Cheryl S.
"To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it."
~Bunker Hunt
My name is Cheryl and I am 35 years old. I live in Decatur, GA, I was born and raised in Belle Glade, FL. I was brought up with a strong sense of family and friendship and these are the things that I value most in my life.
I suppose, because I never really understood the value of good nutrition, that my weight problem started when I was about 25....and only grew worse. I was always active which kept me thinner during adolescence moments. But, after I married my husband at 25, we fell into the 'comfy couples syndrome'.....and even more poor habits. That's when the weight really started coming on. Over the next ten years we experienced some of life's greatest joys, including the birth of our child, as well as some of the deepest heartache life has to offer. All of these things, good and bad, impacted my weight. In a sense, I guess the focus came so much off of me and that, combined with all of the poor behaviors, led me on a path of self-destruction.
So here I was, just 33 years old.....and over 367 pounds now, not having the energy to do much of anything. My joints ached when I moved...and I had to avoid going places for fear I wouldn't fit. I could barely sit behind the wheel of my car...or get up and down the stairs. I didn't have a lap for my child to sit on and he couldn't get his arms around me. I was kept from doing many of the things that I enjoyed because of my size and had to resort mostly to mail order catalogs just to get clothes that fit. I was well aware that I was extremely overweight...and knew what that meant for my health. I could already feel the damage I was doing...and it was confirmed by my doctor. I would look in the mirror and wonder how I got this big....I also wondered how I would ever lose so much weight. I always 'planned' to do something about it....but it was overwhelming even to think about having to lose over 200 pounds. Although I considered myself a happy person....I honestly had no idea how much happier I really could be.
I had tried to lose weight before..... I had even been a Weight Watcher, but never really followed the program as it was intended. I had what we call 'free days' where I would eat everything in sight simply because I had just been weighed....and I focused much more on what the scale was saying each week instead of the positive changes I was making each and every day. This all catches up to you...and the scale.....here is where I lost my motivation and fell right back into old behaviors. I had lost 50, and even 80 pounds at one point in my life.....only to gain it, as well as another 100 or so pounds back!! The way society conditions us regarding weight loss, while stuffing fast food down our throat, didn't help matters much either. We are taught that by simply eating less and moving more we lose weight...and that is not all it takes. I think, in my case anyway, it had alot more to do with what I wasn't eating. There was alot for me to learn, and alot for me to change. Weight Watchers offered the tools to help me, as well as the support....but ultimately it was all up to me.
Now, I will be having weight loss surgery, notice I said I will. I will not give up, despite all that you go through to get approved, I will not give up. I am ready for a better and a newer me!
