The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

The desire to fit the standard beauty ideal was never enough to motivate Jessica Wallace-Whitfield to lose weight. After all, she was always confident in her beauty. Rather, it was the wish not to become another victim of heart disease and force her parents to bury their child that finally moved the young Bahamian woman to embark on her weight loss journey which saw her shed 120 pounds.

From birth, Jessica was described as a “chubby baby” and “plump child”. These descriptions became so ingrained that when she reached her teenage years Jessica had accepted that being overweight was simply who she was.

“I never thought that I’d be able to lose any weight, let alone over 100 pounds. And I certainly never thought I’d be asked to have my story featured in the newspaper, but here I am,” Jessica told Tribune Woman. 

Being overweight in a family prone to heart disease, Jessica could not shake the mental image of her parents having to bury her because she wasn’t strong enough to make healthy choices. 

It got to the point where she would often imagine what it would be like to be a “normal” or average size, to shop somewhere other than in the plus size section, and not be mortified by having to ask a flight attendant for a seat belt extension. Her musings were soon influenced by a tragic loss in the family.

“In September 2013, my aunt died very suddenly from a heart attack; no warning whatsoever. She was, or seemed, perfectly healthy. In the few years before that we lost two uncles in the same way. When my family got together for her funeral we said that we needed to do everything in our power to become healthier versions of ourselves. They were not elderly people, but on what seemed like a typical, average day their hearts just stopped. It terrified me,” said Jessica.

This shift in her mindset changed everything. After hearing about ketosis, a metabolic process, from a cousin who had experienced success with it herself, Jessica thought it was a good route for her to take as well. 

“When your body is in ketosis, rather than burn carbohydrates for energy, it burns fat cells. To get into ketosis I just had to limit carbs, and that’s how the Atkins Diet came into my life. I knew that it was something that would work for me because quantities and calories were not limited, just carbs. Once I stayed within my carb count for the day, I could essentially eat as much as I wanted. In order for me to see it through, I knew I couldn’t feel restricted,” said Jessica.

The first few days were challenging, but once she made it through that first week she said what kept her going was the thought that, “If I quit now, that means I suffered through that first week for nothing. Just keep going.”

In the months after, Jessica said what motivated her were her results.

“I didn’t do much in the way of exercise during the first six months because I just didn’t feel comfortable going to a gym at that time. My sister pushed me to buy my first pair of workout leggings, which I was mortified to put on because they showed everything and then some. My cousin walked with me up and down the Cable Beach strip every day after work. They were both far fitter than me, so it must have been torture for them to walk so slowly when they could be running the strip or beating it in the gym. That was it – diet, light exercise, and some support from my girls; and my life was never the same again,” said Jessica.

Every time she stepped on the scale from then on it felt like she had received an ‘A’ on an exam. She then added swimming to her exercise regimen. By this point Jessica had lost around 60 pounds.

She became a regular at the gym, found herself in the weight area with the big guys and just like that, another 20 pounds were gone. 

“Once I hit the 100-pound loss mark, I switched from Atkins to calorie counting, because while Atkins worked, it’s really high in fat, so I didn’t want it to be long-term,” she said.

“And after spending so much time not eating things like fruit, sandwiches, oats, etcetera, I started to feel restricted. Luckily, calorie counting worked for me. I didn’t lose as fast as I did on Atkins, but I was also closer to what I imagined my goal weight should be, so logically the weight loss would slow down. Fast forward to today, I find myself 120 pounds lighter than that dark September day in 2013, having spent the day on the beach in a bikini, muscles still recovering from a half marathon the weekend before, comforted by the thought that however much work I still have ahead of me, my aunt and uncles are proud as hell of me,” said Jessica.

At the risk of giving a cliché response, Jessica said what makes her happy is seeing other people succeed in the weight loss game. Because she knows first-hand how hard it is and how good it feels to accomplish your goals, Jessica wants everyone to experience that feeling. 

She also found it important to point out that something that is often not discussed enough in reference to weight loss is loose skin.

In a country where it is swimsuit season all year round, Jessica said this is something that will impact those looking to lose 100 pounds or more. She said there is no way to determine how much loose skin you might end up with, and there’s no way to prevent it. 

“Coming from someone who has had some loose skin removed and is still left with some in other areas, it is not a reason to put off losing the weight. At this point though, my goals are to become stronger, to be able to run further and faster, and just push myself to do things that my body couldn’t do while carrying that extra weight,” said Jessica.