00:00 At my heaviest weight I was 386 pounds.
00:03 I felt diminished.
00:06 I felt very embarrassed, just disappointed in myself.
00:12 I honestly could not fit through the door with my son in my arms.
00:17 I'd have been down and called my husband and asked him to come home so he could take care of him.
00:22 That was a very big realization for me.
00:25 I started my weight loss journey about three and a half years ago.
00:29 I have lost 248 pounds and I've done it for my children.
00:33 I've been morbidly obese since I was a teenager.
00:41 My relationship with food was, I was very dependent on receiving that emotional satisfaction with food.
00:50 It never occurred to her that she wasn't like everyone else until someone in her peer group pointed it out.
00:58 You know, kids can be really cruel.
01:00 At that point when the peer reaction and the bullying kind of began, I think it made it worse.
01:09 Now it became an emotional problem.
01:12 I kind of ate what I wanted when I wanted.
01:15 There were times that I would go and order a cheeseburger and fries there
01:22 and then drive across the street, order dessert or additional food there.
01:28 So people didn't assume that I was ordering it all for myself.
01:33 Do you want a fork or are you good?
01:36 I'm good.
01:37 My kids are Adelie and Ezra.
01:41 Ezra is special needs. He has cerebral palsy.
01:45 At the time I was over 300 pounds when I had him.
01:48 He was very ill.
01:50 He's had many surgeries over the years and he needed a mom that was going to be able to take care of him appropriately.
01:58 The turning point in my weight loss was definitely trying to pick up my son and put him in the bathroom.
02:07 And I couldn't fit myself or him through the door.
02:10 I had to put him down and call my husband and ask him to come home from work so he could take care of him.
02:16 I felt diminished.
02:19 I felt very embarrassed, just disappointed in myself that I had gotten to that point where not only could I not fully take care of some basic needs
02:32 but I couldn't help my son in the moments that he really needed me.
02:36 That was a very big realization for me that I needed to change my life.
02:41 At my heaviest weight I was 386 pounds.
02:45 I weigh about 140 pounds now.
02:48 My lifestyle is my gym. That is a part of who I am now.
02:54 I work out five days a week. If I could work out seven days a week I would.
02:59 I love deadlifting. I love squats. I love working delts.
03:13 I feel pretty happy with the amount of excess skin that I have.
03:19 It represents growth and change and evolution of who I am and who I plan to be.
03:27 And it's good. It's okay to have loose skin. It doesn't define me as a human being.
03:39 If you asked me if I'd love to get it removed I would say yes because I want to compete in bodybuilding.
03:47 My interest in bodybuilding sparked probably after the first year and a half of being in the gym itself.
03:55 I want to be able to show other people that it is possible.
03:59 That you can go from this to a completely different mental attitude and discipline.
04:08 I have learned so much from her. With her emotional journey, the weight journey.
04:14 She's accepted her body. The scars, the skin. All of it is a story of her life.
04:20 I am very proud of myself and my achievements. I think I've come a very long way.
04:26 I think I've created a better future for my kids.
04:29 I am very active in their lives. More so than I ever have been before.
04:34 There's always an opportunity to be better and do better.
04:38 And you're going to fall along the way and that's okay.
04:42 But you don't give up. You keep going.
04:46 You got this.
04:47 [Music]
04:51 [Music]
04:54 [Music]
04:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments