In January, I was in a terrible car accident, which was sort of the tip of what the prior twelve months had brought me. I had lost my mother, grandmother, cousin, and my engagement had ended. As I was sitting home in a wheelchair, feeling sorry for myself, I saw The Secret on Oprah. The next day, I went online and watched the movie. Then I continued watching it everyday for the next few days.

I have struggled with my weight since I was 8 years old. I’ve always been at least twenty pounds over wight unless I was taking drastic measures and making myself sick in order to be skinny. I was topping out the scales at 235. I decided that I would stop focusing on hating myself for my weight, and instead be grateful for the body I have. I wrote down my ideal size-a 12-and how I would feel once I got there. I cut out pictures of fit, healthy looking women in bikinis, and looked at them daily, and visualized how I felt to be healthy and beautiful.

Now, I had been trying desperately to lose weight for months prior-going to the gym everyday, and not eating sweets. Remember, I was in a wheelchair and unable to do any activity. I ate cake, pasta, and steak weekly, however I no longer felt the need to eat huge portions. A few bites satisfied me, when before, I would have had to eat ten times as much to feel satisfied. I got on the scale once I had healed enough to stand, and to my shock, I had lost 20lbs! In combination with the ten pounds I had killed myself to lose during the 5 prior months, this got me down to my current weight of 204. I know that if I continue to celebrate the body I have and visualize how I will feel at my goal weight, I will be there in no time at all.

This is just one of the many ways my life has changed for the better since viewing The Secret.