I’ve struggled with managing my weight my entire life. My reactive eating behavior led to decades of huge weight gain accompanied by physical and emotional pain. Stress was a main trigger for my eating, whether it was related to work or family. When I felt disappointed because something wasn’t going right for me, I would spiral into a dangerous mindset. I would start to think that nobody cared if I took care of myself or not, and I deserved snacks due to a situation, and eating would make me feel better. These thought patterns only prompted me to eat more. I could easily power through bags of cookies and chips with no stop button in sight.

When I started taking CONTRAVE, I began to feel control over my cravings for the first time. My early weight loss successes led to more success. Along with changing my diet, I began to focus on moving my body. First, I started walking, then spinning, then running, and then attending fitness classes. Working out had been so important to me in my 20s and 30s, something that I loved. Fitness has once again become a passion and a priority in my self-care routine.

 

My journey wasn’t easy. Alongside the physical part of losing weight, I had to confront my lifelong relationship issues with food and come to peace with them. I spent the first year of my journey evaluating my relationship with food to figure out how and why I used food as a coping mechanism. I needed to heal from the hurt and lingering self-negativity to make room for healthier changes in my life. For me, sizing down was just a bonus to the greater mental shift I experienced during my journey.

Finding internal peace and self-acceptance has been the biggest non-scale victory in my weight loss journey. I was able to gain awareness and recognize the reasoning behind my eating behaviors including what was triggering my cravings. CONTRAVE helped me no longer need to reach for food as a comfort. I now know that I can deal with those triggers and cravings in healthier ways. CONTRAVE gave me the foundation I needed to lose weight. Through this journey, I have learned that not only am I capable of positive change, but I am worthy of it.