Cholesterol

She said she was concerned enough that she would consider me for gastric bypass or would wire my jaws shut.

I remember going home and I cried and cried." PHOTOS: Dieter drops pounds and insecurities So in November 2000, Rhoads went to a Weight Watchers meeting and lost 16 pounds the first week.

"It was like the jump-start I needed for motivation," she says.

On Feb.

14, 2004, she met her goal weight of 160 pounds, and she has kept it off since.

Rhoads is one of more than a dozen readers who is being profiled in the fourth annual USA TODAY Weight-Loss Challenge.

This year's challenge, which runs every Monday through May, focuses on people who have succeeded at losing and maintaining their weight.

FORUM: Comment on Rhoads' story below and share your experiences here Rhoads says she was an emotional eater who started overeating as a teenager to avoid unwanted attention from older men.

"When I was an adolescent, several men commented on my developing body inappropriately, and it scared me," she says.

"To protect myself, I ate.

Food was safe.

"I was hiding in plain view.

When you are that big, people don't look at you.

They don't make eye contact." During the years she was losing weight, Rhoads came to terms with those emotions.

She also made changes she still practices: She keeps a daily food journal, exercises regularly and limits foods high in sugar and saturated (...

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