I’ve been obese since I was six years old. My parents didn’t realize what they were doing when they were feeding us carbs and sugary foods. I think it was more about the money because those foods were cheaper. I literally felt like a freak of nature. Not only was I fat, but I was tall, and I stood out like a sore thumb. I couldn’t walk down the street without people giving me looks of disgust. I didn’t blame them because that was how I looked at myself every time I walked past a mirror. I was despicable.
I coped by making myself the butt of every joke. In a social setting, I knew people would have something to say about my weight, so I said it first to protect myself. I was constantly embarrassing myself because I was always breaking chairs. I laughed it off, but deep down, I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me.
The turning point for me was one day my friends challenged me to eat eighteen hot dogs, so I did it. They were all cheering me on while I stuffed my face, but afterward, I threw up, I was sick for the rest of the day, and I felt like a fool. I told my sister about it, and she asked me why I would do something so stupid. She said my friends weren’t laughing with me, they were laughing at me. They didn’t respect me because I didn’t respect myself. It was at that moment I decided that something had to change.
I started going to the gym every day and working out. I became so focused and refused to let anything stand in the way of my progress. I was going to lose the weight by any means necessary.
When you start your weight loss journey, it’s so important to remember why you started your journey in the first place. It’s your why that will get you out of bed in the morning when you don’t feel like it. It’s your why that will motivate you to cook a healthy meal instead of ordering a takeaway.
Although I lost 239lbs and I was full of energy and confidence, I had an abundance of loose skin that I wasn’t happy about. My clothes didn’t fit me properly, and I had a weird shape. I would definitely take the loose skin over being overweight, but I wanted to be confident enough to take my clothes off in public, and having surgery was the only way I could achieve this, and so that is what I did. I can now say that I’m one hundred percent happy with my body. I can walk down the street as a normal person, people don’t stare at me anymore, and I’m so grateful for that.
I rarely had a girlfriend when I was overweight, and I didn’t blame women for not finding me attractive because I knew what I looked like. But now I have a beautiful partner, we’ve been dating for five months, and I’m so happy.
I’m doing everything I’ve always wanted, such as climbing mountains and hiking. I’m about to start learning to surf. Had I not lost the weight, I would have missed out on these wonderful opportunities and would never have lived up to my full potential.
