A would-be bride, Mary Jane O’Toole had a dream wedding dress in mind. It was cleavage-baring with a dramatic accent. However, as she tips the scale at 281 lbs, she knew that her problem lies beyond wearing her dream wedding dress.
Though she grew up overweight, fast food dinners and lack of exercise made Mary Jane clinically obese.
It did not help his would-be husband thought that as long as he works out, he could eat whatever he wants. Mary Jane adopted this mindset but never became active. Both of them ballooned up.
Her excess weight also caused her pain, as her knees could not bear the weight of her body. She was at a cousin’s wedding, and she joined a group dance. As she was getting low, her knees hurt and she thought she was having arthritis.
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But it was a photo from a trip to the Animal Kingdom at Disney World that motivated her to lose weight. According to her, she could not believe how big she became that she did not even recognize herself.
With the help of the app, LoseIt! the couple was able to set weight loss goals, track their calories, and monitor their weight loss.
Furthermore, she felt like she was paying a ‘fat tax’ whenever she buys clothes, as plus-size wedding dress cost way more than straight sizes.
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After a year and a half, Mary Jane lost 100 lbs. When she reached her ideal weight of 146 pounds, she was able to fit in a size six wedding dress—a first time in her life that she was ready to wear a single-digit dress size.
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As for her wedding dress, though she was not able to have the style that she had in mind, she got a long-sleeved one that went up to her neck and with a bareback. She did not imagine herself wearing something that fitted, but she felt awesome since she worked hard to lose weight.