Presenting The First Freshmen: Gabby

Hello all. :) I'm Gabby. I'm six feet tall (no, no basketball), 18 and very, very fat. After years of being fat, and being called more names than one can imagine, you must find it strange that I decided to start now, so late in the teenager game, instead of sooner or simply not at all. Well, I'll tell you what my kick in the ass was. <3

Early March, 2009: While I was watching a weight loss show (that will remain nameless), they showed a man who was going to get surgery. This man had never worked out, ate constantly, and was very, very large. This surgery was to save his life. For three days before the surgery, he had to stay on a liquid diet. Water, broths, the works. However, one night, he recorded his self crying because his family was cooking hamburgers...HAMBURGERS!? The horror! Anyway. Now, I don't mean he was sitting around thinking, "Hmm...I'd enjoy one, too bad I can't", he was really upset. Crying, sobbing, saying he wasn't ready to say good bye to food, the works. Watching this, I felt pity and a little disgusted. I thought, in all of my open mindedness, "It's just food. Get over it!" Then another thought hit me. "How am I any different?" I used to eat like I was a starving day laborer all the time and then complain about my weight mid-bite. Right then and there, I said I quit. I quit being that fat girl, that fat friend, that statistic. I quit.

April 1st, 2009: I finally weighed myself. I had started the change, sure. I was eating better, getting daily walks. But I just didn't want to face the scale. I knew it would crush me. And it did. Hard. Like, boulder hard. I weighed in at a whooping 349. I cried in the nurse's office at college, and I cried that night for hours. I couldn't believe it. The biggest in my family. That was me. But I didn't give up. I couldn't be attached to that damn number for another second.

Today, July 29th, 2009: Today, I am pleased to say that I've lost about 72 pounds. I'm under 300 for the first time in years and I love it. I weigh in now at a solid 277. It's still a big number, but it's so much less than I used to be and knowing how far I've come, I know I can only get better and better. I go to the gym 6 days a week and have learned to at least tolerate it. I don't diet. I eat what I want. Ice cream, a hamburger, if I really want it, it's going down. What's the difference? Calorie counting. I'm responsible for what goes in my mouth and can decide if I want a 500 calorie hamburger and nothing else for the day because I ate breakfast, or if I want something healthier, for filling and, nine times out of ten, tastier. All about choices.

I want want to share my story because I want to keep myself accountable. I need to know that someone, even one person, is watching. I won't disappoint. I'm going to do this and emerge with a whole new body. Will my clothes change? My personality? My life? Will I be more outgoing?...I doubt it, but I'll be happier with myself, and that's all that matters.

SW: 349

CW: 277

Goal: 162

It's gonna be a bumpy ride. <3

Love & Peace,

Gabby