In order for you to truly understand how far I have come - you need to understand where I have been. I have never been a "thin" girl. In high school I was slightly (like 10-20 pounds) overweight. I was involved in drill team for all 4 years of high school and joined the soccer team my senior year and got down to a size 7.

Then I went off to college and I ballooned up and up and up. The constant partying, drinking and multiple 1000 calories meals every day killed me and I had no school sports to help keep my weight stable so away I went. It seems like I blinked and was over 200 pounds.

I tried everything, Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, the cabbage soup diet, even diet pills and they worked; when I worked them-but they are only as good as I was and I always faltered. I was fat and miserable. I didn't realize I was so unhappy until I went on a trip with my girlfriends to Vegas and didn't have fun. I mean it's VEGAS BABY right? What was my problem?   I will tell you what my problem was: I was fat and unhealthy. I couldn't walk around in the heat (who am I kidding even if it was 50 degrees I couldn't walk around), I could barely tie my shoes.

I went to the doctor and found out I had high cholesterol, pre-diabetes and had to monitor my sugar. I thought, “This is crazy I am only 33 years old!” While I have never been thin I have always been healthy (at least for an overweight person). I was now "Morbidly Obese" and only 4’ 11.5”.  I should’ve weighed between 99 and 115 pounds. I needed to do something because I did not want to be diabetic and have to take medication for a problem that I created.

My boss actually is the one that put a "trainer" idea into my head. He had a trainer and it was working for him, he even said he would pay for it.  I decided to search for a trainer in Boynton Beach and two companies called me back. I met with the owner of one and knew right away these were the people that would change my life - no scratch that - that would help me change my life. My boss also said I could come in late so I could workout in the mornings.   I often work late hours anyway, so there were no more excuses.

Or at least I thought - but a trainer was so expensive.  If I go to a trainer four times a week, that would equal almost $1000 a month. But then I decided to look at it this way: I was so overweight that people were telling me to have gastric bypass surgery.  I thought, “No Way!”  I had no major health issues and if I had surgery there could be major complications.  Plus the surgery is only a beginning.  Once I get it, I will need to change what I eat and how I treat my body, so why not start there?

I needed to just do it. I took the money that I could’ve spent on surgery and invested it in myself, in my health. I started this journey as a pre-diabetic 254 lb woman that could not even walk for a mile at 3 mph.  Today I am not at my final goal but at 177.8 pounds I feel great. I went to the doctor and my cholesterol is good and no more diabetic conditions exist. Walking at 3 mph now is not even a warm up.  (I can even run a little). My trainers didn’t do it for me, but they did give me the tools to do it myself. I can’t say what made this time different for me; all I know is where I am today and where I am going and where I will NEVER be again.