One woman blogs away the pounds, another vows to help others with weight loss

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Rebekka Brosemer has been overweight for most of her life. She can remember her grandmother escorting her into the pantry daily, to chart her weight and write down what she'd eaten. Brosemer knew she was bigger, but she thinks her grandmother's attention to her weight affected her negatively even though she meant well.

Brosemer also recalls horrible experiences while growing up, what she calls bullying. She remembers one particular incident in middle school; it was picture day. She'd gotten a brand new blue dress, a special purchase because her mother was a single mom with very little extra money.

The dress was a deep, bright shade of blue. While walking onto the bus, a boy said to all on the bus "look out for the big blue whale." That boy was talking about Brosemer. The kids on the bus laughed. Brosemer admits a part of her shrunk into herself that day.

The bullying didn't stop.

When Brosemer was a freshman in high school, she was active in theater. One day, while working on the set, someone was looking for a hammer and Brosemer happened to be holding one. Another student, a senior wrestler, was also in theater. He saw Brosemer with the hammer, pointed, and said "the fat girl in the corner has one."

It is stories like these filling the pages of Brosemer's newly created blog, 'The Fat Girl in the Corner'. While named after that experience in theater, she hopes the blog will help free her from emotional baggage, and help her lose the weight she wants badly to lose.

Brosemer started 2012 weighing 288 pounds. She started the blog January 2 and has lost 6 pounds as of February 13.

The idea is, to hold herself accountable to her readers. That extra commitment is what keeps her from slipping. And if she does slip, the blog helps her get back on track.

A snippet from January 23’s blog entry explains an experience tainted because she is overweight:

“I hate going to an all you can eat place, I feel like if I get up even one time, everyone is looking at me and thinking ‘she shouldn't eat that…she's fat enough.’"

Brosemer is making progress and the blog is a big gateway to help her gain and keep control emotionally.

Across town, a woman who has never met Brosemer also mentions emotions when talking about weight loss.

Priscilla Allen is fitness director for Southwest Boulevard Family Health Care Clinic's Fitness Center . It has a long name, but it has a simple goal: help people get fit.

Allen believes weight loss for many people is 80 percent emotional. She says you cannot successfully lose the weight unless you're mentally ready to do what's needed. She spoke openly about her own life experiences that added to her weight issues, including family members calling her 'pig' and 'fat'.

You can tell when you talk to her those stories go much deeper than the simple word she says through tears today. She talks about a long-time, abusive relationship ending and moving back in with her parents, three children in tow.

For Allen, that was rock bottom. Her 5-foot-5-inch frame carried 212 pounds. By all medical accounts she was severely obese. She took the first step, and stepped into a step aerobics class.

"I'd see all these skinny little girls, barely glistening with sweat. And I had sweat pouring down my face. Baggy sweats and a t-shirt and I thought, 'I am going to die'....but I didn't," she recalled.

Now an extremely healthy weight, Allen talks openly about her dark secrets. She recalls a regular trip to the grocery store.

"I'd go to the grocery store...to buy groceries for the family and I'd get a 12-pack of jumbo chocolate-covered donuts and chocolate milk. I'd have it eaten and wrappers tossed away before I'd get home," she recalled.

She'd then walk inside, eat a salad, and go through the motions of acting frustrated about why she couldn't lose weight.

It's been 10 years now and Allen is helping others with their weight loss journeys. She started a program called ' Big Changes '. Her first client is a man named Adam. He is medically described as morbidly obese. He's lost 40 pounds under Allen's care, and continues with the program.

'Big Changes' is completely free, funded by grants and donations. Allen has six obese clients now, with room for 29 more.

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App and website for weight loss: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Rebekka's Blog: http://thefatgirlinthecorner.blogspot.com/

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