I’ve been morbidly obese my entire life. All I remember during my childhood years was being overweight. I accepted my size, the stares from people in the street, and the mean comments. I was too consumed with food to care. Of course I got depressed about it, but eating made me feel better, so that’s what I spent most of my time and money on. Fast food was my passion, and I practically ate it every night. If there were a dollar menu anywhere, I would find myself there.
In April 2019, my life changed forever. My friends and I went to watch a hockey game in Nashville. The chairs were so small I had to squeeze myself into them to sit down. I couldn’t finish watching the game because the pain was unbearable. I stood up, burst into tears, and made my way back to the hotel room. My friends tried to comfort me the best way they knew how but there was nothing they could say to console me.
I weighed 557lbs, and the thought of the work it was going to take to lose the weight made me cry even harder, but I had to do something. There was no way I could continue living like this. That day, I looked in the mirror and asked myself one simple question, “Do you want to live, or do you want to die?” At that moment, I chose to live. I was too young to give up on life, there was so much I wanted to do, and there was no way I could continue being as big as I was.
I set a goal to walk 10,000 steps per day and change my diet, and I swapped fast food for healthy home-cooked meals. I had a major problem binge eating at night because I couldn’t sleep. But I found that my sleep pattern improved when I started eating properly and exercising.
Walking was difficult for me. If I needed to go anywhere, I always drove. Not only did I want to avoid the stares, but I didn’t have the energy to walk. I was out of breath after a few short steps. But when I started walking, I realized how much I loved it. The fresh air made me feel awesome, and it wasn’t long before I was walking the equivalent of half a marathon a day.
Being as big as I was, I didn’t focus on visible weight loss because it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. I focused on the way I felt. Healthy eating and walking made me feel spectacular, and so I kept doing it. It wasn’t long before I started noticing a difference, and my friends and family did too.
Today I weigh 256lbs, I’ve lost a total of 301lbs, and I feel amazing. When I look at pictures of the old me, I can’t believe how big I used to be. My smile was never genuine because I always wished I could be someone else. But now, I’m that person I used to dream about, slim and athletic with a bright future ahead of me.
This journey has been excruciating, but I am living proof that morbid obesity is not a death sentence. Anyone can change their life if they’re determined to do so.
