Weigh In?!

Alright, alright with some peer pressure I've jumped on the band wagon and confessed my weight to our fearless leader. I'll admit I was hesitant about joining because I'm super competitive and not able to exercise how I'd like to. Don't let that fool you. I'll still be giving you a run for your money as I carefully watch and track everything that goes into my mouth.
Here is my story. Feel free to skip below to my motivations if you want.

My issues: In 2001 while at a stop light I was rear ended when some idiot pushed the gas instead of the break. I suffered bad whiplash especially b/c at the time of the accident I was looking to the left so my neck got jarred all over the place. I went to PT for 9 months and recovered but relapsed slightly during my pregnancy 2004/2005. When our beautiful daughter was born in 2005 my tailbone broke during the labor. I've recovered significantly but never 100%. Unfortunately neck/upper back pain and low back pain have caused chaos with my spine and now my mid back is having issues from the way my body overcompensates for the problems. I swallowed my pride in Dec 07 realizing that I couldn't fix it alone and started seeing a physical therapist again. I've gone twice a week since and I'm seeing improvement but it's slow going when you have as many problems as I do. I'm limited on what exercises I can do but it's also crucial for me to slowly start exercising again so I can re-build the muscle stability that my neck and spine need and hopefully one day put an end to the frequent migraines and back/neck pain. It's a fragile balance so I don't re-injure myself. I'm not very patient and it's hard for me to go slow at this when I know I've been capable of more physical effort in the past. I was a pilates junkie before my pregnancy and exercised often so it's been hard to see my weight slowly increase even after getting back to pre-baby weight. Oddly enough ever since I started physical therapy my weight has slowly increased. Last November my weight wasn't an issue.

As if the above reasons aren't enough here are my other motivations:

1 - I've always wanted to be the cool mom that can hike, run, bike and do everything to have fun with the kids while keeping up with them. I'm frustrated that I'm often tired all day long and the other day I couldn't even push my daughter in the swing because of back pain. It was humbling and frustrating!
2 - Sugar! To say I have a sweet tooth doesn't quite do the problem justice. I love anything sweet and unfortunately I got a triple dose of chocolate in my jeans as neither of my sisters like it... there is no doubt I got their share. (It worked out well for me as a kid during Halloween though.) So when my sweet tooth is out of control I try to bring it down to earth with one word - cancer. I'm at high risk for colon cancer and moderate risk for breast cancer. The experts say that cancer loves to feed off of sugar and helps it grow faster so cutting back could be life saving for me!
3 - Also with the above - I want to live a long healthy life and my 30's are already not as forgiving as my 20's. I need to get better habits going now that will last a lifetime.

4 - I'm dying to shop the smaller sizes when I go clothes shopping. It seems like the smaller sizes have a bigger selection at the sales rack so this could really benefit our budget once I need to buy skinnier clothes because nothing fits!
5 - When and if I ever get pregnant again I want another healthy pregnancy!

6 - Exercise reduces stress and I've missed that stress reliever!

7 - I want to set a good example for my daughter. Already with the little P.T. exercises I do she always wants to join me and when some friends came over today she asked if they wanted to do exercises! I need to continue this example and show her that her mom is capable of much more the the wimpy things I do now.
8 - I want to enjoy eating vegetables. During this time I'm going to focus on new recipes and I'm determined to make food delicious so that I'll want to devour things like broccoli, chard and brussel sprouts! I'm hoping this will rub off on my daughter as well.
9 - ME - I know accomplishing weight loss while getting in to the habit of exercising regularly will be the start of confidence I'll need to go after other goals.
10 - I want to make my dh proud!

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!