TDF Magazine Vol. 3 | Page 13

BombshellSUCCESS By Erin Trainor F ive years ago, I was a miserable, overweight woman. I had tried nearly every diet fad imaginable with no noticeable success, which made me feel like a complete failure. To make matters worse, my family was suffering through several traumatic losses within the span of only a few years, which included the death of my sister, uncle, cousin, and grandpa. If that wasn’t enough, my then-husband also needed a kidney transplant. However, throughout this seemingly endless stream of despair, I continued to smile and laugh, taking care of everything and everyone, all the while suppressing my own emotional pain. Tragedy had become my identity; I hated myself and who I was quickly becoming. I knew that I needed to make a change. At some point we all have that moment where things just “click.” Mine came when I looked down at the smiling face of my son, whom I love more than life itself. In that moment, I realized that if I didn’t make a change soon, I would be the mom sitting idly by as my child grew up. I wanted to be an active participant in his life, not a and immediately signed myself up for a 5K run! Now, mind you, at this point I was a size 20 and just shy of 240 pounds, so just running—let alone