Mommy, look! I took a picture!”
 
My little Emily was so full of joy, proudly showing me a photo that she’d snapped with her daddy’s camera. A photo of me. In a swimsuit.
 
To her? It was a work of art.
 
To me? It was disturbing.
 
This was eight years ago, and I was at my heaviest weight I’d ever been in my entire life. I was unhappy, frustrated and stuck in a career that I hated. My body reflected the misery, inside.
 
When Emily showed me the picture, I wanted to cry.
 
Or smash the camera.
 
Or both.
 
Emily looked up at me, so proud and hopeful, waiting for me to say, “That’s beautiful, sweetheart! Great job.”
 
I couldn’t do it.
 
It was then, in that moment, that I realized that my extra weight wasn’t just affecting my own health & happiness. It was affecting my family, as well. It was holding me back from living, giving and loving at my full capacity.
 
And THAT … was no longer OK.
 
I wish I could say that “everything changed” after that moment. That I began losing weight effortlessly and naturally, immediately. Not quite.
 
Everything DID change, but only after I sought help from a coach who taught me how to manage my emotions more effectively, responding with love, instead of self-sabotage.
 
Today, eight years later, I’d love to be that coach … for you.
 
If you’re tired of the hiding, the shame, ducking out of photographs, and postponing joy until “later,” please join me tomorrow for a free introduction to The Weight School — a place for sane, loving and permanent weight loss.
 
RSVP here: http://theweightschool.com/
 
… and join in tomorrow at 10am Pacific.
 
I’ll see you there!
 
Susan

PS. Here’s a photo that Emily (who’s a teenager, now) took of me this morning … no hiding, anymore! Holla!