Cheri Cline
I was raised in Houston, Tx in a 2 parent household with 1 younger brother. I was the average kid and teenager. I remember always loving to eat food. As a family we would sit down for dinner and scarf down food like we hadn't ate in weeks. I remember one time my mother caught me eating cereal in my room after I had eaten dinner. She made me walk up and down our stairs 100 times carrying the empty cereal bowl. I loved to eat. I was heavier than most of my friends, but not obese.
My senior year of high school my parents told my brother and I that they were going to get a divorce. My life began to spiral out of control at that point. I began using drugs and alcohol on a regular basis. I also began to emotionally eat out of control. I was not sure how to cope with my feelings and turned to outside materials to fill the void and kill the pain that I was feeling.
I slowly began to gain weight more and more over the years. My drug use would off set my weight. A cocaine diet tends to cause weight loss, followed by goarding myself with food. I would not eat of days and then would pig out once I came down. I would smoke marijuana and would gets the munchies and eat everything in the house. My life slowly spiraled out of control. I made some very bad choices and did things that I was not proud of.
When I was 25 I was forced to sit down and look at my life and what I had become. I got some help for my problems and got sober. I had to look in the mirror and find out why I using like I was. I healed and grew so much in a 6 month period. I decided to go back to college and get a degree to become a certified alcohol and drug counselor. I graduated with a 4.0 grade point average.
Once I got off the drugs and alcohol my weight slowly progressed over time. I continued to gain weight. I found myself eating not because I was hungry, but because I liked the taste of the food. I began to have a love/hate relationship with food. I slowly ballooned up over 200 pounds. The next month I had gained another 10 pounds.
In 2005 I was in a car accident and hurt my back. I herniated my 2 lower disc and had a hard time being active. I continued to gain weight and was less and less active. I gained more weight. By the end of 2005 I was probably 240 pounds, in 2006 I was 275 pounds. At that point I decided that I had to do something about my weight. I got treated for my back, which can never be fixed. I was taught exercises that I can do to help with the pain. I continued to gain more weight. I looked into weight loss surgery to help me with portion control.
I had to see my physician 1 time a month for a year. I continued to gain weight and was approximatley 314 pounds by the time I had my pre op appointment for gastric bypass on November 20, 2007. I was approved for my surgery and had it on January 29, 2008.
My life has had many ups and many downs. I have overcome so much and accomplished everything that I have set my mind to. Losing weight and living a healthy life has become my new life goal. I believe that with my supportive family, my fiance, and most of all God that I can do anything I put my mind to. I have made more life changes, but will continue to grow.......
About Me
Before & After
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