My Backstory
Growing up I loved food especially chips, cookies, ice cream, sugary cereals etc. Basically, any highly processed food that contained large amounts of sugar, fat, and salt and was considered as “junk food.” My parents tried to prevent me from overeating these snacks by hiding them in their room, but I would still find them. If there was Lucky Charms cereal in the house, I would have a few bowls just to keep getting the marshmallows.
By the time I was 13, I weighed 204 lbs. and I was miserable! I was very self-conscious about my weight and was constantly teased at school for it by the other kids. Clothes shopping at that age was agonizing too. I hated the way clothes fit especially pants and the shirts were no picnic either. I remember having to shop in the women’s section where nothing was cute or geared towards a 13-year-old girl.
So how did I lose the weight? Well, I have my mom to thank for helping me get started. Concerned about both my physical and mental health and not entirely sure how to approach the issue, she came to me one day and asked if I would like to sign up at a weight loss center with her. My mom was overweight too at the time so doing this together sounded like a good plan. I was absolutely excited that I was going to be able to lose the weight and that I would get to do it with my mom.
The weight loss center had put both my mom and I on a 1200 calories a day and discussed healthier food choices and what to do when we had the urge to overeat. We were also required to purchase portion-controlled meals and check in weekly with the counselors to see how our weight loss was progressing. In addition my mom incorporated exercise by having everyone wake up early before school to head to the gym. There she had my brother and I walk around the track at least 12 times which would equate to 1 mile. After the first month my mom decided that the program was turning out to be quite expensive and figured out that she could purchase similar types of food from the grocery store for a lot less money. She had also spoke with the people at the weight loss center. The people there understood and were kind enough to allow us to continue to check in weekly for counseling and to take progress pictures along the way even though we would not be purchasing food from them any longer. I should note here that typically that would not have been allowed but for some reason they agreed to our plan which was very kind of them.
For the next 2 and a half years we would check in to track our progress and would continue to work out at least 3 days a week. By the time I was 16 had reached my goal weight and I lost a total of 87 lbs. Over the next several years, my focus was set on keeping the weight off which can be even harder than losing weight in the first place. I am very grateful to my mom for coming to me that day and I have her to thank for guiding me in the right directions. Losing all that weight helped me to come out of my shell and started my passion for studying nutrition and weight loss.