Shawna

My weight loss journey started when I tipped the scale at 330 pounds. I was extremely obese and I did not want to live my life that way. I went on many different diets and I had many personal trainers at the gym but nothing seemed to work. My cousin Jenn was on a diet but it had been months since I had talked to her or seen her. When I finally did see her I was in shock because she had lost so much weight! Jenn and I have always been around the same weight so I had to know how she did it. That’s when I found out about this program. I knew eventually I wanted to get married and have kids. I wanted to be able to take my kids to the park and slide down the slide with them, or take them to amusement parks and ride the rides with them, and not sit on the sidelines and just wave to them. I wanted to be able to walk up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing, I wanted to be able to go outside and play a game of dodge ball with the kids at my work, but most of all I wanted to just be truly happy. I wanted to do a lot with my life and at the rate I was going with my weight I didn’t know how long I would be around. I woke up November 20, 2006, and decided that today was the day I was going to start. Yes, it sounds crazy, who would start something three days before Thanksgiving, but I figured if I could get through the holidays I could get through anything! As the weeks went by I was dropping weight quickly. I felt amazing. I was getting new clothes, people at work and school were starting to notice, and I felt great. It wasn’t until I had lost 121 pounds, and everything started to sink in. I walked into the doctor’s office that day and he told me it was time to see my “before” picture. I stared in disbelief with tears streaming down my face. I was sitting there at 209 pounds for the first time, saying “I DID IT!” No one else did it but me. That was the first time in many years that I have ever been truly proud of myself. I knew I still had a ways to go but taking it a day at a time I would make it! I knew that it took me years to put on all this weight and it would definitely take some time to get it all off.Now when I look at my “before” pictures at 330 pounds and my current pictures at 170 pounds (160 pound weight loss), I look so unhappy in the “before” pictures. I was happy on the outside but deep down I was miserable about my weight. I get upset with myself knowing that I had let myself go so far out of control. My dreams have come true! I got married June, 2008 to Adam, a wonderful man serving our Country in the U.S Army. Working out and watching my daily food intake has paid off. It is the best feeling in the world to have your family and friends proud of you. I know I did it for myself, but I did it for them as well because I wanted to be around for them and I knew if I did not succeed at this I probably would not be here today.