Suzi lost 290 pounds!! Starting weight 460 pounds, ending weight 170 pounds!! And still counting!! Please read Suzi's story. It's an inspiration for us all!!
My story is pretty much this:
I had been obese for most of my adult life. As a child, I was at a considerably normal weight until puberty, where I was a bit chunkier than most other kids. I was made fun of and made to believe that I was "fat", although I was not. I was taller than a lot of my classmates, so that made me look larger. I did not let that stop me from being somewhat active. From grade school to college, I was an active swimmer and I walked and rode my bike all over Champaign-Urbana. By the time I was 17, I started to slender down.
However, I discovered beer at the age of 16, and I was hooked. Binge drinking and eating became my life. Because of that, I did horribly in school, and it all caught up with me as years went on. I knew I was getting larger and larger, but I didn't have much of a desire to do anything about it. Nor was I educated about what I could do about it as far as eating habits went.
I do not know what I weighed in college. I would guess by the time I got out in 1992, I was about 250 pounds. By 1994, I was 320 pounds, and I did try to do something about it, but I would quickly lose interest and gain the weight back. 1997 I was pregnant with my daughter, and by the time she was born, I put on around 100 pounds. I was miserable. Because of my morbid obesity, I had her a month early (yet her development was good for being early), and had complications with the incision from the vertical c-section I had.
Every doctor I went to (because I had several co-morbidities) told me that I needed to do something or I would die, but I did not heed their warnings. I still wanted to over-indulge on alcohol and food. In 2006, I found a doctor who was able to weigh me, and the scale said somewhere around 460 pounds! Now, that was my highest known weight. I could have been higher at one point. I attempted to lose weight, but did not really know what I was doing, so I yo-yoed from 460 to 400 to 430.
In the winter of 2008, I gave my life to Christ, and so day by day, I would have inner convictions about drinking and my eating habits. I was still miserable and deeply depressed about my weight and the direction my life was heading. I prayed about it, asking God to give me what it takes to lose weight and become fit, and so the answer came to me June 14th, 2008 when I knew I had to take the first literal steps of faith and start walking. My first walk was .4 miles....just a few blocks. But each day, I would challenge myself to do more. My current doctor told me to expect a new kind of tired, and she was right! It wore me out, but it felt good at the same time! Not long after that, I researched what I needed to be eating to change my lifestyle and found as I started adding those foods, I craved them much more than the high calorie, high sugar, high saturated fat foods I was eating.
So, by 6 weeks, I was walking 2 miles, twice a day when I decided I needed more and joined a local gym less than a mile away. I was 430 pounds when I started the journey, and by the time I joined, I was 395, out of the 400s, finally! The next day I hired a trainer who had me doing intense workouts. He trained me athletically, rather than just focusing on building muscle. We did cardio kickboxing, adding incline situp punches for the core, flexibility, stability and balance training, circuit training, plyometrics, and very heavy lifting.
I am finding myself stronger than before due to the way my abs were repaired. I am able to lift heavier, my balance and stability have improved, and I am able to sprint better. Not only has exercise helped me physically, but it has helped me mentally. I find myself in much better moods after a good workout. What keeps me going is God's strength for sure, but also knowing that I never want to be where I was nearly 3 years ago. Throughout the entire journey I have struggled here and there with some food, but also have learned if I allow myself a cheat meal and I go back to clean eating the next day, I am fine.
Oh, and during the entire journey, I have helped several people beyond my community and am now going back to school. I would have never thought of kinesiology for my degree before, but I want to become more educated so that I am more qualified to help people
I had been obese for most of my adult life. As a child, I was at a considerably normal weight until puberty, where I was a bit chunkier than most other kids. I was made fun of and made to believe that I was "fat", although I was not. I was taller than a lot of my classmates, so that made me look larger. I did not let that stop me from being somewhat active. From grade school to college, I was an active swimmer and I walked and rode my bike all over Champaign-Urbana. By the time I was 17, I started to slender down.
However, I discovered beer at the age of 16, and I was hooked. Binge drinking and eating became my life. Because of that, I did horribly in school, and it all caught up with me as years went on. I knew I was getting larger and larger, but I didn't have much of a desire to do anything about it. Nor was I educated about what I could do about it as far as eating habits went.
I do not know what I weighed in college. I would guess by the time I got out in 1992, I was about 250 pounds. By 1994, I was 320 pounds, and I did try to do something about it, but I would quickly lose interest and gain the weight back. 1997 I was pregnant with my daughter, and by the time she was born, I put on around 100 pounds. I was miserable. Because of my morbid obesity, I had her a month early (yet her development was good for being early), and had complications with the incision from the vertical c-section I had.
Every doctor I went to (because I had several co-morbidities) told me that I needed to do something or I would die, but I did not heed their warnings. I still wanted to over-indulge on alcohol and food. In 2006, I found a doctor who was able to weigh me, and the scale said somewhere around 460 pounds! Now, that was my highest known weight. I could have been higher at one point. I attempted to lose weight, but did not really know what I was doing, so I yo-yoed from 460 to 400 to 430.
In the winter of 2008, I gave my life to Christ, and so day by day, I would have inner convictions about drinking and my eating habits. I was still miserable and deeply depressed about my weight and the direction my life was heading. I prayed about it, asking God to give me what it takes to lose weight and become fit, and so the answer came to me June 14th, 2008 when I knew I had to take the first literal steps of faith and start walking. My first walk was .4 miles....just a few blocks. But each day, I would challenge myself to do more. My current doctor told me to expect a new kind of tired, and she was right! It wore me out, but it felt good at the same time! Not long after that, I researched what I needed to be eating to change my lifestyle and found as I started adding those foods, I craved them much more than the high calorie, high sugar, high saturated fat foods I was eating.
So, by 6 weeks, I was walking 2 miles, twice a day when I decided I needed more and joined a local gym less than a mile away. I was 430 pounds when I started the journey, and by the time I joined, I was 395, out of the 400s, finally! The next day I hired a trainer who had me doing intense workouts. He trained me athletically, rather than just focusing on building muscle. We did cardio kickboxing, adding incline situp punches for the core, flexibility, stability and balance training, circuit training, plyometrics, and very heavy lifting.
I am finding myself stronger than before due to the way my abs were repaired. I am able to lift heavier, my balance and stability have improved, and I am able to sprint better. Not only has exercise helped me physically, but it has helped me mentally. I find myself in much better moods after a good workout. What keeps me going is God's strength for sure, but also knowing that I never want to be where I was nearly 3 years ago. Throughout the entire journey I have struggled here and there with some food, but also have learned if I allow myself a cheat meal and I go back to clean eating the next day, I am fine.
Oh, and during the entire journey, I have helped several people beyond my community and am now going back to school. I would have never thought of kinesiology for my degree before, but I want to become more educated so that I am more qualified to help people
