| lifestyle |
Sheryl Sealy ’ s
Weight loss Journey words & photography by Payton Fletcher
Ajourney of healthy lifestyle changes and dedication , Thomasville local Sheryl Sealy , 52 , fought tooth and nail against her mind and body to lose more than 100 pounds since she began her journey in the summer of 2020 .
Sealy said that for 30 years , she had been struggling with her weight like anyone else , going through a cycle of gaining and losing that always ended up back where she started .
“ Anyone who has struggled with their weight , they have had successes and they ’ ve had failures with it and it ’ s just kind of a cycle ,” she said . “ You ’ ll have times where you lose weight and you regain the weight and you lose the weight then you regain the weight and that ’ s gone on for a time .”
And yet , in the summer of 2020 , Sealy , weighing 265 pounds at the time , said she was given a very convincing reason to buckle down and really get to work for the sake of her own personal health . “ It was the summer of 2020 , when COVID was a thing . At the time , early on , COVID was the most horrible thing that could happen to you , the cases were all critical , people were ending up on ventilators and they did not have good outcomes ,” she said . “ They had these comorbidities that led to more of the severe cases and being obese was one of them .”
With no history of diabetes , high blood pressure , high cholesterol or any other health concerns , Sealy thought it was ridiculous that the one major issue plaguing her was one that was well within her control to change .
“ And that was one of them I remember sitting there and thinking , ‘ this is ridiculous that I ’ m perfectly healthy in every way , but this one thing that I struggle with , that I have control over , this could be a comorbidity if I get this virus ,’” she said . “ So that ’ s really where it came from , to take matters into my own hands with making myself healthier , that ’ s really where it came from . In prior years it was all about looking better , this was honestly about being healthier .”
Beginning her journey on June 1 , Sealy said that she made great strides and lost 10 pounds before , out of nowhere , her progress stalled and she stopped putting the effort in .
“ I tell that because I like for people to understand that it ’ s not about the failure , it ’ s about starting again ,” Sealy said . “ I did great , I can ’ t tell you what made me kind of stop , I don ’ t know what it was , I don ’ t know if it was a weekend of too much pizza and wine or what it was , but I do know I ended up coming down with COVID at the of July .”
Recovering from the virus , Sealy said her motivation was renewed . Counting the days of quarantine , Sealy said that it was only a week after she ’ d gotten her clean bill of health that she was back to the gym with a new vigor .
22 February | March 2023 Thomasville Scene