~ MY STORY ~

When I was born I weighed 9lbs 1 oz. So I was a pretty hefty baby. Until i turned 8 I was a pretty skinny child, I weighed the normal amount for my age. Then one day (when I was 10) i looked at myself in the mirror and I was like ewh! Do i really look like this? Now when I was 10 my parents got divorced so I was in between houses, and it was a really awkward and ugly stage in my life. I definitely wasn't the "pretty" girl when I was 10-12. But I was 10, I didn't really know anything. Then when I turned 12 me and my mom moved into a nice apartment and I think that's when things started just going downhill very quickly for my health. I was drinking 6 42oz cups of juice per day PLUS at least 4 24 oz cups of some sort of soda, usually dr pepper. I would be at my dads house after school and he was supposed to make me dinner there then my mom would come pick me up at 6:30 or 7. Well my dad would make me dinner and i'd eat a big sized portion then an hour and a half later i'd go to my moms house and eat another big dinner. I'd just tell her that I didn't eat at my dads. That continued for about a year (so you can imagine the amount of weight I gained) then in 7th grade when I was 13 i knew i was a little bigger than everyone else buti didn't think it was much of a difference. I weighed over 240lbs that year. I had trouble running and doing PE. Actually one time we were outside playing kickball and i tripped and fell on a guy and he started coughing up blood. ( That was SOO embarrassing!!) I was eating a lot of snacks at home. At my school we have to bring our lunch so a typical lunch that i'd bring would be like a frozen dinner (around 500 calories) goldfish (250 calories) a homemade brownie and 3 homemade cookies (400 calories) caprisun (170 calories) chips (200 calories). That's 1500 calories right there! Then add my breakfast usually one of those Jimmy dean ham and cheese croissant (400 calories) then add the other 2 potential dinners i'd eat later that day. I wouldn't be surprised if I was eating 3000 calories per day. I went to the gym every once and a while I'd get on the treadmill for like 10 minutes and it would be really hard for me to do so I would end up leaving the gym and not going back. 8th grade was pretty much the same thing except i gained more weight and reached my highest weight ever. 271 lbs! And I was only 14. I remember my throat was so soar and my mom thought i had strep so she took me to the doctor so of course they did the height weight blood pressure. You know all the normal doctors visit things. The doctor came in later and said " the strep test was negative. So instead I am very concerned about your weight. 271 lbs." Then she went on to talk about herself. In 6th grade they noticed my blood sugar levels were high so they sent me to this "healthful living" program at duke raleigh that didn't do anything and was a waste of money. In 7th grade I had to go to duke raleigh every 6 weeks to monitor my weight and blood sugar. I was then put on metformin (a pill to control my blood sugar levels). That's why the folds of my arms and neck were super dark, basically a different color than the rest of my skin. It was my body staining itself. I was making to much insulin because I was eating/drinking WAYY to many sweets Eventually i stopped going to duke raleigh because every time I went it was bad news and it scared me as a 13 year old. I was just like any girl. I wanted a boyfriend and feel pretty and actually be able to do things. For a few months I just put my weight problems in the back of my mind. Then in December of 2012 I was at a Christmas party and i thought to myself hmm what if I gave up drinking soda and juice, I wonder what would happen. So I tried it. Within a week i noticed my energy level go up. Within 6 months i noticed the folds of my arms and neck were a little lighter. Now here i am 2 years later and I haven't had a whole thing of soda in a year and a half. I haven't had any sort of juice in 2 years. I only drink water and here lately i've drunk a good amount of milk. And that's it. That's all i drink. Well in december 2012 I told myself i'm gonna loose weight with the help of God it will happen. In december 2012 I bought a treadmill and i ran on it for an hour a day for a few months. I started eating healthy, not eating out, counting calories, not eating sweets but only 1 time per week, getting more sleep, only drinking water, eating tons of vegetables and fruit. 2013 was the year that I started seeing results. In september 2013 i noticed i went down a dress size. I was now wearing a 16 and xl clothes. Then in 2014 my body went into super weight loss mode and i've seen HUGE results! Since december 2012 i've lost 72lbs! I went from a size 18/20 now to a size 10/12 with an occasional 13. I went from size xxl shirts now to size small and medium shirts. I get so many compliments now I feel prettier and more confident. The only bad thing that I can say about this weight loss is the 15 or 20lbs of loose skin I have on my legs, arms, and stomach. It's so nasty and it just hangs there and is not attractive at all! And people always asks me how I did it. I honestly couldn't of done it without Gods help. He is how I lost this weight I think. Because knowing how I was before there's no way i could've lost over 70lbs by myself. I got closer to God and my spiritual life improved and that was the best thing of all! God just put everything in place. It was amazing! But in May 2014 I got a job at moes and i've gained about 10lbs :((( so i'm trying to do everything I can to control myself eating there. Please pray for me i have a very hard time controlling myself when it comes to junk food or just food in general. My goal is to loose 150lbs total. I weighed 271 now I weigh around 199. My goal is to weigh between 120-150lbs!! :)