I remember being told that someday I was going to have to watch it be- cause my eating habits would eventually catch up with me. I always shook my head and plunged back into my hamburgers and fries. Fast-forward to thirteen no EATING YOUR WAY TO TOTAL HEALTH years of marriage and three babies later, I found myself the heaviest weight I had ever been in my life at 246 pounds and a size 22. If that wasn't incentive enough to take to heart Dr. Markham's Total Health plan, I don't know what is. I can remember the exact date I went to my first Total Health lecture. It was April 14, 2003. I sat surrounded by about fifteen or so other people watching Dr. Markham pull up all his visuals detailing his program as well as some of the before and after pictures. Several people at the dinner stood up to talk about how much their health and their overall lives had been changed by the Total Health plan, and I remember being mesmerized, realizing that I had finally found the cure for what ailed me! From that point on, I wasn't just someone sitting at that lecture, I be- came a woman on a mission! I scheduled an appointment and private con- sultation with Dr. Markham for the very next day and from that point on began living and enjoying my life in a totally different way. My husband, Charlie, knew I had attended the meeting, and as an added incentive to me (and I'm sure for some underlying motives of his own), he told me that he was going to start following the Total Health plan with me. He has always been so supportive of me and so completely nonjudgmental about my weight in general, and I think even he saw in me a change after that lecture. I was serious about this! It was as if a lightbulb had turned on in my head, finally showing me how I'd been doing it all wrong all along. My husband was no skinny minny himself, at about 6 feet and 220 pounds. He wore a size 38 pants when he started Total Health. My first week on the plan, I lost 7 pounds, and it just continued from there-5 pounds next, then 4 pounds, then 6 pounds ... I remember the receptionist at my first appointment telling me that my weight was just going to "melt off." I remember actually rolling my eyes in disbelief. Each week I weighed in and lost more and more weight, and it was herturnto roll her eyes! I must say that the support and sense of camaraderie of Dr. Markham's staff was one of the reasons I was so successful in the beginning. There is nothing like having someone pat you on the back each week after you've ac- complished a 5-pound weight loss, so imagine how I felt when I had not only my husband but Dr. Markham's entire staff as well as Dr. Markham himself applauding me for my "job well done." I will forever be grateful for that. There is a lot to be said for accountabil- ity, and if you are like me, accountability is key to success in most things in life, including weight loss. I found that my weekly weigh-ins at Dr. Markham's office were monumental in my success. Once I realized that Dr.