My Story

Me...the uncensored version

As long as I can remember I have been overweight. Though I struggled with it in Jr. High and High School it wasn't until my 20's when it really started to affect my life. Like most overweight people I am an emotional eater. I would eat when I was bored. Treat myself to something sweet when I was sad  in order to cheer me up, and celebrate every happy time with food.  Each and every emotional time in my life would lead me to become a 289 pound person that was miserable, unhappy and someone I hated.

Every time I would look in the mirror, I would see the fat person starring back at me but would block out what the image truly showed. I was in denial; not ready to accept what I saw and unwilling to find a solution to the problem.  My weight not only effected my physical appearance but played havoc on my self-esteem, my attitude towards others and life in general.  I became a hateful, negative person. It would eventually take a toll on relationships with my family, affect the performance of my job and how I was viewed by those around me.

In 2000,  I finally came to some realization of my problem and sought out a program to assist me with loosing weight. This is when I joined Weight Watchers for the first time. I would learn how to portion my food but still enjoy anything I wanted in moderation. It assisted me in losing 50lbs and that weight loss would last 6 months.  I am really not sure why I didn't maintain it and started back to my old ways. Somewhere I lost the motivation or maybe it was never fully there to begin with.  I attempted countless times at starting Weight Watchers again but was never able to see success.

I would spend the next 4 years playing the famous game of yo yo dieting. I tried just about every diet out there including Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, South Beach diet and other multiple gimmicks I would see on TV. Some of them I would attempt for a month and others would last merely days. If I had all the money I spent on these endeavors I would probably be rich.  Finally I got tired of all the trying and failing that I gave up.  I told myself, "Oh I am not that fat", "Its really not that bad being like this", "There are other people bigger than me".

It wasn't until the day I went to the doctor for my yearly female exam that my worst fears became reality.  My blood pressure was ridiculously high, 156/130 and I was put on medication. Even more devastating than that, I was told I had PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome). Something that was not necessarily life threatening, but would change the course of my life.

In 2006, I decided my ticket to a better life would be through the show the BIGGEST LOSER.  I had exhausted every other option so why not. I didn't get picked. Then a good friend suggested that I join her gym and this is where I met a trainer named Jay.  I committed to working out with him 3 times a week while also managing my diet with a program called LA weight loss.  This would be the first time that I  had ever truly introduced a workout routine along with an eating plan.  My body began to change physically and I went on to lose 40 pounds over the next 4 months. Then unfortunately, I had to have emergency gallbladder surgery, which once again changed the momentum of my success.

The next 4 years would come and go. My weight would bounce around and lead me to a high of 289 pounds. This is when a prayer, silent in my heart,  was answered and Chix in Training came into my life.  I was introduced to a form of exercise that would work my whole body, was taught that what I ate did matter and learned how to heal my soul in order to change completely.

I currently weigh 211.5 and have lost 78 pounds over the last 18 months. I have celebrated every milestone with the people that have supported me, "My Chix".  These women are why I have been so successful and will continue with that success.   I truly believe that there is a time for everything and that this is MY TIME. Please join me in the remainder of my journey to become half my size.