BOSTON -- “My name is Tonya Dalhaus. I'm 5-foot-5, and I weigh 190 pounds.”

Tonya Dalhaus is a standup comic who works a host of other part-time jobs. She spends a lot of her life on the road, and after a car accident last year, Tonya’s diet took a back seat. She gained 30 pounds.

“For 10 months I couldn’t do anything,” she said.

Now, Dalhaus is losing weight and doing it in front of cameras for the Web site Diet.com. Every week videos following her progress, highs and lows will be posted on YouTube for the world to see.

“I am not totally freaked out. I was a little nervous,” she said. “I like having the support they’ll give me as I try to get myself back to where I was before. I’ve been trying to do it on my own for the last few months and I haven't been seeing a lot of results.”

In addition to online support from the Web site’s 750,000 registered users, Dalhaus gets the expert help of a nutritionist and a personal trainer from “My Healthy Weight” in Woburn.

Sarah Dussault of Diet.com said, “(Tonya’s) a comedian, so hopefully she can bring a little bit of comic relief to a dieting show.”

Diet.Com users can write online messages to Tonya, or responses to her blog entries.

“They can be really supportive,” said Dussault. “On YouTube you can also leave comments and send messages to our channel and let us know if you think she’s a great inspiration. People want to watch someone they can imagine being friends with. So I think that Tonya really possesses those qualities.”

Tonya hopes dieting in such a public way will pay off.

“This is going to be a lot more emotional, not funny joking all the time, because this is a very serious thing and it takes a lot of commitment. Plus, I’m going to be sweating in front of people and my hair is going to be plastered.”

Tonya's goal is to get to 145 pounds over the next six months. We'll chart her progress in future reports on NewsCenter 5 and TheBostonChannel.com