Hiiii ! I just wanted to introduce myself and share a little of my story with everyone. Sooo, I hit my max weight of 235 lbs in 2017. This is the biggest I've ever been out of my entire 36 years of living! I'm only 5'3. I've always been on the smaller side and never had to deal with being overweight/obese.

2017 came and hit hard for me with the weight gain! I let go of myself and started overeating and became extremely inactive and lazy. And of course, those things did not mix well with each other at all! This is when I ended up weighing in at my heaviest at 235 lbs! And I gained that very rapidly! Of course with me rapidly gaining all of that weight, it caused some issues with my health. For one, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in Jan of 2018 with an A1C of 8.8. I also developed sleep apnea and started experiencing issues with my breathing. After a severe scare with my breathing, I decided to take my LIFE back!!

Within the year 2018 I made only a few small changes which yielded in me dropping to 220 lbs. My changes still didn't include any physical activity because I was still adapted to my inactive and lazy lifestyle. I only cut back a little on my food intake. Of course in 2019, I ended up falling off the bandwagon and blew back up to 225-228 lbs around March. I started back overeating and my laziness was through the roof! My sleep apnea had gotten worse, it started feeling like I was suffocating when I sit down, I had to move from my bed and start sleeping in the recliner just so I could somewhat sit up while I sleep just so I could breathe. My A1C that had dropped to 7.7 in Dec 2018, had shot back up to 8.3. That was the "FINAL" Straw! This is when I decided to take my life and health back.

1/3/2020...UPDATE

Just a quick update on everything! I'm been on my personal fitness journey for 6 months now. I'm down from 225.6 lbs to 181.6 to date. I've lost a total of -42 lbs so far.... I completely got rid of my sleep apnea and breathing issues! My last A1C check was back in Oct 2019 and it has made major improvement, went from a 8.3 to 7.0 without any medication and just still eating my normal regular diet. All of my labs were stabilized! My doctor was amazed at my progress! I go back for my next A1C check up this month! ::fingerscrossed:: Overall, I feel so much better mentally, emotionally and physically!! I would have never thought that I would be where I am now!! :-) Good luck to everyone that's fighting to take back control of their life/health!! I still have a long way to go but at least I am headed in the right direction. :-)

great progress!

Denise, you are an inspiration! That is a lot of weight to lose in a few short months, and with so many other awesome improvements to your health, you should be proud of all you've accomplished so far! Keep up the great work!