Like many Americans, 20-year-old Nebraskan Natalie Strawn has struggled with her weight all her life, but her story is definitely an extraordinary one. Three years ago, she had dropped out of high school and reached a point where she could barely move, topping the scale at 552 pounds. But from that point on, she made up her mind to turn her life around, joined Weight Watchers, and hasn't looked back. She appeared on Good Morning America today with her mom, Rita, to talk to Lara Spencer about her 282-pound weight loss. Her journey is incredible, to say the least!
You've got to wonder what motivates and keeps someone like Natalie motivated, when the challenge that lies ahead seems crazy uphill. Although she told Lara that she has her faith and is determined, she also has one specific trick up her sleeve that seems to be making her fight to the finish breezier all the time.
Natalie's secret? Her mom, Rita, who she sees as her partner in her weight loss journey. They blow the whistle on one another -- like a time when Rita bought a brownie at a gas station, and Natalie chucked it out the car window, ha! As Lara put it, the two are approaching weight loss as "a family affair."
I love this, because not only does a partner help keep you in check, but then you also have a responsibility to them to stay on track yourself and to keep them on track. You both make an effort to keep "junk" out of the cupboards, and you schedule time to go to the gym together. There's a reason Biggest Loser does whole seasons devoted to "couples" -- the setup is win-win. A completely underestimated boon to weight loss is the support of loved ones. If you have it, it can make a world of difference. If you don't, it can be one more battle in an already stressful war. I've known women who have said their families wouldn't eat the healthy food they were trying to cook themselves to stay on a plan, whose husbands refuse to get on board the "let's get healthy" train. That's gotta be so rough, so disheartening!
So Natalie definitely is lucky to have her mom working with her on this journey. If they both stay committed -- and from the looks of what Natalie's accomplished so far, it seems they really will! -- I have a feeling they'll have nowhere to go but down (in a great way).
What do you think about Natalie's story? Do you agree having loved ones' support is integral to weight loss success?
Image via ABC
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Comments 11
Oh my gosh it is SO integral! I made a pretty drastic lifestyle change to deal with some issues besides weight, and I could never have stuck to it if my husband hadn't been willing to eat my weird food. And we're just starting a family, so this is the way our kids are going to grow up. I'm at the point now where we can bring the odd item of food I don't eat into the house for Husband and the kiddo, and I don't eat it because I have my alternatives available. But those first few months were ROUGH. So I'm grateful I had his support, and a lot of understanding from our friends and families.
Honestly when I saw this yesterday On tv I was over come with anger. She said she was ridiculed ever since she was a child for being over weight, so because of that she ate more and more and more......WHO kept feeding her??!?!?! Someone would have to bought the food....Did her parents just turn a blind eye? Im sooo happy she is losing weight and is happy but I think this situation could of been prevented by mom and pops.
WOW! I do not get how some can be so rude. Congralutations to her being able to lose that much.
No matter how much she has lost, she still weighs almost 300 pounds and unless she is 7 feet tall that is still morbidly obese.
Struggling with weight through your whole life is hard, especially when you can't control what your parents buy and cook at home and you are a kid and can't buy your own food. So you eat what is available to you. And you don't want to starve because you are eating the 'right' amount of the wrong foods so you take in more so you can get full but it's not enough because you aren't getting other foods like veggies and fruits...I ought to know. I come from an Italian family and my parents only eat corn and broccoli, those are thos ONLY veggies that pass through this house and tomatos of course...then there's pasta and fried foods..and junk food. SO I understand how she could have gained all that weight. And food is love when you're Italian. So I have struggled my whole life with weight. I am not fat, nor am I skinny, I workout and I am proud of her for losing over 200lbs! It is hard to change your eating ways especially when the person you live with doesn't want to join in..she is lucky her mom is there to help her instead of saying, 'You can eat that ice cream because you work out all the time or you eat so little.' like my mom does...and yes we all have a choice..but until you understand where people like us come from no one should trash talk us.