My mom has always been my solid rock in my life. She was loving and firm. She set high expectations and always believed in my dreams. She was a challenger, an encourager, a cheerleader, and a mentor. She believed in me even when I had lost hope in myself. She was the one that I fought with because My mom has always been my solid rock in my life. She never understood my teenage drama. She always had all the right answers, even when I wasn't willing to admit it. She has been a constant example of what I believe a strong woman should look like. She is the glue that keeps our family together. I say all of this now, though it took me a long time to realize it.

I chose a college that was twelve hours away from home. I was destined to seek out an adventure and experience true independence. I was so over living under a roof of rules and high expectations and parents that just didn't understand. It took a really long time for me to really see the type of mother I was so blessed to have. It took leaving home to realize how much I had taken her for granted. During my college years I discovered that not only did I have a super amazing mother, but that she was becoming one of my dearest friends.

Both my mom and I have struggled with weight for most of our lives. It's not something that we ever really shared with each other. It's just something that was. We spent eleven years living in separate states. We spent eleven years only seeing each other two to three times a year. We spent eleven years building up a relationship through our daily phone conversations. So you can imagine how elated I was when I heard that my parents were moving to Florida for my mom's new job! In fact she would be living in my house until my dad was able to sell their house. I had just started my own G&S journey when my mom moved in with my family. My mom saw the progress that I was making and decided to sign up and begin her own journey to freedom. She just hit her goal a couple of weeks ago and has lost a total of 68lbs! Together we have lost 148 lbs!*

We will always be a team. And we will always love each other every step of the way, no matter where our next journey takes us.

I have loved being able to share this journey with her. No one gets how hard being obese or deciding to change your life style really is unless you go through it yourself. So being able to share this journey with my own mom has been so amazing. It's drawn us closer and created a place for us to become more vulnerable with each other. It's been a long and tough road, but I am so proud of all that she has accomplished! I know that this is only the beginning of new incredible opportunities for her.

She's my mom, and I'm her daughter. We may have different opinions. Our stubbornness might get us into trouble. But we will always be strong women. We will always be each other's biggest cheerleaders.  We will always be a team. And we will always love each other every step of the way, no matter where our next journey takes us.

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* Individual results may vary.