This morning marked the first day of my month-long Protein Bar Challenge. Thankfully, this regimen includes espresso and coffee, so the day still began with a mind-and-body jolting single shot. A little after 10, I walked into Protein Bar in Penn Quarter for the official kick-off.

There was a sobering start to the affair: my weigh-in. I’ve definitely packed on a few pounds over the years and I’m nowhere near what my doctor tells me is my healthy weight – somewhere between 180-190 pounds. I’m 38 now, so freshman year of college – when I was last in that range – was a long time ago.

I stepped up onto the scale and looked down. It took a moment to register, then 219.5 flickered onto the screen. Ugh. That’s 30-40 pounds over. I have a lot of work to do in the next month if I want to start getting that number down.

Finish reading this story on CityEats’ Plate blog now.