Diet & Fitness: Weight Loss: Weight-Loss Success Stories:

 Samantha W.

 I was always a really skinny child but once puberty hit I began to gain weight. I slowly gained over time but was never really big. I got engaged to an amazing man and it was like I stopped caring what I looked like. I just ate and ate. I put on 90 pounds in a year. I was miserable. People don't look you in the eyes at that weight. It's like you don't exist. That just made me eat even more.

 My mom mentioned she thought I might not be healthy. That was a nice way of saying what I and everyone else knew, I was morbidly obese. Thanksgiving I went to my future in-laws and my fiancé's step-father kept making jokes about me being fat. I left in tears and vowed by next Thanksgiving I would prove how good I could look. I decided to start New Year's Day 2006.

 I watched what I ate in three stages. The first stage, I ate any unhealthy food I wanted but not in the huge amounts I had before. That stage lasted about four months. The second stage, I ate only things that were low fat. I could have as much as I wanted but it had to be low in fat or no fat. The last stage started 3 months ago, and I finally started to count calories. I have not exercised while dieting so it has been all through food portions. The hardest part was eating a little bit and stopping. Your body gets full from small amounts but we just keep eating.

 I made a choice, I made a goal and failure was not an option. I did not think I could do it but I was going to keep trying. I focused on the long term over short term. Food will make me happy for 30 minutes, but weight loss will make me happy longer. I started at size 22 and bought a pair of size 16 pants—that was my goal. I also wanted to weigh 180 pounds. It was my goal for the year.

 Food derails me. I love it. It tastes great. I had to find healthy foods that I love to keep me from starving all the time. I enjoy the healthy foods and eat tons of it. My motivation is looking good in my wedding dress, but mostly being healthy and no longer being someone people feel bad for.

 Try to stay calm. Realize the food is in my stomach and the only thing I can do about it is make a plan for next time. What I did wrong this time and how I will deal with it in the future.

 When people do not recognize me. I've lost 130 pounds and my hair is longer so it happens a lot. People look at me funny and say "You remind me of someone." A girl I know used to make jokes and tease me about being fat, now I'm smaller than her and she's dieting to look like me!