I woke up one day and realized that I am not the person I used to be. I’m 16 and trapped in an obese woman’s body. When I was born a month and a half early, I already weighed six pounds. They told my mom it was good that she delivered early for her sake.

The weight gain started when I was six years old. My family has always hated to see food go to waste, and that’s part of the reason I am so overweight. The other is that we don’t get a lot of exercise. My mom said I would go through a growth spurt, and I did, but it didn’t help. The older I got, the heavier I got. The doctor could do nothing because I was so young, so I just watched the numbers on the scale go up and up until I realized I had a serious problem. I tried to lose weight but I’d drop 10 pounds and then gain 20.

By the time I was 13, all I wanted was to be like all the rest of the girls. If you knew the trauma I went through! Kids were so mean that at one point I tried killing myself. Can you imagine getting called fatty and cow every single day? School was hell. My so-called friends would be nice to my face and then talk about me like all the other kids did. To this day I do not trust my friends. I’m used to being hurt, and I’m trying really hard to be strong.

I saw the other girls with boyfriends and felt so left out, but then I learned you don’t need a guy to make you feel happy. That’s why you have friends. My only true friend was God. He was the only one who would listen to how I felt. To this day He is helping me stay strong.

I got a big wake-up call when I could barely fit into the desks at school last year. It was so embarrassing. But now I am a sophomore and can slide in and out of my desk with no problem, thanks to LA Weight Loss. I have been going for almost three months and I’ve lost 20 pounds and seven inches. My goal is to lose 130 pounds and I’m sure I can do it. I have to be strict about exercising and not eating fatty foods. This program really is a whole lifestyle change and I’m on the right road. My goal is to weigh 150 pounds and wear cute little skirts and tank tops.

I want to be able to walk into any store and buy whatever I want. Right now the only stores I can shop in are those that carry plus sizes where it’s hard to find clothes I like, but everything looks better since I lost 20 pounds. I have even noticed that people treat me differently. I hate it that people look down on bigger people. Next time you see a plus-size person, don’t look down on them because that could be you in the future.