One day in January of 2020, I woke up and wanted to stop hating myself.

It wasn't the first time I'd woken up to the thought, but it was the first time I felt like I could do something about it in a long time. I'm not sure why; it was no different than any other day. The previous 5 to 7 years of my life had been pretty miserable and a slow burn to the finish line, which I became increasingly hopeful of.

But on this day in January, full of optimism and hope for some odd reason, I began a journey to health and healing. I focused on my physical health first. I did keto, low carb, dry fasting, intermittent fasting, water fasting, and more to lose nearly 80 pounds very quickly. In the summer, I fasted for 15 days and lost 50 pounds. Between the different methods I was up and down, but I lost and kept off those 50 pounds through Christmas and the other holidays.

In January 2021, I dedicated myself to the journey. I reminded myself that 50 pounds lost was magnificent and if I could do that again I'd be at 100 pounds lost by 2022. Of course, I had bigger goals than that at the time, but I failed pretty much all of my major goals while nailing a lot of the smaller ones to progress through the failure. Insert a quote about the turtle and the hare.

I was addressing a lot of issues in my life through 2020 and early 2021, but I still had that nagging voice telling me what a big bag of garbage I was. "It's easier to give up and hit a drive-through," I'd tell myself while trying to process emotions for the first time in a decade.

When my physical progress stalled, I decided it was time for mental progress. I did something I was terrified of: I got a therapist. I think she's technically a counselor. Regardless, I don't know where I'd be without her.

I've lost 50 or more pounds at least 6 times. I've never kept it off...until now.

I've never been able to turn off the voice that constantly called me a piece of s***...until now.

I've never been able to focus on the big picture instead of the daily grind...until now.

Sure, I'd done a lot of work on myself to get to a position to seek therapy. I've done tenfold since I've been going.

Some 18 months since the start of my journey and I've lost 130 pounds. For those keeping track at home, I started at 634. I didn't intend to broadcast that to the world, but I've learned a lot about being honest with myself in the last year. Might as well be honest with the people too.

All the work I did to get in a position to go to therapy, and all the work I did to be in a position to improve my life, I still felt like things were stalling. I'm terrified of stalling. Stalling leads to regression and I've made too much progress to regress.

Early in my journey in 2020 I'd watch My 600 Pound Life on TLC and think what I assume most of you think when you watch that show. Then, I'd think to myself, "You know, you're also living a 600-pound life you loser." My rationale had been that I could still move around, drive, work and put on my own socks. I know, high bar. But that's how rationalization works right? I've always been fat, I'll always be fat. That was life.

Fast forward to 2022, and in January I was rededicating, as most do to start a new year. I'd lost and kept off about 100 pounds. I didn't gain any weight through the holiday and had maintained for the first time ever. Growth looks different for everyone. I didn't want to stay in maintenance mode at 530 pounds, though.

I knew I could go at this slow pace and grind for the next four years and get to where I wanted to be. I have that confidence in myself now, or at least I have that growing belief. But I also thought back to Dr. Now from My 600 Pound Life and the incredible transformations from that show. Is there anyone like that in Lubbock? I went to Google just to see.

I quickly found West Texas Bariatrics. Two weeks after I did some brief research I met someone who'd had weight loss surgery and dealt with West Texas Bariatrics. Two weeks after that, I had an opportunity at the radio station that involved none other than West Texas Bariatrics. The universe seemed to be telling me something.

I worked for a year on myself physically and mentally before I had the courage to go to therapy. That changed my life. It also led me to a place in my life where I could walk into a free seminar on a Tuesday night. I'm now preparing for another life-altering change.

Tiffany and the crew at West Texas Bariatrics have been amazing since I walked into the building for the first time. Dr. Purtell explained the different options of weight loss surgery to a group of about 20 people and fielded questions until there were no more being asked. Then, Tiffany spoke about her own experience and the process of getting weight loss surgery. From choosing the one you want to get to the insurance qualifications to the prep leading up to the surgery. Then, she answered our questions.

In some ways, I felt like all the work I'd done since 2020 just led me to this opportunity. In other ways, I wish I had found West Texas Bariatrics years ago.

I'm excited to continue my journey with them and can't wait to share my experience with all of you.

Disclosure: Rob Breaux is a compensated endorser of West Texas Bariatrics.

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