00:00 I was eating about 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day.
00:03 I did have health issues with my heaviest.
00:05 I woke up one day and I couldn't stand,
00:07 like my back was killing me.
00:08 But when I tried to stand, I fell to the floor.
00:10 I didn't think that the cause of my weight
00:13 that I'm having knee and back issues.
00:15 I'm sorry.
00:16 I have to do something about it.
00:20 Went to my doctor and they gave me some advice
00:23 on gastric surgery.
00:24 My heaviest weight was 420 pounds.
00:27 And I have lost 205 pounds.
00:30 (upbeat music)
00:32 My weight over the years definitely fluctuated.
00:40 I was always a chubby girl growing up in school.
00:43 On one day I can account that I was eating
00:45 about 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day.
00:48 I did have health issues with my heaviest.
00:50 The year I will never forget, it was 2020.
00:52 I woke up one day and I couldn't stand,
00:54 like I could not stand.
00:56 Like my back was killing me.
00:58 But when I tried to stand, I fell to the floor.
01:00 I went to emergency room,
01:01 I didn't know what was wrong with me.
01:03 Literally crying tears 'cause it was hurting
01:05 to just barely get on my knees.
01:07 After doing a whole bunch of tests,
01:09 he was like, "If you don't change,
01:10 "something's gonna basically get cut off."
01:12 I didn't think that the cause of my weight
01:15 that I'm having knee and back issues.
01:17 I'm gonna say my lowest moment is when
01:19 it was seven months before I decided
01:21 to have weight loss surgery.
01:23 I was in the bathroom.
01:24 I couldn't wipe myself.
01:25 Like I couldn't, I kept doing this.
01:27 You know, all my weight was like in my back.
01:29 So when I turned around, I couldn't wipe myself.
01:32 So I was able to wipe it just a little bit
01:34 and I had to get in the shower because I couldn't do it.
01:37 And I was like, how did I let myself get that big?
01:40 - When you was little coming up,
01:41 because you know, we was not limited to eating
01:45 or going in the icebox or nothing.
01:47 Anything y'all wanted, I gave it to you.
01:49 To be honest with you, she never let me
01:51 saw her being unhappy on her heaviest.
01:53 She never showed me her confidence was low.
01:56 - Skydiving, that was something I always wanted to do.
01:59 When I went there, he was like, there's a weight limit.
02:01 I said, what's the weight limit?
02:02 That day I stepped on the scale and it said E.
02:05 I said, what is that?
02:07 And he was like, basically that's where
02:09 you're past the weight limit on the scale.
02:11 I said, what's the weight limit on the scale?
02:12 He said 400.
02:14 And in front of all these people, I was like, okay.
02:17 So I went home, bought a scale.
02:19 I stepped on it, it said 420.
02:21 That was the highest I've ever been in my life.
02:23 And then that same month, me being the distraught
02:26 that I am, we went to Vegas.
02:27 My friends wanted to zip line.
02:29 Yet again, they said, oh, you can't.
02:31 They didn't even put me on the scale.
02:32 They just looked at me.
02:33 Oh, you can't ride too big.
02:35 I was like, like, and it hurt, you know?
02:39 I'm sorry.
02:41 My friends, they tried their best to keep me lifted.
02:51 Say nice things, be like, you still that girl.
02:55 Don't worry about it.
02:56 You still this, you still that.
02:58 Yes, you're telling me that, but I don't feel that way.
03:00 You know?
03:01 So that's when I said, I have to do something about it.
03:05 So I was like, if I can't do it on my own, I need help.
03:08 Went to my doctor and they gave me some advice
03:12 on gastric surgery.
03:13 And then June of 2021, I decided to have the procedure.
03:17 I had the procedure.
03:18 I got back.
03:19 I instantly started walking.
03:21 Because I had incisions and stuff on my stomach,
03:23 I couldn't do lifting, but I started walking.
03:26 And then I had to start strength training.
03:30 Once I started strength training,
03:31 got me a personal trainer,
03:32 and the weight started back coming off.
03:34 I was stalling for like about seven or eight months.
03:38 Changed my diet up again, started working out,
03:40 and then I started back to fall off.
03:42 My heaviest weight was 420 pounds,
03:45 and I have lost 205 pounds.
03:47 What attracted me to this type of workout
03:49 is basically I don't like traditional cardio.
03:52 I don't like treadmill.
03:53 I don't like stair steppers.
03:54 I don't like none of that elliptical.
03:56 I like to build my endurance by jumping rope,
03:58 outside, outdoors.
03:59 It just makes me feel rejuvenated.
04:02 I just block everything else out,
04:03 and I just go hard and go home.
04:05 - How do you feel?
04:15 - I feel great.
04:16 I'm ready to get dressed and turn up.
04:19 Having loose skin made me feel like
04:22 I didn't accomplish anything.
04:24 The reason that I say that is because I still,
04:26 to me, in my eyes, I still looked at the same.
04:29 I felt like I couldn't see what I worked hard for.
04:33 I felt like that I needed to have that
04:34 in order to like the finished product of what I worked for.
04:38 I had loose skin surgery about two months ago.
04:42 - Tell us about your new body
04:43 and why you're so proud of how you look.
04:46 - I mean, did you see me?
04:47 I was just saying.
04:48 My confidence level, I am the president of America.
04:51 You can't nobody tell me nothing, honestly,
04:55 'cause some people don't even believe that that was me.
04:58 - Amen.
04:59 - I'm Dre, the bestie, and we getting drunk tonight.
05:03 - Why you drinking water?
05:06 - This is it.
05:07 (laughing)
05:08 This ain't water.
05:08 - No water in this house, baby.
05:10 - She has been someone who has been
05:13 just up and open about life,
05:15 and her confidence back then and her confidence now,
05:17 I feel like it's the same,
05:18 'cause she's gonna do what she needs to do.
05:21 She's Dominique, you know?
05:23 She's DD.
05:24 - Period.
05:25 - Yeah.
05:26 - I love her glow up
05:26 because it's gotten her further out of her shell.
05:28 I look at her and every day she feel like
05:30 she can take on the world, and I'm here for it.
05:32 That's what I love to see.
05:33 The energy she has every day is just outstanding,
05:36 like the person she is.
05:38 (upbeat music)
05:39 (cheering)
05:42 - Thank you.
05:43 (cheering)
05:45 - Uh oh.
05:46 (cheering)
05:49 - What I would like to say to Dominique today is
05:52 I'm proud of her.
05:53 She made a tremendous change,
05:55 not just for her, for her child as well.
05:58 So I'm very proud of her.
06:00 She's glowing.
06:02 - This toast is to a fun night tonight.
06:04 We're celebrating not only Dominique's birthday,
06:07 but we're also celebrating her process and her journey.
06:10 May she forever be that (beep)
06:12 - Cheers.
06:13 (cheering)
06:15 - What the future holds for me is continuing my business.
06:19 That's called the You're Bariatric Bestie.
06:21 Basically explaining to people my journey,
06:24 helping you, answering your questions,
06:26 knowing that you're not alone,
06:27 that you don't have to go through it alone like I did.
06:29 I'm here to help you.
06:30 Do it for yourself.
06:31 Don't do it for anybody else.
06:33 Because if you do it for other people,
06:34 you're not gonna be happy.
06:36 A lot of people kept telling me that.
06:37 They was like, you're not mentally ready.
06:38 You're not emotionally ready.
06:40 You're not physically ready
06:41 because you're not ready to change your life.
06:43 You don't know what I'm ready to do.
06:45 (upbeat music)
06:47 (upbeat music)
06:50 (upbeat music)
06:53 (upbeat music)
06:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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