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My Journey to Weight Loss

Diet and exercise.

By Melissa HensleyPublished 7 years ago 4 min read
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My name is Melissa Hensley. I am 32 years old. A few years ago after I had my son, I developed a hernia in my stomach that just got bigger over time. By the time I actually got up the nerve to go see a doctor and get it diagnosed it had become very large. My doctor sent me to a specialist who told me I needed to stop smoking and lose 30 pounds before he would help me. Ever since I was in high school I have struggled with my weight. After hearing this from the doctor I went on a life changing journey. I quit smoking and I asked my doctor to put me on adipex. For those of you who don't know what adipex is, it is basically the antidote for fat. He gave me a prescription for it and told me to take one with my breakfast. I decided that instead of eating breakfast, the adipex along with a soda (I'm totally addicted to soda!) WAS my breakfast. The adipex totally curbed my appetite and I was almost never hungry. The adipex was amazing. I loved it. I would skip lunch altogether. Around dinner time it would start to wear off and I would eat a small dinner. I starved myself to death and the weight quickly came off.

However, due to problems with depression that I struggle with my doctor took me off of the adipex after a month and put me on antidepressants. I did not want to gain my weight back so I continued to starve myself. I would have no breakfast at all, and my lunch would be a half of a sandwich and a soda. Immediately following lunch I would take 2 laxatives. In my fear of gaining my weight back, I began to abuse laxatives. I took them every single day after lunch. I would eat a very light dinner. On a great day I ate around 500 calories. So, I finally lose 30 pounds and I go back to the specialist. He said "Have you quit smoking"? I answered "yes". He responded with "I see you have lost 30 pounds. Good job, you look good. Now lose 30 more before I will help you".

"My response to that was: "Are you serious"? He nodded his head yes. I said "I have done every single thing that you have asked me to do and you're telling me no? I won't ever be back". Then I stormed out of the office and that was that.

After that particular visit I was DEVASTATED. I have always been an emotional eater. Anytime I get upset, I turn to food. I started back smoking, and I stopped abusing laxatives. I started eating again, and I ate a lot. I also ate a lot of junk food. (Something else I struggle with). Have you ever heard anyone say that when you lose weight by starving yourself, when you start to eat again you will gain it all back plus some? Well... it's true. I gained all of my weight back plus some. When I began this whole journey I weighed 190 pounds. I got down to 160 and dropped 3 dress sizes. After a long battle with depression and just plain giving up, I decided to once again try and lose weight. Only this time, I decided to try and do it the right way. I have decided to make salads a part of my daily diet and make exercise a part of my daily routine. Also, I barely eat any junk food now. When I decided to once again try and get to a healthy weight I took out a piece of paper and a pen and I drew a ladder. I put my current weight at the top of the ladder and my goal weight at the bottom. I put some in-between numbers for the steps. My goal is to work my way down the ladder and hit my goal weight. My goal weight is 160. When I first started I weighed 205 pounds. I felt so ashamed. That is the biggest I have ever been in my entire life. Since starting diet and exercise I have already lost 5 pounds. While I still have a long way to go feel like I am on the right track.

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