At 18 I weighed 275 lbs.

By 21, I’d lost over 100 pounds through my own diet and exercise program.

This, truly, is what my life until now has been based on.

My name is Roberta Tabb, I’m 25 years old, I was born in Pittsburgh, PA but now I reside in New York. Though I am young, I have overcome some of my life’s biggest challenges already. 

I ‘m going to tell the story from where it began, the place life began to tighten its grasp on me. I was an adolescent —around 13 or 14 —and in junior high school. Up until this point I was a good student, not extremely popular but I had a personality that was infectious; people loved to be around me simply because I loved being around them. When I began dealing with the pressures of my peers I slowly discovered I was no longer the center of attention nor was I the most loved. School began to fill up too much of my life in a negative way. I began to act out and gradually became very untrue to my character; I lost myself somewhere between 7 th and 12 th grades. 

This time began the demise of my short life. I became mean and very displeased with myself and the world around me. I had given up on who I had the potential to become. I evolved into an overwhelming force whose driving purpose was to protect myself from hurt by any means. This meant isolating myself and striking at others before they had a chance to strike at me. This almost made school bearable. My family didn’t understand the transformation but they accepted it.

My life now revolved around was my appetite. I ate the same way I acted – like I didn’t care; if I saw it and wanted it – I’d eat it. Food was the only thing I turned to, without any conscience, for the happiness I had lost. I never realized how out of control I was, even when I preferred shopping in the men’s section for bigger clothes.

By 11 th grade I needed to buy men’s size forty jeans. I had long ago stopped buying girly outfits and traded in never-worn-before heels for Timberland boots. I dressed in clothing that was out of the ordinary for a girl my age; baggy jeans and oversized shirts. At first I dressed like this to match my new persona but after a year or so I had no choice. I was ashamed of all the weight I had gained and the rolls of fat I had obtained in such a short time.

College

High school had changed my opinion of myself drastically and I was very depressed at the end. Nonetheless I still had strong backing from my family and was still determined to make them proud. I went to college – not a traditional one, an art school at 17. That became the best decision of my life to date. I was able to be myself there, I was thrown into a pool of outcasts, and prior to attending I knew I would be. No one judged me and I didn’t feel a need to judge anyone else. At this stage in my life I focused on myself and my work, my art. With all the issues I still had, I was able to appreciate myself a little more; I felt like I was accomplishing something. I didn’t need to pretend I was someone I wasn’t anymore.

Change

I can’t exactly pin point when, but between 19 and 20 I began to lose weight. Whether it was from depression or something deeper within, it became a good thing, the negative became positive. Again focusing on myself, I began to make miraculous strides. I began eating the things I thought to be healthy and cut out all the things I knew to be unhealthy. I eliminated all fast foods and drank water constantly. By the time I was 21 I almost had my bachelor’s degree and I had lost over 100 pounds through my own diet and exercise plan. What an accomplishment for me! This truly, was what my life until now has been based on.

Life options

After the weight loss and the gain of confidence there came a point when I decided to take things a step further. Where my body was concerned I was still perplexed; with clothes on I was a size 8 and a 36DD. With clothes off, I had stretch marks and saggy skin everywhere. I now had life-long traces of who I had been and what I had let myself become. The next step was to do something about my bothersome look. I decide my most disturbing body parts were my breasts; going from a 44f to a 36dd had lasting effects on them. They weren’t solid and didn’t seem to be shaped naturally; I wanted a reduction and maybe a lift. This was around the time that I began routinely working out. I thought that going to the gym daily would give me more tone and I worked hard to reduce the flab. This was to no avail; I once again felt my attempts were in vain. I thought this until I saw the plastic surgeon who helped to complete my transformation.

Another new me

When I went for my initial consultation about my breasts, the doctor looked over my whole body and saw what I’d become. Two years after the weight loss this was the first time I had realized what I had done to myself and the effect it would have on the rest of my life. The doctor explained the issues of the skin and why the gym wasn’t working. He suggested my surgery go beyond the breast reduction. He offered the body lift; this procedure would put me closer to where a 22-year old’s body should be. After much depression and thought I decided this one time opportunity would affect the rest of my life. Filled with anguish, I made my decision; I went through with the surgery. The entire 10 hour procedure was filmed for a documentary on the Discovery Health Channel.

I have spent a great deal of time recovering all that I had lost---all the confidence and missed opportunities. The entire experience has made me a much stronger person and has skyrocketed the goals I set for myself, personally and career wise. After the successful surgery, the Discovery channel offered me media time. I got to film some commercials and appeared in many magazine ads promoting the show and my weight loss success. This was only the beginning that led to more magazines and even talk show spots.

That’s not all

Weight loss has not consumed my life entirely. Il have obtained my first master’s degree and if all goes according to plan I will be pursuing my masters in multimedia next.

Farther than that I can’t see, my life has been such a surprise and has been very full in the last couple of years since I accomplished a “new” start! I can't wait to see what's going to happen next.