At eleven years old, my biggest worry wasn’t beating my twin brother to our family computer to watch videos. Instead, it was trying to figure out how to lower the number on our bathroom scale. I was ashamed. Throughout my life, I have always struggled with keeping my weight at a healthy point. No matter how many times I attempted to start a weight loss journey it ended as soon as it started. This was until I took a trip to Boston in the summer of 2022.
I was in Boston with my family. As a sixteen-year-old, I was doing what most teenagers do, taking pictures to share with friends online. I was seeing all the different parts of the city and experiencing what Boston is like. I went onto Instagram to post all of my favorite photos of myself posing in front of iconic Boston locations. However, I didn’t like any of the photos. After that moment, I decided that I needed to make a change no matter how hard it would be.
For the next year, I began exercising five days a week. I became mindful of the foods I consumed. In three months, I was down 40 pounds. In three more months, I was down another 30 pounds. Although I had the desire in the past to lose weight, this time was different. I knew I didn’t want to end high school with the same weight problem I had been dealing with since second grade.
With all of my hard work, I lost over 85 pounds and couldn’t be happier with how much progress I have made. All and all, it was one of the most mentally difficult things that I have ever done in my life, but this journey was 100% worth it and it taught me that I can do anything I put my mind to.
