Beginning My Journey

Back in November, I woke up one morning and decided that I was done with my same stagnant, repetitive routine that consisted of eating junk food, watching tv, and doing the bare minimum for myself when it came to my mental, emotional, and physical health.

In 2011 we started to notice I was having health issues, and in 2013 I was finally diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). This is a syndrome that can hinder your ability to lose weight, but it’s extremely easy to gain weight. It causes a multitude of health issues and is considered a hormonal disorder. In my specific case, I have insulin resistant PCOS, which means I don’t produce enough insulin to match my high blood sugar levels, I’m constantly fatigued, I have patches of extremely dark skin, and I overproduce testosterone and underproduce estrogen.

I’ve always been self conscious of my weight, my darker skin patches, and my overgrowth of hair because of the amount of testosterone I was producing. On top of that, being diagnosed with PCOS at such a young age was very impactful on my mental and emotional health. I saw myself as a health issue that had no end in sight and my self esteem was very low. I’ve tried countless diets, exercise plans, and programs and none of them worked. It was very disheartening to fail time and time again, so eventually I just gave up and accepted my new normal that consisted of constantly stressing that I was pre-diabetic, worrying about my mental health, and not being fully confident in the body that I was in.

Something clicked this year and after being diagnosed I decided that I had enough of my current lifestyle. Obviously, the change most of you see is the physical one, and of course I see it and am proud of it. But the real change I’ve seen in myself is my mental and emotional strength. I’ve never been this healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally. Even with my self doubt in the past, I’ve always loved myself, but this is the first time I’ve been proud of myself and of what I’ve done to improve my life.

I genuinely couldn’t have done this without the help of my family and friends. My parents have supported me through this, Shelbi has supported me and answered every single minuscule question I’ve had regarding food, and Kirsten has been my constant support and motivator jumping into this new lifestyle change with me. My friends have encouraged me, supported me, and most importantly everyone has loved me the same both before and after my changes.

One thing I’ve noticed since starting this journey is that there is a lot of glamorizing weight loss and a lack of support for women suffering from different hormonal imbalances. Because of this, I am going to begin my own blog where I openly discuss the realities of weight loss, what it’s like suffering from PCOS, the health tips I’ve learned along the way, my favorite recipes, and my overall experiences and pieces of information I want to share with all of you. Thank you for taking the time to read this and supporting me on this journey and lifestyle!

Heaviest weight: 271.0 lbs

Start weight: 251.2 lbs

Left Picture: 244.5 lbs

Right Picture and Current weight: 192.0 lbs