.

I have an eating disorder. I binge. Really binge. I don't purge, mostly because puking makes me cry. I am addicted to food. I come from a long line of addicted people. Mostly alcoholics, although one of my brothers is fighting a heroin addiction right now (please, pray for him.)

I do not have the fat gene. I have eight siblings and two parents. I am the only one who is really fat.

I writing a novel. A romantic suspense, which I'm nearly done with the final draft of. I'm quite sure you'll be hearing much about this...because it's my life right now.

I used to be an athlete, in another life. The life when I was young and beautiful, but still felt like a cow. A cow, at 5'10" and 160 pounds of solid, toned muscle (wearing a size 8.) I strongly believe that my food addiction, binging and subsequent outrageous weight can be directly linked to a childhood of listening to my skinny step-mother tell me: "you aren't fat now, but if you keep eating like that, you'll be fat like your mother."

My mother was an emotional eater, like me, and was maybe 50 pounds overweight at her heaviest. I am 150 pounds overweight. She was also the most beautiful woman ever, stunning really.

So, this blog is my way of telling myself: Guess what chickie...it's time to grow up. The evil step-mother hasn't been married to my dad in ten years. She was abusive and neglectful, and it's time (way, way past time) to let her hold on me go.

My plan for losing weight? A reduced calorie diet. I'm aiming right now for 2000 calories (I got as fat as I am by eating 3000 calories). Also, and this is the hardest for me right now, exercising three times a week for 30 minutes. I'll increase that as I gain some strength. I'm using www.calorieking.com as an aid, mostly for recording my food. I'll post a link later to my blog and food diary there, in case you're interested. I've lost an average of one pound a week since May 1, 2006.

So there you have it. Thanks for stopping by!