Submitted by Diamond Medical Spa and Vein
Middle and high school can be a very harsh environment for sensitive children. Bullying erodes self-confidence and self-esteem, particularly when a kid is obese. Jeanette remembers in 6th grade girls telling her to get on Jenny Craig. Memories of a girl saying, “You’d look prettier if you were thinner,” still haunt her. She couldn’t wear “cute” clothes or even fit into her desk. She wanted to feel beautiful and says, “I felt people whispering about me. That made me want to hide out.” She admits she spent years feeling sad, crying a lot, and never got attention from boys. Now all of that has changed dramatically!
She gives her family credit for being the biggest encouragement, especially her mom and sister who struggled alongside her to battle bad habits. Jeanette’s sister is a year older and began losing her 80 pounds first with help from Diamond Weight Management program. Her sister was not competitive, but wanted Jeanette to be happy like she had become. Jeanette says, “I couldn’t wait until I finally became 18 and could join Diamond’s program.”
The synergy of Jeanette and her sister working together gave her the strength to stick with the Diamond weight management program. Jeanette said, “It’s a good feeling to have lots of [positive] attention I never had before. One of the top, best feelings is when old high school friends see me and say, ‘I didn’t even recognize you.’” She tells of going out with her sister to meet a friend who had not seen her in four years. Jeanette relates that when her sister said, “that’s Jeanette,” her friend said, “You look amazing,” and hugged her tight for two minutes!
Her eyes lit up in delight as I showed her “before” photos from last year. I asked how she felt seeing those pictures. She said, “I’m pretty surprised and it’s shocking, in a good way… like I don’t remember that person.” The photos were from before Jeanette lost over 100 pounds. She remembers, before losing the weight, noticing favoritism toward smaller girls.
Jeanette cheerfully states, “I’m excited for the future… I have confidence and know if I can lose over 100 pounds, I can do anything else I’m passionate about!” The changes she has made weren’t what you could call sacrifices. She says she gave away all of her big girl clothes to Good Will. She also said, “I’m determined to never let ‘that girl’ come back. I watch what I eat and exercise a lot,” and admitted, “I occasionally treat myself with ‘bad food’ only when I’m out with friends every two to three weeks.” Jeanette told me, “I can’t eat as much as I used to… I used to eat twice as much… now greasy food and burgers make me feel sick.”
I asked Jeanette how important was Diamond to her weight loss. She replied, “Best decision I ever made… It was the biggest change in my 19 years… the education made a huge difference… this is such a great place and seeing the results… I like the group setting because it inspires everyone… I got a friend to come to the gym with me and she has lost 15 pounds… it’s really cool and makes me feel good to know that I can help others… I see weight from both sides from when I was heavy… Realizing how different I am leaves me speechless… I used to be easily annoyed, guarded and irritable… I stayed in my shell, now I have become a different person… I’m happier, accepting of people… I can’t really explain the great feeling I have that nothing gets me upset anymore!”
Diamond Medical Spa & Vein is located at 3170 E. 53rd Street in Davenport. Call 563-275-4701 today to schedule a consultation.