Weight-Loss Story:
Sheilagh Patterson

Age 43, from Worcester, Massachus

I've never had an ongoing weight issue in my life. I've never known what
it's like for those people that deal with being fat from a young age, and I
can't imagine how hard it is. But now, at age 43, I finally know what it's
like to be overweight. In the past few years I somehow became a regular
customer at the local donut shop, and it's an addiction I struggle with. I
also have gave birth my first son just over a year ago. All these things
add up, and now it's my weight that's gone way up.

My husband has been a dieter himself for many years. He always bought low
fat and lite products from the grocery store, believing that that would be
the key to weight loss. But it hasn't done anything. He's bigger than
ever, and now I'm in the fat trap myself. I don't think those lite products
do anything. I just end up eating more, and they're loaded with sugar, and
what's more is they're processed -- which can't be good.

I actually have been really thin for most of my life. I used to have people
tell me that I was bony or a stick-girl or whatever they would say. I felt
bad about that and I always wanted to gain a little weight in a healthy way,
but it never happened no matter how much or how little I ate. I guess my
metabolism was just too fast for my own good. I miss those days! When the
baby came, it was inevitable, I was going to gain weight. I actually looked
forward to it though. I believed that if I could get through this thing in
a healthy way, I'd end up at a good normal weight, as opposed to the thin
weight I was before. I was wrong though, I ended up chubbier than I ever
wanted to be. I tried to work it off, but it was no use. I mean, with a
child to take care of, where's the time for your own care? There were more
important things to worry about.

Then came the donut shop. I work very close to a well-known donut chain,
and have always had stopped in now and then for a treat. But I somehow
slipped into a habit of going everyday. I can't imagine how that all must
have added up in my body. I must have eaten tons of donuts. The cashiers
even knew what I wanted before I came it, and they knew all my favourites.
That wasn't helping one bit.

Then I weighed myself one day, in a friend's bathroom, and saw that I had
ballooned up to almost 200 pounds from my original 120. I couldn't believe
it. It's just so easy to get used to your own body when you see it every
day. I had no frame of reference for what I was doing to myself. And
everyone I knew was too polite to mention anything about it. I don't know
how they ever could have anyways. I was resolved to do something about it
right then and there. I didn't want this problem to go on any longer.

I always know what I want, and go for it. But in this case it was very
personal. I researched diet and exercise on the internet for hours, and
came up with simple things that I could do to get the weight off. I began
walking to work, jogging in the evenings, doing simple training at home with
the kids, and making healthier meals -- I knew that by making healthier
meals I was not only helping me and the kids, but I was setting a good
example. The hard part was giving up my favourite pastry -- the donuts. It
took weeks for me to get myself away from there, but I started telling the
cashiers to discourage me from coming in -- they did so, I guess they liked
me. Eventually I had to say goodbye, and it was bittersweet, but the best
thing for me at the time.

Now, after 13 months of living healthy and eating right, I have managed to
lose 47 pounds! I am well on my way to being back at my previous weight.
In fact, I don't have as far to go because I want to be a little healthier
weight than I was before. I couldn't be happier!




Based on 22 votes, this diet story has an overall score of: 8.77

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(#1) Anonymous posted on Nov 11, 2004 (IP: 216.166.190.109)

reminds me of myself, healthy living and exercise is where it is at, too bad it took me this long to realize it. Great Job, keep up the good work you deserve it!

(#2) Anonymous posted on Mar 11, 2004 (IP: 64.108.97.115)

This is a very good story. I am glad that you have lost your weight. I pray that you are happy and can keep it off