After a childhood dramatically affected by obesity, I hit 500 pounds by the time I turned nineteen. Several weight loss attempts using the latest and greatest dieting techniques didn’t stick for me. Time and time again, I’d lose some weight and gain it back plus more.Things didn’t start changing until I turned thirty-six and started my blog, The Daily Diary of A Winning Loser. Dropping the diet mentality and adopting different perspectives and different actions ended up changing things in dramatic ways.
The last decade has been transformative in every way possible. The path to a healthy weight-range has never been a straight one. Many things have been learned along the way about how to develop sustainable, long-term results. Through it all, the biggest transformation hasn’t been the physical part, it’s the transformation of old patterns and perspectives that kept me near, at, or above 500 pounds for the better part of two decades.
Today, more than ten years since my Day 1 on September 15th, 2008, I continue to work my daily practice of intentional actions. It’s never perfect and it’s always evolving as life moves forward. A set of non-negotiable boundaries and intentional mental/emotional practices help govern each brand-new day.
I’m passionate about continuing to share the day to day happenings on my blog and whenever I can, one of my favorite things is speaking about this entire experience. Over the years, I’ve been honored to speak for groups big and small, from civic and church groups to local YMCA, state YMCA, and national talks for YMCA USA, to corporate employee benefit talks for such companies as Phillips 66 and Conoco Phillips. The mission for each event is to inspire and motivate by not only sharing my story but also providing a clear path for anyone in attendance to believe that they too can break the patterns and choose change before change chooses them, once and for all.
I also make time to work directly with a small one on one mentoring client list and I facilitate a small and exclusive mentoring support group. You can find the links to more information about those options on this website.
It’s all about the mantra that started long ago for me, “I’m Choosing Change Before Change Chooses Me.”
I hope you’ll share your story with me via the contact links in the Nav bar above.