Lisa Charlesworth was just 20 when the most embarrassing moment of her life happened.
It was the eve of her twenty-first birthday, and a celebration of New Year’s Eve.
At the time, she weighed 350 pounds.
She never liked celebrating her birthday due to her weight.
“All Christmas meant for me was eating even more than usual,” said Lisa.
But for her twenty-first birthday, her family insisted on taking her out to dinner. They went to a nice Italian restaurant.
“As I sat down at the table,” said Lisa, “There was a terrible cracking sound and I almost lost my balance. Clutching at the table to stop myself falling backwards, I realized, in horror, that I had broken the chair.”
It was humiliating for her. After that, she promised she’d get in shape, as she’d promised herself many times.
But months later, her dad was admitted to the hospital, due to complications from his genetic type 1 diabetes. He’d been worried about his daughter for her whole life, as his diabetes meant that Lisa was at even higher risk.
“When I visited, he took hold of my hand,” said Lisa. “He asked me, there and then, to promise him that I would carry out my plans to lose weight.
“It was so emotional. I realized this was how important it was to him—and to me. I had to say yes.”
Her dad died in a diabetic coma shortly after.
The next year, she went in for gastric bypass surgery. At that point, she was 387 pounds.
In two weeks, she dropped 30 pounds.
She met up with an old friend, named James Martin, a few weeks after her surgery. They lost touch again, as he was seeing someone. But in early 2011, they met again, and James was impressed by her figure. He asked her on a date, and they went out to eat.
But due to her gastric bypass surgery, she could only eat very small portions. It took her an hour to eat a bread roll, while James ate a steak.
They continued dating, and by January 2013, Lisa was 144 pounds. They moved in together, got engaged, and now they have a baby.
“My life has completely changed,” says Lisa of the surgery. “It’s what I had always dreamed of. I have a partner and a new baby, and this festive season was the best ever.
“That New Year’s Eve, on my 21st, felt like the end of the world, but actually it was the best thing that could have happened. It made me change my life.”
After her baby, she’s now at about 180 pounds, but is already on her way to get back down to 160.
