BEFORE & AFTER

My Story:

I am a 41-year-old mother of 3, a wife and a nurse, and I’ve been struggling with my weight for more than 20 years. During the course of my weight loss efforts, I tried every diet, exercise plan, and medically supervised program available to me. I would lose some of the weight, but gain it right back, adding a few extra pounds each time.

By the time I started Nursing School in my early 20’s, I had gained 40 lbs and added another 60 lbs over the course of the next 18 months. I was miserable. Soon after graduation I got married and two years later became pregnant with my first child. At this point, I weighed almost 300 lbs. By the time of delivery I was unable to weigh in on my doctor’s scale, which remains the most embarrassing and humiliating feeling I have ever experienced. When reaching 409 lbs in 2004, Gastric Bypass surgery was suggested to me. I thought, this would be my solution, my cure to my life-long struggle with obesity.

Yes, I did lose weight, but no one ever told me about the severe depression that would follow the surgery. Over the course of the next four years, three more pregnancies followed, one of them sadly ending in a miscarriage, which once again triggered a debilitating depression. Despite the previous weight loss, I never reached my initial goal weight of under 200 lbs, instead I ballooned back up to 270 lbs. Then, with my 40th birthday approaching, I made a promise to myself that has changed my life and helped me reach and maintain a healthier weight and lifestyle ever since.

 

My experience with Diet Doctors and their staff:

Since joining Diet Doctors in late 2010, Dr. Phillips, the physicians and her staff have made every effort to help me reach my goal weight. I am most grateful for their compassion, for keeping me motivated and for supporting me every step of the way.

 

What motivated me to lose weight?

The big 4-0 was 2 years away, so I said, “now it’s my turn!” Something about making myself the promise of not starting my “40’s” fat, made me change my thinking about everything. I’ve always been a people pleaser, never saying “no”, and putting myself and my needs last. But once I made the decision to change that type of thinking, it put a fire within me that gave me such a motivation that I wish I could bottle.

At first, my energy level was non-existent and my appetite huge. I started out slowly by eating heavier in the morning and lighter in the evening. I went to the gym and walked on the treadmill, and soon was able to increase my exercise from just walking to jogging. The more weight I lost, the better I felt and looked, and the more motivated I became.

 

What were/are my biggest challenges?

I’ve been struggling with obesity all my life, because no matter what the problem was, I would always find comfort in food. Food was my closest friend – my soulmate. My weight got worse as I tried to balance life, a career, motherhood and being a wife. I also suffered from severe depression following Gastric Bypass surgery in 2004, and a miscarriage two years later.

 

Special tip(s) I would like to share:

Anything you truly desire is there for the taking, you just can’t ever give up that desire and you must put yourself first! I can honestly say, that I never would have thought that at 41 years of age I would feel this sexy, this healthy, this full of life!!! I feel, that my journey has helped me find my calling to pursue the weight loss industry and inspire as many people as I can.