Before: 605 lbs
After: 222 lbs
“I decided to undergo weight-loss surgery because I was legitimately sick and tired of being sick and tired. I knew that there had to be more to living than what I was doing, which was just existing. I wanted to be able to travel, have a family, and be the wife that my husband deserves. I felt I had more to offer myself, friends, and family than just having them help take care of me. I was too young to feel so old. I needed to participate and be a part of the world. I once told my best friend that I am too fabulous to be this un-fabulous.
“The biggest change that I have made, obviously, is what I eat and how I eat. But it does go a little bit deeper than that. I no longer look at food to solve my problems or to make me feel better. In order for me to stay focused and continue to live this amazing new life, I choose to love myself and to be happy. I stay on course because I have worked too hard to get my life back. I also go to counseling. I believe that if I had not gone through the counseling before, during, and after losing weight, then I would not have come as far as I have, nor would I continue to succeed.
“Since losing weight, I am able to do things I have always wanted to do. I am no longer angry, upset, or feel the need to hide. I am able to live a life that is true to me. I knew when I started this journey that my life was going to get better. But, I had no idea that my life was going to be this amazing! My weight was my prison. Now I am free, and I can do whatever I want whenever I want. My life is an amazing life, one that I could not even have imagined it was going to be. I am going to take every moment and cherish it. It is still hard sometimes, but I will take this hard over ‘my 600-pound-life’ hard any day.”