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Sherry Marshal
2017 SLIM & SASSY ® COMPETITION GRAND PRIZE WINNER While Sherry is a grand prize winner for the 2017 Slim & Sassy Contest, she continues to work toward new goals to help her maintain her newfound healthy lifestyle. Sherry says,“ I want to thank dōTERRA for giving me the opportunity to participate in this challenge. It has been truly life changing. I have this new freedom and confidence that wasn’ t present before, and I wake up feeling this way every day. It is never too late to be who you might have been.”
For most of her life, Sherry Marshal’ s health has taken a back seat as she put the needs of others first. In 1989, Sherry became a single parent, and all her efforts went into providing for and taking care of her three children. She soon learned that it was easy to neglect her own needs when so many people relied on her for help.
In 1992, Sherry’ s dad died at the age of 62. With her mother now a widow, Sherry took on the responsibility of caring for her in her father’ s absence. Taking on this extra role as caretaker added more stress to Sherry’ s life, leaving even less time for her to care for herself.
After 30 years, Sherry gave up smoking in 1998 because her daughter begged her to quit. After quitting smoking, Sherry used food as a replacement for her former addiction. She turned to food during times of stress and used it to“ medicate” herself when confronted with challenges or stressful situations.
For years, Sherry followed this pattern of using food to relieve stress and relying on eating to make her feel better or to help her deal with her emotions. In 2012, Sherry’ s mother began to struggle with a serious health issue, adding even more to Sherry’ s plate as the family caretaker. When she wasn’ t working full time at her job, Sherry was taking care of her mom— feeding her, driving her to the doctor, and looking after her. This left very little time for Sherry to prepare food or make healthy choices, further limiting her ability to control her weight.
The Turning Point
Although many obstacles stood between Sherry and a healthy life( and had for years), Sherry still longed to take care of herself and her body. One day, she received a copy of dōTERRA ® Living Magazine and read the story about Rachel Cody, the Slim & Sassy
Contest Grand Prize Winner for 2016. Inspired by Rachel’ s weight loss journey and interested in the Slim & Sassy Contest platform, Sherry decided to participate. Not only did she agree to participate in the contest, but firmly declared,“ I’ m doing this and I’ m going to win.” Sherry says,“ This article gave me the push I needed to make changes now.”
In addition to Rachel’ s Slim & Sassy story, Sherry admits that much of her motivation to participate in the contest and change her life came from her parents. When speaking of her dad’ s death, Sherry says,“ He was never able to see my children grow up. I don’ t want to die at a young age like my dad. I want to see my children get married someday. I want to see my future grandchildren. I want a chance to spoil them and see them grow up.” Sherry also saw the deterioration of her mother’ s health as a rude awakening. After seeing her parents’ discomfort and spending so many years taking care of others, Sherry decided to take time for herself and embark on her own weight loss journey.
A Winning Attitude
As Sherry began the Slim & Sassy contest, she still faced many of the obstacles that had made losing weight difficult in the past. However, with clear goals in mind and motivation to change her life, Sherry began seeing results that helped her continue to improve and build a healthy lifestyle. She says,“ In the past, I did not use the proper detoxification products, supplements, or oils to help my body metabolize fat properly and help me de-stress without turning to my food addiction.” After losing 46 pounds and taking her dress size from a 20 to a 14, Sherry feels that she has finally found a routine that works for her personally.* Sherry says,“ I no longer allow food to control my life. Meditation, daily exercise, and fresh, raw food are actually things I look forward to now!”
RESULTS: 46 POUNDS AND TOOK HER DRESS SIZE FROM A 20 TO A 14.