“As I lost weight, I started noticing my collarbone and other definition in my chest. One time, I thought I had a breast lump, but my doctor reassured me that it was just a bone. I wasn’t used to feeling those!”
"I always watch what I say about my body in front of my 13-year-old daughter. I know how much your body image can affect your entire life. I think my self-image issues stemmed from comments that family members made when I was growing up; I remember people telling me that I was big-boned, overweight, or just a bigger person in general. Those comments really shaped my body image—they set off a cycle of struggling with weight gain and wanting to lose weight my entire life."
"Through my weight-loss journey with Weight Watchers I have learned to let it go; I don’t feel resentment anymore. It’s OK if someone is thinner than me; it’s OK if someone looks better in a swimsuit than I do. There are times when I look at myself and I see my imperfections. I could dwell on them, but I choose to push those thoughts away, and I remember that I need to be proud of myself—and how far I’ve come. I remember how I used to hate wearing jeans, how I’d have to dress up to mask the fact that I was heavy every time I went out. But after I reached my goal, I treated myself with not just one, but two pairs of $200 jeans!"
"I’m more positive now, and I’m happy with my life. I am the happiest and most confident that I have ever been. I am truly the best version of me and I feel that has helped make me a better wife to my husband and better mother to my two children, as well as helping me keep up and stay active with my three-year-old son. And I want my daughter to feel like that always. I tell her all the time how beautiful she is, how pretty she is, how perfect she is. I just hope that she’ll remember my words. I think she does already, because if I do have a moment of weakness when I put myself down, she’ll say, “Mom, stop talking negatively. You’re so pretty.”"
