00:00At my heaviest weight I weighed 340.8 pounds. There were a lot of occasions
00:06where I was made fun of for my weight and it definitely hits home. And I was
00:10always a shy and introvert because of that. I lost 150 pounds in about a year.
00:16Here's the bridesmaid's dress. Honestly now when I look back at these pictures I'm
00:20like who is that? How would you describe your weight slash size over the years?
00:32So I've been overweight ever since I was a kid. I don't think it got bad until my
00:37last two years of high school. My eating and drinking habits were very poor. I
00:42consumed probably upwards of 3,000 calories a day. I was bullied. I was told
00:47I should be drinking slim fast. There were a lot of occasions where I was made
00:51fun of for my weight and it definitely hits home. And I was always a shy and
00:55introvert because of that. How did bullies treat Danielle? Bullies treated
01:00Danielle kind of rough. We would go shopping and she would never find
01:07anything. She didn't really have as many options as I did. I guess I just didn't
01:13realize how difficult it was for her or how hard it was for her to find things
01:17that flattered her. The first substantial time when I tried losing weight was for
01:22my sister's wedding. My other sister and I were bridesmaids and we had these very
01:27nice black dresses and I lost a good 40 for the wedding. But once the wedding
01:32happened I you know my motivation slipped. So this picture is from my
01:39graduation from my master's. Isn't that crazy how big my arm was there? Or my chin.
01:46Look at your fingers. Even your fingers look bigger. Mm-hmm.
01:51Here's the bridesmaids dress. See how like tight it was like right in the right
01:56here? Crazy. I swear I don't even remember you being that big. Me neither. Like
02:03honestly. It's now when I look back at these pictures I'm like who is that?
02:08Yeah you it's you're not even the same person. The turning point for me to lose
02:14weight was when I was on a trip in Kentucky with my mom and my sister and
02:19we went hiking up this rock formation. There was one at one point where I had
02:24to lift myself up with my body weight and it took me so long to do it. I even
02:29had to stop and take a break and let people pass me. And it was really
02:33embarrassing. I saw my sister do it with ease. I saw my 50 something year old mom
02:38do it with ease. And at that point like I knew it was me. I was very very
02:44strict with myself. I didn't really allow myself cheat meals for the first like
02:49nine months or so. And then I kind of loosened the reins a little bit. So when
02:53I was 340 pounds I wasn't able to exercise in the way that I am now. I
02:58wasn't able to run. And the most I did at the gym for the first two months of my
03:02journey was 30 minutes on the elliptical and a couple dumbbell exercises with
03:07for my arms. Now though I'm able to run about three or four miles a day. I work
03:14out five days a week. It varies but you know I'm very able-bodied and what I'm
03:20able to do now which is very different from when I was 340 pounds.
03:28At my heaviest weight I weighed 340.8 pounds. I lost 150 pounds in about a year.
03:36I'm very happy with where I am right now. A healthy lifestyle is important to me
03:42because it allows me to live the life that I want to. It allows me to be active.
03:48I knew I would have excess skin. I just didn't know how much. A lot of my excess
03:53skin is in my stomach. As you can see I have a lot on my thighs. I can literally
04:00like lift my thigh up and this is all excess skin. I'd rather have what five
04:08pounds maybe of loose skin versus being morbidly obese. I think that documenting
04:14myself on Instagram as a form of accountability has definitely helped
04:18inspire some people along the way. I get people that message me on Instagram
04:22stating that I've motivated them. I've helped inspire them to start their
04:25weight loss journey and that just means the absolute world to me.
04:30How did it make you feel seeing Danielle back in her bridesmaid's dress?
04:33I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Danielle in her bridesmaid's dress again.
04:40All right here it is. Look at how huge it is. That's how much extra we got going on here.
04:50I really did not realize how big she was at the time and how much weight she's lost.
04:57Has she changed since she lost the weight and how?
05:07Okay. I'm trying to.
05:12I have definitely seen a change in Danielle since she's lost the weight because she is a
05:18different person now. She's outgoing. She's free-spirited. She really
05:23is a completely different person. You think you'd be this emotional?
05:30Well I would have been nice to know these damn questions. I let you know them. You did not.
05:36Losing 150 pounds is not an easy task to do but if you're hesitant or you're wanting to change
05:41your life but you just don't have the motivation or you don't know how to start just all I can say
05:45is get started the next day. Don't wait. Get going and get moving.
Comments