When I was a little girl, I was tiny and petite until the age of 6. No one knows why, but it seemed all of a sudden this cute little 6 year old was gaining weight! I have to admit, I did love to eat, but at the age of 6? Over the years, I continued to gain weight, and by the time I was a senior in high school, I weighed over 200 pounds! Now, standing at 5'4"- 200 pounds was a lot of weight for my frame to be carrying around. I told myself I was just big boned; however, once I lost the weight, I found out I had small bones!
My Story
My Story tells how I overcame bullying and obesity and came to realize that...
I am God's Masterpiece!
A New Perspective of Gratitude
Watch and listen as Diane describes how she released the limiting mindset of her past and now has a grateful mindset thanks to her past, God and the coaches in her life.
Let's go back a few years, actually many years.
My parents did what they thought was best to help me. They first took me to a doctor to find out why I suddenly began to gain weight. The doctor looked at my dad and said well he's a big man (he was a little overweight, maybe 20 pounds, but not large). Over the years, my parents tried to get me to diet. They even took me to the doctor and he gave me a prescription for diet pills. I continued to eat and gain weight throughout my adolescents.
I became an embarrassment to my family; yet I didn't seem to know how to get it under control. I loved eating!!!
The Pain
At times the pain was unbearable. Here, you will see my high school picture when I weighed about 210 pounds; plus four notes written in my High School annual - two of them very sweet, two of them very hurtful. There are also pictures of me now and a picture taken in 2007 when I climbed a rock wall while on a cruise - yes, I made it to the top and rang the bell!
Many people viewed me as the jolly fat girl. I will admit I always had a smile on my face and I appeared to take the joking well. However, the name calling, teachers making me feel stupid, not being able to buy clothes my size, being made fun of and other actions were so hurtful. I don't know why my size mattered; however, it was an embarrassment to others. Can you imagine the pain? I even had a family member once tell me what a pretty face I had and how much prettier I would be if I lost the weight. After losing the weight and while I was in college, I had a high school male friend say, "wow, if I had known this is what you would look like, I would have dated you." I told him I was the same person fat as I was thin.
The pain continued to lurk for the next 40 years. It was as though I was carrying the fat girl in a bag on my shoulder all the time. Even after marrying a wonderful man who thought I was perfect, I put him through the pain of always asking if the clothes I put on made me look fat. My daughter, who is tiny, picked up this habit from me and now drives her husband crazy asking the same thing. The pain continued!
Let's continue My Story:
During my senior year in high school: I started working in the afternoons at a bank. Some of the ladies at the bank decided they would join a group called TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly). They asked if I wanted to go and I agreed. We were weighed in, given a choice of different eating plans and I chose the one I thought I could follow. I went home and shared this with my mom and she was so willing to help me in my quest to take off the weight. It was January 1971 and by the time I graduated from high school in May, I had lost quite a bit of weight, continued to lose during the summer and was so pleased with how I looked by the time I entered college.
I have to admit, college was fun! The people I met didn't know me as the fat girl. I made good grades (much better than in high school) and began dating (a lot)!! At one point during my senior year in college, I was dating 5 guys at the same time - it was fun and a juggling act to be sure I didn't have two dates at the same time.
Let's fast forward 43 years: I have kept the weight off!!! Has it been easy? NO! Has it been worth it? YES! Have I struggled with who I am and feeling good about myself? A resounding YES! Have I looked in the mirror over the last 40 years and still seen the fat girl who was made fun of because she weighed over 200 pounds? YES! Even though I lost the weight, I have carried the fat person with me all throughout life. I had not let go of her- she was living in my head, until January 2011.
In January 2011, I had the opportunity to attend "From Heartbreak to Happiness" Grief Coach Academy and it was there I was taught the PEACE Method; a method designed by Aurora Winter, the founder of the Grief Coach Academy. This method changed my perspective on life all together. The PEACE Method can move a person from pain to peace in just 5 steps. Because of this process, I was able to release the fat girl I had allowed to live with me for 40 years!! Can you imagine the feeling of going from "Fat Girl to God's Masterpiece?" This breakthrough was such a huge change in my life, and it's because of this I have chosen to coach others who are holding on to pain. I realized I didn't want to waste another day with the fat girl lurking behind me. I wanted instead to help others ~ to help you be who God intended you to be.
As I look back over my life, I realize now I can rejoice in the trials through those years, because it is what has made me who I am, and it now allows me to help other women through the challenges in their life.
"For you are God’s Masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that you should walk in them.” - Ephesians 2:10
I have always loved the scripture Ephesians 2:10 telling me how I am God's Masterpiece; even though I didn't feel like I was all those years. After letting go of the past, I continued to be coached and I began to study my Bible more about how important and special I am to God. I would like to share with you what I have discovered in God's word and help you realize how special you are to God and how you, too, are His masterpiece! Plus, I would also like to guide you through any grief you have using what I have learned to become a Certified Grief Coach.
Allow Me to Inspire You!
I've been where you are. Now I am at PEACE.
Coaching helped me RELEASE my past.
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Thank you for your reading my story! Share this site on your social media or to a struggling friend so they can learn and grow as God's Masterpiece!
