CAROLINE'S lowest moment was the day she went to an amusement park and couldn’t fit on the ride. After this, she decided she needed to lose weight. Caroline, from LA, struggled with her eating habits for years; at school she often drove to fast food restaurants pretending she was ordering for a group of friends. But, thanks to weight loss surgery, therapy and a new diet, her life has transformed as she went from 300lbs to 200lbs.
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00:00I would eat a lot of fast food. I would buy like mac and cheese, burgers, fries,
00:04chicken, and I would pretend I was ordering for a group of people. My lowest
00:10moment was the day that I went to Six Flags with my ex-boyfriend. We got to the
00:17front of the line and I could not fit on the ride. That was the moment I realized
00:21I needed to make a change.
00:26At my heaviest, I weighed 300 pounds. I've lost a hundred pounds. I still can't
00:32believe my body can do the things that it can now. I started gaining weight in
00:41elementary school and I continued to gain weight throughout middle school.
00:45When I reached high school, I developed bulimia and binge eating disorder. The
00:50way I would deal with my struggles and emotions was to eat food. I would drive
00:54to fast food restaurants and order like one of everything on the menu basically.
01:00I would act like I was on the phone ordering for a group of friends, but I
01:05was only ordering for myself. I used to eat mac and cheese, pizza, burgers, a ton
01:12of chicken, mashed potatoes. I would take it all home and eat it alone in secret.
01:19The day that I went to Six Flags with my ex-boyfriend, we waited for hours to get
01:27on a ride and I could not fit on the ride. A woman yelled with a megaphone,
01:32if you can't fit on the ride, you need to get off. It was the most embarrassing
01:37thing that's ever happened to me. I decided that I needed to make a change.
01:42My doctor asked me if I'd ever heard of weight loss surgery, so VSG. After
01:47researching and talking to different surgeons and people, I decided it was the
01:51right decision for me. There is a huge stigma surrounding weight loss surgery.
01:55People assume it doesn't take any effort on your part to lose weight, which is
02:00extremely inaccurate and untrue because maintaining is definitely the hardest
02:06part. I usually weigh out all of my foods because I like to stick to certain
02:11macros each day. I've started to do what's called reverse dieting to help me
02:15have more energy, build muscle, so I'm actually limiting my fat now and upping
02:21my carbs and protein. So for snacking, I'll do like hummus and carrots. I eat a
02:29lot more greens now, like salads. I'll make chicken salads or kale. Much more
02:37fruits and vegetables. My mental health is better. Physically, I'm feeling better.
02:50It's just overall amazing. I had very low confidence when I was at my heaviest. I
02:56missed out on so many social events, like making memories with my friends, all
03:03kinds of things because I didn't want to be seen. Everyone gets down and has
03:07bad days and you want comfort. I've learned to kind of channel that towards
03:13like, let me be productive, let's get something done. That's awesome. That's so
03:17awesome. Your confidence has really changed. This was the day of my surgery,
03:23right before my surgery. You look pretty happy then. It was the greatest decision
03:28I ever made to have surgery and start going to therapy. At my heaviest, I weighed
03:33300 pounds. I've lost a hundred pounds.
03:39I still can't believe my body can do the things that it can now. My mind is blown.
03:45When I get on the treadmill at the gym and I'm able to go like two miles or
03:51three miles without stopping. I do 30 minutes of cardio a day and I do
03:56strength training five or six days a week.
04:03I am much more comfortable with my body. I can fit in car seats. I can walk up the
04:09stairs without being out of breath. I no longer have to shop in specific
04:14sections of the store where they have almost no clothes. Weight loss journeys
04:19are ongoing, physically and mentally. I want to continue to motivate and inspire
04:24others and help others know that no situation is hopeless and you're never
04:30really stuck. You really do have what it takes to change your life and better
04:34your life. The only person standing in between you and achieving your goals is
04:38you.