Dawn Wickhorst Photography - Bonnyville

My transformation story

The day I hit puberty was the day I blew up like a balloon. Well, It probably didn’t happen exactly like that… but that’s how I remember it. I was overweight my entire life. Even as a child I remember being bullied for being bigger… “You look like you’re 100 POUNDS.” Was something another 9-year-old kid said to me in grade 4. 

I remember always having the goal as a teenager to lose enough weight where I could get a belly piercing. Gosh, that was the dream. I wanted a belly button piercing more than life at that point. 

No matter how many times I started, how much advice I took, or how many different diet websites I looked on, the weight never left. Sometimes it would take a short vacation from my body but would take its place comfortably back on me in a short time. 

There were days I would actually sit in the bathtub and think “Man, it would be so weird not to have a big tummy anymore… I have never NOT had one.”

I would go to bed every night dreaming of a new, smaller… better body. 

I look back now and I just want to hug myself. I want to bring young me into a large, loving embrace and tell her that she’s beautiful, she’s capable, and she’s worth it. 

As I am writing this, I am nearly 30 years old. It wasn’t until this last year I found the confidence, the determination, and the know-how to lose the weight and keep it off. It took me nearly 20 years! Thats 2/3 of my entire life. 

What made a difference for me now? It’s quite simple really, mental health. Once I started focusing on the inner healing, it made the outer healing A LOT easier. 

I started taking products that helped boost the ‘happy’ hormones in my brain. This was a huge pivoting point in my journey. Even though the products also helped with energy, hunger control, and cravings, it was the decreased misery and stress that helped me STOP binge eating, stress eating, and emotional eating. 

Once I got that part of my life under control, I went an intense spiritual journey. I started learning more about myself, my mindset, and how my trauma affects my current outcome.