Weight Loss Success Story Diana Hampton

I love shoes!

I know that that is a strange statement to make when starting to describe my weight loss journey, but for me…it is the only way to start it.

My love affair with shoes probably started before my love affair with food.  Not just your typical shoe though….it has to be unique, colorful, and sexy with a VERY high heel.

As early as I can remember I had an eye for a great pair of shoes but it wasn’t until my early 20’s that it became an obsession but as my weight increased, so did the pain caused by my shoes.  So this is my story about how “Diana Got Her Shoes Back”.

Growing up in small town Oklahoma, we were a meat and potato family.  My mother loved to cook and we all loved to eat.  I inherited my sweet tooth from my father and we would eat Oreos every night.  I can remember relatives saying that I just hadn’t lost my “baby fat” yet and I would grow out of my pudgy state. Yeah, as if that ever happens.

In high school, I ran with the popular group and had a zillion friends but I was starting to feel the real impact of bad eating habits, a steady diet of fried chicken and of course..Oreos.  I was able to slim down before graduation and began my young adult life ready to conquer the world while rocking great shoes!

I met my husband when I was twenty and we quickly got married, had our son and I gained 70 pounds! That baby cost me more than just my figure…I could no longer wear my beautiful shoes.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved that little boy but I also loved my shoes.  I struggled to lose the weight but it was just so hard and all this time, my shoes sat in my closet yearning for me to get back into them.

Two years later, along came my beautiful little girl but an additional 30 pounds came with her.  As my kids grew, so did my waistline and my butt and my hips and my thighs…you get the idea.  I can remember making a deal with myself that if I ever hit XXX weight, I was definitely going to get serious and start a diet.  Did anyone else make this pact with the devil besides me?  Well, as the numbers on the scale kept getting higher and higher, the shoes sitting in my closet went out of style and I was forced to wear ugly, boring, unattractive shoes.

In 1999, my small family moved to Memphis for my husband’s job and we didn’t know a single person there.  In order to entertain ourselves, we proceeded to eat our way thru the South with me wearing ugly shoes.  The results of BBQ, fried green tomatoes and sweet tea caused my weight to sky rocket to an all time high of around 250 pounds!  For a girl that is just barely over 5 foot carrying that much weight, there is no way I could even begin to step into a pair of heels let alone walk in them!

I can’t really define the exact moment that I decided to have weight loss surgery but my decision had a lot to do with my sister, Nancy (who is much older than me by the way).  She actually works at WeightWise and she had gastric surgery about 5 years ago.  Wow, what a difference it made in her!  I was completely impressed by how well she did, her new confidence level and the sassy attitude.

As we rang in the New Year of 2010, I began talking to her and my family about the possibility of me having surgery.  It is a huge decision and not to be taken lightly.  You will change your entire way of thinking about food and the negative relationship you had with it.  I kept asking myself if I was ready to say goodbye to the southern way of eating and begin a new lifestyle.  I had a very large bucket list of things I would do if I got thin.  I would zip line across a rain forest, I would buy new shoes, I would wear matching bras and panties every day, I would buy new shoes, I would wear a bikini on a public beach, I would buy new shoes…you get the idea.

The entire team at WeightWise was incredible!

They took care of everything and made sure that I was 100% ready to start my new life in the right state of mind.  I had a gastric sleeve on 3/31/2010 and I don’t have any regrets other than I wish I had done it sooner.

You cannot imagine the impact that the surgery will have for you unless you experience it.  A lot of people make the decision to keep the surgery secret,  but not me.  I shouted it to everyone I knew and all the people I met.  I decided that if I could just impact the life of one person by telling them about the surgery that is exactly what I would do.

The majority of my weight came off the first 9-10 months and I must have purged my closet at least 6 times.  Each time my clothes started getting loose, I went and bought new ones.  But let me tell you about my shoes!  I can remember the exact day after surgery that I stepped back into the most gorgeous pair of red shoes with 4 inch heels….I think that I must have passed out with sheer joy because I don’t remember what happened next.  All I know is that I woke up at the checkout counter with about 6 pairs and my American Express in hand.

So where am I today??  I am loving life and everything that it throws my way.  I am traveling all across the U.S. with my job and will never have to worry about a seat belt extender again.  I tell my weight loss story to anyone who will listen and I have crossed off almost everything on my skinny bucket list.  I have also been the guest speaker at WeightWise seminars several times and I can see the skinny person inside of each individual that attends the meeting.

You need to do this for yourself …not for anyone else.

You need to love yourself enough to want to be happy and healthy.  You have an amazing life ahead of you and you can no longer allow food to hold you captive.

So back to my shoes….so far I have amassed over 200 pairs of high heel shoes in all colors, designs and styles.  It is seriously so bad that I turned my daughter’s room into my “shoe room” when she moved out of the house.   I wear a pair every single day and cherish them all.  Whenever I travel I have a bag for my clothes and a bag for my shoes.  I told you it was an obsession and I was completely serious!

One pair of great shoes can change a girl’s life forever, just ask Cinderella.