I get it. When you take away my make-up, highlighted hair, and lean frame, we are more similar than you might think. If we scanned our diet-trained brains, I bet we could have even passed as identical sisters at one point!

You see, for the first half of my life, I allowed the weight scale to dictate my entire day. If I didn’t see the number I had wished for, my mind would be filled with thoughts such as, “ I’m fat.. this past week was a waste… or, what’s the point, I’ll never achieve my weight loss goals.” I would internalize those thoughts, causing me to restrict calories and hit an extra 10 minutes on the treadmill, only to gorge on low-fat sugar-laden diet foods at night because I had zero willpower… (or so I thought!)

Then, add on the stress of adulting (yup… divorce, health issues, and bills), my body was riddled with inflammation. No matter what diet plan, exercise, or weight loss supplement  I went on… it never worked. When I looked in the mirror, I never felt what I was doing was good enough.

Then, when I didn’t think my relationship with the scale could get any worse, it happened. I put on over 50 pounds… to no fault of my own.