Butterfly
As I write, I’m a teary eyed mess. Yesterday, I posted the photos (below) on the Farewell Fatso Facebook page. Soon thereafter, comments started pouring in.
“You were always beautiful…Now you’re GORGEOUS!! Inside and out my dear!…” ~April M.
“Amazing transformation!” ~Debbie H.
“You look AMAZING!! Not just your quest for physical fitness, but from the look on your face on your “NOW” picture, it is obvious you are finding fulfillment on the INSIDE as well!” ~Michelle N
As I read the comments and glanced at the photos it came over me…I’ve changed. I’ve really, really changed. All of me has changed. I looked at the photos one-by-one. I wept and wept. Tears of sadness, joy, and triumph. All that I’ve endured, all the changes I’ve made to get to where I am today. The changes with food: How I interact with it, prepare it, and what I eat. I discovered, I love carrots. Raw carrots. The changes to my social life: I no longer shy away from social events or settings. Instead, I’m out and about — here, there, everywhere. The changes to my physical activity level: Now, I workout regularly and I take the stairs because I can. And the biggest change of all: The internal change. I say this all the time, battling obesity requires a real deep look within. It wasn’t or isn’t just about the physical weight. I had to change my attitude, my outlook, and by doing so I’ve turned a whole lot of negatives into a whole lot of positives. “Your new name is butterfly,” my girlfriend Jeannine wrote after seeing my Facebook post. So appropriate. So true. This has been quite a transformation. I’ve spread my wings. I’m like a butterfly.
Chrisetta Mosley
I am a product – and now a survivor – of childhood obesity. As a child, my family always told me that my extra weight was merely baby fat and I’d eventually grow out of it. I never did. Instead, my childhood is filled with memories of not being able to ride a bike, flattening its training wheels from being over the recommended weight, and avoiding P.E. classes by any means necessary. For years, I wore my fatness like a wounded soldier wears a Purple Heart - with pride. I owned the look. I dressed it up. I worked the room. There wasn't a skinny girl who intimidated me. I made sure my hair was laid just right. Nails polished. Outfits coordinated to the tee. Accessories to compliment every outfit. But everyone has a breaking point, and mine came in the spring of 2004 when I tipped the scale at nearly 400 pounds 388 to be exact. I was MISERABLE trapped inside of that body. I no longer wore my Purple Heart with pride. Rather, I was ashamed and frightened. Ashamed that I had allowed food to become my everything – frightened I would die because of it. Drastic times called for drastic measures... Today, I’m bound and determined to live a better, healthier, active lifestyle. I realize I’m no longer a passenger in my life, I’m the driver. I’m overcoming my inhibitions and I’m slowly but surely saying farewell to my old childhood nemesis, obesity. For once and for all, Farewell Fatso!