AGE: 26
CITY: Brampton, Ont.
By The Numbers: 220 at my heaviest, and currently 130. Height: 5'2"
The Weight Gain: I'm the classic story of the girl that had been overweight her entire life. I grew up in a household where food was everything. My family loves to eat, and healthy alternatives to traditional meals were never really explored. In addition to a poor diet, I wasn't the most active child either. I was happy — just always overweight.
I’ve tried every fad diet in the book. Low carb, low fat and consuming too little calories. Oh, and the best was the "soup diet." In addition to this I've tried detoxes and weight loss pills. Nothing worked for me.
About five years ago at the age of 20 and after living on campus during university, my weight had reached its highest point. I gained 20 pounds and was a whopping 220 pounds. It was becoming increasingly hard to do simple tasks like climb stairs or speed walk to a class. Finally, I asked a friend if I had put on some weight and she responded with “yes, you have”. As a side note, since I was always that fun outgoing girl, no one ever commented on me being “overweight”. My friend’s answer came as a bit of a surprise. At the time, she had been one of my closest friends and I saw concern in her eyes. It was getting out of control and I knew it. It was from that point on that I seriously knew a change had to come and I, for the first time ever, made a life time commitment to myself that my life would change for the better.
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