Read Charlene's compelling story of her journey to health & fitness. Check back often for update photos!

Well, my story ... where did it really begin? I've been overweight since the 4th grade. I remember being approximately 100 lbs, when most of my class mates were 60-70 lbs or so. I continued to grow and to gain weight all through high school. When I graduated high school and moved out to California to go to film school I was about 185 lbs. I wore a size 12/13 pants and medium shirts. I've always been very pear shaped. I still wanted to lose weight but I was having so much fun drinking and eating fast food that I couldn't lose weight. The good thing was I was so active that I didn't gain any weight.

I met my now boyfriend Aaron, when I first started school but didn't give him much of a glance until we had a class together. We started talking and this turned to that and we started dating. We became serious and moved in together, and we picked up each other's bad eating habits. There were times when he and I were unemployed together and going through financial stress, and we would just eat junk. I ended up ballooning to 239 lbs, and he went up to 226 lbs.

That's when I found a posting on Craigslist in April 2007. It was for a fitness test group. It turned out to be for Beachbody, specifically for Shaun T's new program Rockin' Body. I emailed them me and Aaron's story, and I got a phone call 20 minutes later about how they wanted us to come down for an interview. We were accepted into the
program right away. It was to be 4 months of exercising 6 days a week, all meals provided. We started May 1st 2007, and I ended up doing it until July when I transferred schools and my new schedule did not allow me to continue. At that point I had lost 13 lbs on the program. Aaron completed the program and lost 60 lbs. He is in the infomercial and on the Beachbody website under the Rockin' Body success stories.

He looked (and still does!) so good. I was still over 200 lbs, and I was so depressed. Starting the new school was so hectic that I actually dropped 7 lbs in August just from running around. I knew that I needed to lose more weight desperately. Then Aaron tried to leave me. He had been getting so many compliments from losing weight that he wanted to be single. I broke down. I ate ice cream. I cried. I screamed. During our ordeal I had a panic attack and I could barely breathe, and all I could say was "I love you". He told me he loved me too and said he would stay. I started Kimkins shortly after. He apologized months later saying he was vain, he was stressed about his own issues, that I did nothing to warrant what he did. And actually things with us have never been better. I'm so much thinner that making love is no longer difficult. My sex drive has actually gone through the roof! *blush* But I know that before Aaron was only being a guy. He was torn between loving me, the 219 lb me, and wanting to be free to choose any skinny little thing who gave him the time of day. It killed me, and although I know he loves me, I am tired of having to compare myself to one of those skinny girls and wonder if he wished I looked like them. I am doing this for me FIRST, but I want him to be proud of me, and I want to give him the satisfaction of making other men jealous!

I have lost 40 lbs on Kimkins, making my total loss 60 lbs in 1 yr. I went off the Kimkins plan for Thanksgiving 2007 and have not been back on until a week ago, April 21, 2008. Since January I would stay on plan for a few days, then cheat, then go back on plan. That's the only way I have been able to maintain my 60 lb loss. I am tired of being stuck at a standstill and am excited to move forward. I am flying home to visit my family in New Jersey soon, and I am tired of going home heavier. This time I will be a heck of a lot lighter!

Being overweight has caused me nothing but pain. Physical and emotional pain, and I'm not going to let it rule my life anymore. Being overweight dictates the clothes I can wear, the activities I can do, etc. I want to be in control of my life and not feel hindered by being overweight anymore!

Kimkins is the fastest, easiest plan I have ever done, and it’s the only one I've ever kept coming back to. I can't wait to share my pictures with you once I'm at goal!

Take care!

Love,
Charlene