TDF Ambassador Success Story
By Becca Terrill
From the age of five, I was overweight. I wasn’t small like the
other girls my age, I couldn’t keep up with kids in gym class,
and I never understood why I was “different.” My weight
problem carried on through high school, but I didn’t let it
bother me until I met “the love of my life,” or so I thought at
the time. Our relationship went sour after 6 months when he
began to become abusive verbally and physically; he
completely stripped me of my self-worth. I didn’t feel worthy
of love, and I believed that because I was not thin, I was ugly. I
tried every diet from slim fast to the cabbage soup diet, and
different types of weight loss pills. I even restricted my calorie
intake with excessive exercise. Everything I tried left me
feeling completely miserable. Eventually, I lost 15lbs, and I
realized that I didn’t need to be with a guy who was so terrible
to me, so I broke up with him and moved on with my life.
never had a weight problem; he was thin with a fast
metabolism and could eat whatever he wanted. However, my
pants started getting tighter, my belly started showing out of
clothes, my face became rounder, and stretch marks starting
appearing on my stomach and thighs. I gained 50lbs in the
first six months we dated. With this weight gain, I started to
feel the way I had felt with my ex, not that Matt ever made me
feel anything but beautiful. With each pound gained, I felt less
worthy of his love. I began to look in the mirror every day,
pulling and tugging at the fat in my stomach. I wanted it gone
for good.
My dad and I went to visit my sister in Alabama. At that point,
I hadn’t allowed pictures of myself to be taken in months, but
my dad wanted to document our trip to have photos of our
memories. He posted the photos on Facebook,
I met my husband Matt two weeks after my break up and we and I did not recognize myself! I mustered up the courage to
quickly fell in love. Together, we indulged in large portion weigh myself. I weighed 202lbs. My own personal nightmare
sizes and late night snacks of ice cream and nachos. Matt had come true.
After a good cry and with encouragement from Matt, I
decided I was going to lose weight. I knew the only way I could
succeed was to change my lifestyle, and not do any “quick
fixes.” I started seeing an amazing personal trainer who
introduced me to weight training. I would lift with the trainer
three days a week and do cardio or a spin class three times a
week. I started making reasonable changes in my diet by
drinking more water and less soda and sweet tea. I stopped
eating fast food started bringing my lunch to work.
Once these changes were customary for me, I made more
changes to keep the scale moving. I ate more veggies and
lean meats while eating less fried foods and sweets; I never
deprived myself of anything to avoid a binge. I fell of track a
few times, sometimes for days or even weeks, but I was
always able to get myself back on track.
This time, I wasn’t starving myself or eating nasty soups or
shakes; instead, I was choosing to be healthy and believe in
myself. I researched clean eating and how much I should eat
a day. Eventually, I did not crave junk food and completely
stopped drinking sugary drinks. In nine months, I had lost
70lbs and surpassed my goal weight. Within just a few days of
reaching my goals, Matt proposed to me! I married the love of
my life a year later feeling confident and beautiful.
It’s been three years since I lost and kept off the weight,
and each day I continue to strive to maintain my good
health while getting stronger and stronger! This feeling
of self love and confidence is a feeling that everyone
should have