HOUSTON’S very own “bariatric bestie” Dominique, spent years feeling depressed about her body - not only how it looked, but by the things it hindered her from doing. From being embarrassed in public to her own private struggles with hygiene at 420lbs, Dominique says “she needed to make a change” in order to save her life. After having weight loss surgery, and losing 205lbs, Dominique's confidence levels have skyrocketed as she claims to be “the president of America” and shows off her glowed-up body every chance she gets.
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00:00 I was eating about 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day.
00:03 I did have health issues with my heaviest.
00:05 I woke up one day and I couldn't stand,
00:07 like my back was killing me.
00:08 But when I tried to stand, I fell to the floor.
00:10 I didn't think that the cause of my weight
00:13 that I'm having knee and back issues.
00:15 I'm sorry.
00:16 I have to do something about it.
00:20 Went to my doctor and they gave me some advice
00:23 on gastric surgery.
00:24 My heaviest weight was 420 pounds.
00:27 And I have lost 205 pounds.
00:30 (upbeat music)
00:32 My weight over the years definitely fluctuated.
00:40 I was always a chubby girl growing up in school.
00:43 On one day I can account that I was eating
00:45 about 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day.
00:48 I did have health issues with my heaviest.
00:50 The year I will never forget, it was 2020.
00:52 I woke up one day and I couldn't stand,
00:54 like I could not stand.
00:56 Like my back was killing me.
00:58 But when I tried to stand, I fell to the floor.
01:00 I went to emergency room,
01:01 I didn't know what was wrong with me.
01:03 Literally crying tears 'cause it was hurting
01:05 to just barely get on my knees.
01:07 After doing a whole bunch of tests,
01:09 he was like, "If you don't change,
01:10 "something's gonna basically get cut off."
01:12 I didn't think that the cause of my weight
01:15 that I'm having knee and back issues.
01:17 I'm gonna say my lowest moment is when
01:19 it was seven months before I decided
01:21 to have weight loss surgery.
01:23 I was in the bathroom.
01:24 I couldn't wipe myself.
01:25 Like I couldn't, I kept doing this.
01:27 You know, all my weight was like in my back.
01:29 So when I turned around, I couldn't wipe myself.
01:32 So I was able to wipe it just a little bit
01:34 and I had to get in the shower because I couldn't do it.
01:37 And I was like, how did I let myself get that big?
01:40 - When you was little coming up,
01:41 because you know, we was not limited to eating
01:45 or going in the icebox or nothing.
01:47 Anything y'all wanted, I gave it to you.
01:49 To be honest with you, she never let me
01:51 saw her being unhappy on her heaviest.
01:53 She never showed me her confidence was low.
01:56 - Skydiving, that was something I always wanted to do.
01:59 When I went there, he was like, there's a weight limit.
02:01 I said, what's the weight limit?
02:02 That day I stepped on the scale and it said E.
02:05 I said, what is that?
02:07 And he was like, basically that's where
02:09 you're past the weight limit on the scale.
02:11 I said, what's the weight limit on the scale?
02:12 He said 400.
02:14 And in front of all these people, I was like, okay.
02:17 So I went home, bought a scale.
02:19 I stepped on it, it said 420.
02:21 That was the highest I've ever been in my life.
02:23 And then that same month, me being the distraught
02:26 that I am, we went to Vegas.
02:27 My friends wanted to zip line.
02:29 Yet again, they said, oh, you can't.
02:31 They didn't even put me on the scale.
02:32 They just looked at me.
02:33 Oh, you can't ride too big.
02:35 I was like, like, and it hurt, you know?
02:39 I'm sorry.
02:41 My friends, they tried their best to keep me lifted.
02:51 Say nice things, be like, you still that girl.
02:55 Don't worry about it.
02:56 You still this, you still that.
02:58 Yes, you're telling me that, but I don't feel that way.
03:00 You know?
03:01 So that's when I said, I have to do something about it.
03:05 So I was like, if I can't do it on my own, I need help.
03:08 Went to my doctor and they gave me some advice
03:12 on gastric surgery.
03:13 And then June of 2021, I decided to have the procedure.
03:17 I had the procedure.
03:18 I got back.
03:19 I instantly started walking.
03:21 Because I had incisions and stuff on my stomach,
03:23 I couldn't do lifting, but I started walking.
03:26 And then I had to start strength training.
03:30 Once I started strength training,
03:31 got me a personal trainer,
03:32 and the weight started back coming off.
03:34 I was stalling for like about seven or eight months.
03:38 Changed my diet up again, started working out,
03:40 and then I started back to fall off.
03:42 My heaviest weight was 420 pounds,
03:45 and I have lost 205 pounds.
03:47 What attracted me to this type of workout
03:49 is basically I don't like traditional cardio.
03:52 I don't like treadmill.
03:53 I don't like stair steppers.
03:54 I don't like none of that elliptical.
03:56 I like to build my endurance by jumping rope,
03:58 outside, outdoors.
03:59 It just makes me feel rejuvenated.
04:02 I just block everything else out,
04:03 and I just go hard and go home.
04:05 - How do you feel?
04:15 - I feel great.
04:16 I'm ready to get dressed and turn up.
04:19 Having loose skin made me feel like
04:22 I didn't accomplish anything.
04:24 The reason that I say that is because I still,
04:26 to me, in my eyes, I still looked at the same.
04:29 I felt like I couldn't see what I worked hard for.
04:33 I felt like that I needed to have that
04:34 in order to like the finished product of what I worked for.
04:38 I had loose skin surgery about two months ago.
04:42 - Tell us about your new body
04:43 and why you're so proud of how you look.
04:46 - I mean, did you see me?
04:47 I was just saying.
04:48 My confidence level, I am the president of America.
04:51 You can't nobody tell me nothing, honestly,
04:55 'cause some people don't even believe that that was me.
04:58 - Amen.
04:59 - I'm Dre, the bestie, and we getting drunk tonight.
05:03 - Why you drinking water?
05:06 - This is it.
05:07 (laughing)
05:08 This ain't water.
05:08 - No water in this house, baby.
05:10 - She has been someone who has been
05:13 just up and open about life,
05:15 and her confidence back then and her confidence now,
05:17 I feel like it's the same,
05:18 'cause she's gonna do what she needs to do.
05:21 She's Dominique, you know?
05:23 She's DD.
05:24 - Period.
05:25 - Yeah.
05:26 - I love her glow up
05:26 because it's gotten her further out of her shell.
05:28 I look at her and every day she feel like
05:30 she can take on the world, and I'm here for it.
05:32 That's what I love to see.
05:33 The energy she has every day is just outstanding,
05:36 like the person she is.
05:38 (upbeat music)
05:39 (cheering)
05:42 - Thank you.
05:43 (cheering)
05:45 - Uh oh.
05:46 (cheering)
05:49 - What I would like to say to Dominique today is
05:52 I'm proud of her.
05:53 She made a tremendous change,
05:55 not just for her, for her child as well.
05:58 So I'm very proud of her.
06:00 She's glowing.
06:02 - This toast is to a fun night tonight.
06:04 We're celebrating not only Dominique's birthday,
06:07 but we're also celebrating her process and her journey.
06:10 May she forever be that (beep)
06:12 - Cheers.
06:13 (cheering)
06:15 - What the future holds for me is continuing my business.
06:19 That's called the You're Bariatric Bestie.
06:21 Basically explaining to people my journey,
06:24 helping you, answering your questions,
06:26 knowing that you're not alone,
06:27 that you don't have to go through it alone like I did.
06:29 I'm here to help you.
06:30 Do it for yourself.
06:31 Don't do it for anybody else.
06:33 Because if you do it for other people,
06:34 you're not gonna be happy.
06:36 A lot of people kept telling me that.
06:37 They was like, you're not mentally ready.
06:38 You're not emotionally ready.
06:40 You're not physically ready
06:41 because you're not ready to change your life.
06:43 You don't know what I'm ready to do.
06:45 (upbeat music)
06:47 (upbeat music)
06:50 (upbeat music)
06:53 (upbeat music)
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