By Scott Thompson
THIS WOMAN lost over SEVENTEEN STONE in SEVENTEEN MONTHS after her weight left her struggling to even find clothes in the XXL STORE – and she says people no longer RECOGNISE her.
Field agent, Meghan See (30) from Broadway, Virginia, USA, comes from a family of obesity and would use any excuse she could to eat herself into oblivion.
Meghan would eat all day long and most of her meals were eaten out at places such as McDonalds and burger king and in-between she would snack on Poptarts, cookies and other junk food.
Meghan tipped the scales at 30st and was a UK dress size 32. She was shamed for being unable to go on rides at amusement parks, she couldn’t squeeze into restaurant booths and she couldn’t even put on her shoes without being out of puff and struggled to find clothes to fit her at plus-sized shops.
The breaking point for Meghan was sitting at work with heat pads to get through the day due to crippling arthritis pains. Meghan was losing her mobility and when she thought about not being in her daughter’s life she knew she had to do something about it.
Meghan knew she needed to start loving herself and on Black Friday of 2017 she placed an order of some supplements called Truvision that her sister had recommended. When she started taking them she asked herself how she could make each meal healthier.
Now on a typical day, Meghan will have eggs, fruit and peanut butter for breakfast, lunch would be meat and vegetables or a salad and for dinner more meat and vegetables.
Over time she introduced weight walking and yoga to her route and then later included high intensity interval training (HIIT) and weight training.
By consistently working in this way Meghan lost an unbelievable 17st 2lb in just 17 months and now weighs an incredibly lighter 12st 12lb and slips into a much more comfortable UK dress size 12.
“I grew up in a small close-knit town. Although I played American football in school I was always on the bigger side. I come from a family of obesity,” Meghan said.
“Ultimately reaching 30st was my own fault. I kept making bad choices and excuses all the time. I blamed stress from work, I blamed bad relationships, I blamed being a single mum, I blamed everything and everyone else for my choice to use food as an emotional crutch.
“It became an addiction and in the end it didn’t matter if I had a good day or bad day I would sooth myself or reward myself with food to deal with any range of emotion I was having.
“I would eat out for every meal at places like McDonalds and Burger King and fill the gaps with lots of Poptarts, and cookies all day long. I literally ate all day.
“It was frustrating for me because I wasn’t able to fit in the spaces at restaurants. I was mortified when I’d queue ages for rides at amusement parks and not fit in the seats.
“All I wanted was to just fit in like normal. Even shopping for clothes at plus sized stores, I would cross my fingers and hope they had something big enough to fit me.
“I was out of breath just putting on my shoes. I’d take heat pads to work because the pain from arthritis due to my weight was killing me. Towards the end of my weight gain I was losing my mobility.
“I was so unhappy with myself. I felt weak like I had no control and I knew I needed to lose weight, so I spoke to my sister who’d had success with these weight loss supplements. I bought some for myself on Black Friday of 2017.
“When they arrived, I started taking them and changed my diet bit by bit replacing bad things like bread and pasta for healthy like lots of veggies. Now I’ll have eggs, peanut butter and fruit for breakfast followed by meat and veggies for lunch and the same again for dinner.
“I didn’t do any exercise at all in the beginning but eventually I added yoga and walking, then HIIT and weights.
“By May 2019 I had reached 12st 12lb and can now fit into a much smaller UK dress size 12.”
Now Meghan is unrecognisable and people are completely shocked with her transformation.
Sharing her journey with her friends and peers has helped her to inspire people who have been in a similar situation to her.
“Some people don’t recognise me anymore. Some people are in disbelief and they congratulate me and tell me how happy they are to see me happy too,” Meghan continued.
“I’ve had support from my friends and gained so many more friends by sharing my story. Opening up about my struggles and sharing them with others has helped me connect with other woman who have felt the same as me. It really helps knowing you’re not alone.
“I’d say the hardest thing on this path is making sure you are consistent in your efforts as that is key. Everybody knows that to be healthy you need to eat your veggies and move around more often, but it can be challenging to do this every day. I set myself daily challenges like eating a certain number of different veggies. Trying new things keeps it fun.
“Something happened in me that day I decided to lose weight and I simply loved myself and I’ve kept that with me through this journey. My goal has not been to look better, although it’s a nice by product, it’s been to feel better and be healthy.
“Start by believing your worthy of these changes. If you learn to love yourself a bit first, you’ll find it that much easier to stick with it. Loving yourself helps you want to live a healthier and happier life,” Meghan said.
“Never give up. I failed so many times before. I had so many people telling me I’d gain it all back because they had tried and gained it all back themselves.
“For those people I’d probably say a diet isn’t what they need. What they need are lifestyle changes that last a life time.”
You can follow Meghan’s journey through her Instagram.
