Tina's Weight Loss Success Story

Written by Sky Taylor, Diet Bites as told by Tina

Tina Was a Teenage Goblin! A Diet Bites Exclusive  - Tina's Story

On October 31st, I'll celebrate my 30th Birthday. Birthday's are a bit different for those of us born on celebrated holidays.  

Our lives and personalities tend to take on some of the attributes of the holiday.  In my case, I became a Goblin during my teenage years, meaning that I liked to gobble up everything in sight.  I felt fat, powerless, stressed out, and just flat ugly.

There were so many issues to deal with during that uncertain phase - skin problems, makeup decisions, that first car, and of course - getting a boyfriend.  I discovered that the more I tried to adjust and achieve all my hopes and dreams, the deeper I sank into the bowels of the gourmet feeding pond.

Everywhere I turned, there was some form of unhealthy food tempting me.  At school, it was the fried foods - French fries, chicken fried steak, and fried chicken.  

There was always the option of bringing my lunch, but unfortunately, my mom supported the theory that a healthy lunch consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a bag of name-brand potato chips, and a packaged cupcake - usually of the snowball variety.  Mom loved the color pink.

During recreational times, I was again hit with unhealthy choices.  

At the movies, there was the luscious hot buttered popcorn.  At the zoo, there was the cotton candy.  At the football games at High School, there were chili dogs and nachos.  And at home, there were those pink snowballs that mom loved so much.

Recreational times. What I considered as recreation, certainly was not!  

When I wasn't sitting at the movies, I was sitting at a football game, and when I wasn't sitting at a football game, I was sitting at home watching television, or talking on the phone to my very small circle of friends.

By the time I reached 17 my weight had soared to 215 pounds.  

What made that so bad was the fact that I was 5'0" tall.  Can you imagine how embarrassed I was?  

How fat I felt?  How unattractive I felt?  Truth is, I felt terrible, and thought of death continually.  I was always worrying about dying.  Why?  I felt that I was so large, that my health must certainly be at risk.

At least, according to the dentist, it was.  

One night I awoke with a terrible toothache and the following morning, mom took me to the dentist. He told mom that I needed to lose weight, then sent me home. He attributed my pain to an overdose of sweets, even though several weeks later another dentist discovered a cavity.  I suppose if I had accidentally cut off my finger, he would have said the same.

So to recap, I was fat, young, miserable, and one tormented soul.  And now, I suppose you are anxious to learn how quickly and how successfully that I lost weight. You may be surprised. You may not be.  This is my story...

It was January 1st, the beginning of a new year.  

I was 19 and I had really enjoyed the feasting of the holidays.  I was disgusted with my overweight self, but I didn't want to do the diet thing ever again.  

Each time I went on a diet, I ended up weighing more than when I had started the diet.  

So, what to do?  I wasn't sure, but I did know that I didn't want to go through life at that size.  I was tired of being fat.

On January 15th, I had made the decision of a lifetime.

I wasn't going on a 'diet' per say. I had chosen to simplify my life.  I decided that I had worried long enough over my weight.

From this point out, I was going to keep my life simple.  I was going to make a set of rules and follow them, and I wasn't going to worry anymore about the extra unwanted weight.

If my plan worked, then great. If not, I would know that I had done everything humanly possible to lose the weight. I also knew that I would at least be healthier, if not thinner.

And I was determined to be happy - fat or thin!

My simple plan? I promised myself that I would only make only healthy food choices.

I decided that I would cut out all snacks and eat three meals a day.  I promised myself that I would have one 'normal-sized' plate or one bowl for each meal of the day.  And if I missed a meal, then it was gone forever.  No double-mealing for me.

I decided that I would walk one mile every day, rain or shine, health permitting. I made a promise to myself that I was going to stick with this plan until January 1st of the following year.

I made a promise to myself that I would only weigh once a month, on the 1st of every month. If I wasn't losing weight, I didn't want to become depressed about that.  If I was, then great.  

This was going to be done as simply as possible.  I had other things in life that were out there, waiting for me.  I was going to forget all of this dieting stuff and get on with life. I was sick and tired of worrying about my weight, tired of being depressed over my weight.

Choosing to simplify my food intake choices was my way of solving my overweight problem and sweeping it aside so I could concentrate on these other things - wonderful, good things in life that until now I hadn't felt that I deserved.  All of this, simply because I was overweight.  It was really quite nuts.

Well, enough was enough!  

I made a promise that I wasn't going to worry about being overweight anymore!  

I would follow my simple plan, choose healthy foods, and be true to myself.  

What happened, would happen.  I would accept that - whether I was met with defeat, or with success and I would continue to live my life without being filled of constant thoughts of being overweight.  

Of being - as my dentist had phrased - obese, a word that I really do not like.

Losing the Fat Wasn't a Piece of Cake

It wasn't easy passing up cake and ice cream for apples and oranges.

It wasn't easy passing up chicken fried chicken for baked fish.

It wasn't easy passing up broccoli piled with creamy cheese sauce for plain steamed broccoli.  

And those three meals a day seemed very sparse at times.  I was tempted so many times to toss a bag of the extra-butter variety popcorn into the microwave and enjoy it with a glass of REAL soda.  

But I was true to myself and I stayed the course.

It wasn't easy some days, walking that meager one mile. When it rained, I went to the mall to walk.

When it snowed so badly that I was unable to go outside, I walked the mile inside the house.  

It wasn't easy, but I was true to myself and I stayed the course.

My results?

The following year on January 1st, my weight had dropped 102 pounds.  

My wardrobe from the previous year had been donated to charity.  Even then, I could hardly believe that those simple changes had made such a huge difference in my weight - in my very life.  

I went from a size 22 to a size 4.  Imagine that!

Healthy Results of Weight Loss

Am I happier?  Sure.  And I feel terrific.  

My sick days were also cut by at least 3/4. I used to suffer from continuous heartburn.  Not anymore.  

I used to have bouts of nausea. Not anymore.  

I used to have trouble breathing some days.  Not anymore.

I used to snore very loudly at night.  Not anymore.

A Word of Encouragement From Tina

If you are trying to lose weight, I would encourage you to try to simplify your diet.  

Cut out all of the items that aren't of the basic nature of life.  Don't allow anyone else to influence your decision to lose weight.  

Stay the course and be true to yourself, because yes, you are worth it!  Sometimes, friends mean well, but they can do more harm than good.

And in closing, I visited Diet Bites a few months ago in search of diet recipes to spice up my life and to keep me motivated.  

Keeping the weight off after my diet is an everyday battle. Yes, I have treats every now and then, but I know that if I don't work hard and watch what I eat, and exercise, I'll gain it all back, and probably more.  

I don't want to ever have to lose weight again.

When I found Diet Bites, I was shocked to discover a site that finally could relate to the normal person trying to lose weight and trying to maintain their weight.

I wrote and asked Diet Bites to please allow me to share my story, that I too would like to help people who are trying to lose weight.

I wish you great success with your diet.  Please stay true to yourself and anything is possible!

Sincerely, Tina