After having a couple of health scares at the end of 2021, I was determined to improve my overall health and wellness. As cheesy as it may sound, I waited until January 2022 (“new year resolution”) to begin my weight loss journey. To successfully get back in shape, however, I knew I needed to tackle my weight issues at its root.

Growth Spurt & Weight Fluctuations

My growth spurt started at 8 years old, which was around the time I moved and began gaining weight. I grew quite quickly every year until I was 12 years old. By the time I was 12 years old, I was already 5’ 11” (or 180.34 cm) tall. The chubbiness disappeared with the huge growth spurt. In fact, I was on the lower end of being at a normal healthy weight at one point.

Despite the weight loss, I still had an unhealthy relationship with food and a distorted body image. Despite already being at a healthy weight, I continued to skip meals in order to stay thin. When I did eat, it was most likely something unhealthy with a lot of calories.

Once I got to high school, I was better about eating three meals a day. I was active as a cheerleader throughout high school and even considered joining track & field and the basketball team. In fact, one of the basketball coaches approached me attempting to recruit me to the team after one of my cheerleading practices; however, I eventually declined since I didn’t want to overwhelm my schedule.

Regrettably, high school “love” and that drama it includes, in addition to unresolved sadness from past issues, caused me to turn back to food for comfort through my depression. By the time I graduated high school, I weighed a little over 200 pounds.

The cycle of using food for comfort continued through college, graduate school, and even a portion of medical school. It worsened when I was in abusive relationships, my horrific injury, and loss of family members. But luckily, I was able to lose weight. In fact, I was able to lose 50 pounds after I learned how to walk again after my injury. After regaining the weight, I was able to lose 55 pounds after leaving my last abusive relationship. The gym was my safe zone, since I was also subjected to more negative commentary and a hostile environment at home. As a result, I would spend anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours at the gym six days a week, all in efforts to not be at home as much.

After maintaining a healthy weight for four years after losing 50 pounds for the second time, I gained weight again. Since I was in graduate school at that time, I no longer had time to go on my daily three plus mile walks or workout at gym like I normally did. I was dating my now husband, who would initially cook meals for me when he could. Eventually, to save time for the both of us, we either went out to eat on a regular basis or got fast food.

A series of deaths in my family and experiencing depression caused me to lose my drive to stay in shape and be healthy. From 2018 to 2020, I’ve lost at least one family member each year. My depression was very real, which was worsened from the demands and hectic nature of medical school. Despite seeing a school counselor for my depression, I once again turned to food for comfort.

Side note: Sozo is a Greek word that means “saved, healed, and delivered”. It provides inner healing and freedom from ALL things. It can be done with you and the Holy Spirit alone (obviously when He reveals things to you) OR can be facilitated by individuals trained in Sozo with the Holy Spirit being the star of the show.

Although I’m thrilled with this recent weight loss, I’ve made an effort not to weigh myself regularly. Why? I don’t want to focus on the numbers on the scale, but rather my overall wellness by what I’m eating and staying active.

That being said, I’ll make a second part of my weight loss journey blog post when I do eventually weigh myself again in two to three months. Until then, stay blessed!