Whoopty-do. These pageants are for those that have no other real skills or a functioning brain.

Walking in heels and playing dress up seems to be the norm for airheads.

Kreepy-Krawler, the article is more about the successful and healthy weight lose than the beauty pageant. Her accomplishment is not any less because she joined a beauty pageant rather than doing something you approve of.

Kreepy, why do you feel the need to belittle someone else's accomplishment? You should listen to Grace.

Kreepy - Krawler - Not only did she prove she has the brains to know that her life would not be what it could be because of health problems that go along with being obese, but she had the will and strength to do something about it.

It is a pardox to be walking in heels and playing dress up, but you don't win a state title in the Miss America pageant unless you've got some talent, brains and are articulate. Don't make the mistake of stereotyping pageant girls. All the ones I have met have been smart and extremely goal driven people who find success in life after pageants.

That first picture looks like she is screaming because that other woman is screwing something into her head!

But I say congrats for a lot of hard work that it must have taken to get to her goal.

Impressive. She did it the right way...slow and steady. When it's done like that, a person develops the habits for life that keep the weight off!

All I can is; More power to her.

healthy weight lose

If we're honest here, it isn't healthy. She went from overweight to underweight as the result of deep emotional problems and feelings of being alone and unimportant. It's great that she won, but there's nothing healthy about this. All this says to me is that a person's appearance is the only thing that matters.

I didn't read anywhere here that she's underweight, or that she has deep emotional problems. No doubt, being overweight and unattractive will make any young person unhappy, but instead of letting food control her, she decided to take control herself. And however unfair it is, appearance is very important, and always has been. I think most people will agree however that it is not the only thing that matters. Bottom line, I think it's a stretch to call this unhealthy.

No.... reread the article. She lost weight when she decided it would be to her benefit healthwise. The gaining weight part was due partly to feeling alone, unworthy and in the shadows.

I woke up one day, and BOOM, I was suddenly 287 1/2 pounds. As I was grunting into my size 44 pants, thinking I should buy some 46's, I thought to myself, "I am NOT going to be a 300 pound Man". It took 2 years, but just a change in eating habits/exercise will make a difference. I now clock in at 202 pounds and sport a 34 waist, and BOY DOES IT FEEL GOOD! Your metabolism changes as you get older (I'm 55), and one needs to adjust. (btw, kept the weight off, too. Been 7+ years)

Nothing to do with appearance, really. Has everything to do with feeling good.

Whoopty-do. These pageants are for those that have no other real skills or a functioning brain.

Walking in heels and playing dress up seems to be the norm for airheads.

Really? you obviously don't know any than. I have a very good friend who gets straight A's, she is incredibly nice, extremely motivated, a tallented actress, and she was in the top running for Miss Iowa two years ago.

If we're honest here, it isn't healthy. She went from overweight to underweight as the result of deep emotional problems and feelings of being alone and unimportant. It's great that she won, but there's nothing healthy about this. All this says to me is that a person's appearance is the only thing that matters.

Came in to post something similar....well said, Baron.

Seems like an emotionally unhealthy sibling rivalry was her motivator, or she wouldn't be in a beauty pageant like her sister was. And obviously, just looking at her, she came from a family w/ the $ for her plastic surgery (well, they'd have to be rich to sponsor 2 daughters' *careers* on the beauty pageant trail), or she'd have droopy folds of skin all over after a weight loss of 110 lbs.

Don't beauty pageants have bathing suit competitions? There's not enough spandex in the world to compress a saggy stomach or lift flattened boobs, let alone the way her thighs & arms would've had ripples of skin hanging down. When she hit her *optimum weight*, she had to have had tucks & liposuction done to alleviate that. She probably lost the last 10-15 lbs just by having excess skin removed.

Stretched skin will not go away on its own. I know a woman (size 6) who's had 6 kids & she can grab the skin of her abdomen in both hands & pull it right out of her pants to flop over the waistband, it sags so badly from repeated pregnancies stretching it. She looks like a bloated famine victim w/ that stomach on her otherwise slim frame even in spandex'd pants, but when one has 6 kids one does not have the $ for a tummy tuck when ins calls it elective cosmetic surgery.

I also call BS fact fudging on this one.

No way does that girl weigh 124 lbs (prev weight of 234-110). At 1st glance I thought she was about the size of Kate Middleton, & she's a US size 0 (UK size 4), estimated to weigh no more than 100 lbs soaking wet w/ bones sticking out everywhere.

Look at this girl's knobby sternum. She's underweight now. She's merely gone from one extreme to the other & still has an *eating disorder*.

At 5'7" she should weigh 133-147 lbs, so even if 124 is correct, which I doubt looking at her jutting bones, she's still not at a *healthy weight*. Anorexic or buleimic ppl will die a lot sooner than *fat* ppl & cost a lot more in health dollars w/ the issues they develop from malnutrition.

Tho her "b4" pic doesn't show much of her body, her face, neck, & shoulders do not look well over 200 lbs. And at 234, this girl would not have been a size 18 as stated, more like a size 22-24. She's lying. Size 18 is around 185 lbs. BTDT.

I loathe ppl who lose weight & feel the need to go *on crusade* about it & think they're going to *educate* everyone else. Duhhh. Like *fat* ppl don't know they're fat until some beauty pageant winner pts out the error of their ways? Jeez, I never knew my ass was that wide, honey, thanks!

22 year old skin is WAY more elastic than 55 year old (or in my case 47 year old) skin - as I can attest to after losing over 100 pounds myself. It just ain't gonna be as pretty or firm.

It says she didn't lose the weight through surgery. That doesn't mean she didn't have anything cosmetic done to get rid of extra skin or wrinkles.

MY sister lost 110 lbs .she tone and exercise as she lost didnt have to have surgery.

Check your insurance, usually if you keep it off after a year, they'll cover any surgery for excess skin

I sounds like the weight lose was gradual. If so, and at her age (18-22), her skin and body bounces back much quicker.

I agree with CluckieT... she is young, even younger when she lost it... so her skin can bounce back MUCH better than an older person. Also, she did not have it stretched out for very long as an older person might have been.

Plus, I am in my early 40's.. I lost over 60 pounds a few years ago & with a healthy diet & proper exercise it can help some shrinkage... I am proof. It won't be like her skin was able to do... ever... but if mine can come back some, I'm very sure hers can too..

The take away.. she got healthier & feels good about herself & kudos to that!

I lost 180 pounds at the age of 48 and I HAD to have 8 pounds of skin removed from my abdomen. It also depends on how long your skin was stretched out in th e first place. I had been heavy since a teenager

Three years ago she was in a condition that simply isn't healthy, regardless of what anyone considers beautiful. While I agree what many consider beautiful is probably skinny to the point of unhealthy in some cases, the other end of the spectrum isn't good for people either.

Cluckie,
to some being obese is beautiful but to most it is not. That is not sad just
truth. Such is life and the way things are.

I am a fatazz I am about 85lbs overweight so I have some experience in what I am talking about. Your statement is as wrong as Madison Ave. promoting anorexic models. Being obese is a health issue I have had enough heart attacks to know current documented count is 4 undocumented probably 5 or 6.

A certain number of people find the extremes of thin or thick beautiful and my guess is it is because of personal experience that warps perception into something that makes them feel better about their relationship or lack of. I once knew a guy who loved his 400lb wife. He said he did not have to worry about her leaving him or fooling around which would make someone surmise he had abandonment or other relationship issues. I also lived with a guy who in his early twenties was attracted to old ladys and I mean old he had a huge stash of Granny porn no telling what issues made him develop this attraction.

hrtattkjck - just curious, how do you have 4 or 5 or 6 heart attacks, and not at all change the way you are?

you've keenly pointed out how warped people see things based on their experiences, yet...dont seem to see it about yourself? whats so crappy in your life that you've decided to commit suicide via obesity?

dont fool yourself, thats exactly what you are doing with 4 + heart attacks (documented or not).

i have spinal stenosis and 2 collapsed disks exercise is painful. And looking at the situation in this world do I really want to live another 20-30 years? not really.

I have seen enough BS in my life to know what this world is about. My curiousity is in what comes after this world. If I am right I will be in a much better place and if I am wrong then it really does not matter then does it. Is this a bit suicidal yeah but it is MY choice.

hrtattkjck- You are a sad,sad person, why dont u just go ahead and end it, if your THAT unhappy, I feel sorry for people like you.

Geez Trisha, apparently you don't feel ALL THAT sorry for people. "just go ahead and end it"??
I hope you blow up like a balloon with fatness when you get old. Sheesh.

I feel sorry for people who would encourage someone to commit suicide. What a statement about you. I never said I was unhappy I said I have seen enough of the BS in this world and am more interested in whats on the other side it is called faith. I do not fear death and I will let it come in its own time yeah a DNR has been signed and I am ready mentally for it but so far no cooperation from my ticker.

You think that because you are shallow.

Beauty is nice for a first impression and that's it. It's personality that determines whether or not they are a keeper.

Robert, you assume that Jake meant he agrees with his comment, he did not say that so he may not be the shallow person you make him out to be...

While she was probably a beautiful human being to start with, sometimes it takes being pretty on the outside for people to notice - sad, but true.

Mine was not a comment on the woman the story was written about nor her effort to meet her goals, but rather a comment on the very general public view that "pretty" equals better.

As for Bree, kudos for accomplishing your goals.

Jake - valued by Beauty Pageants?

isnt that sort of like pointing to a bunch of KKK folks and say "if this doesnt convince you that white people are racists, nothing will"?

Pam, I would guess that some people do it to be healthy for others... Kids, family so they will be around for them in the future. It is not always about one's self...

you can only live for your self for so long and then it gets lonely.

ChristianManToo - I can only hope that eventually, they'll come to want to do it for themselves because THEY want to be here for their kids, not just because they know their kids need them here.

its interesting how perspective works. my brother recently put himself through AA because he was drinking himself to sleep every night, avoiding his fatherly responsibilities. So, he goes to AA, cleans up...and you'd think, that would give him all sorts of time to be with his kids...ya know, the ones he cleaned up for?

Nope, he dove himself into work...works 24/7 now...keeps him from drinking, but alas...still keeps him from his kids.

I would have prefered he cleaned himself up for himself, and then for his family...he might have figured out how to deal with a life without alcohol, without throwing himself into work.

OR, perhaps the bigger picture is this: my brother doesnt want to take care of his family in any way other than financial.

and thats pretty f'ing sad if thats reality.

Jessice, your Brother did exactly what I did when I quit drinking. I immersed myself in my work, started up a couple of businesses, actually (very successful, too) and just 'did everything but drink'. He's a work in progress, help him with this if you can. He needs to find the balance, and you can help with that. Alcoholism is a long, slow, painful death, not just for the individual, but all he connects with. Was he a heavy drinker prior to marrying this girl? I had to look things in the eye, and recognize my first 2 marriages were built on the decisions of an alcoholic. It's no wonder they failed.

I think the most telling comment she made was that she did it for herself.

She didn't "do it for herself". She did it so she could win beauty pageants like her sister & get the same sort of attn the sister did when she herself was feeling "alone & left out" b/c her family was focused on her thin, pretty, pageant-winning sister & not her. Consuming entire pizzas & getting fat didn't take the focus off Sis, so she decided to become Sis. She needs a psychiatrist IMHO b/c she has some serious sibling rivalry issues.

I agree with the young age factor. After 35, you loose the ability to simply bounce back. I am now 36, 85lbs lighter and have both waddles and belly of loose skin. It also depends on "how long you were fat," and not always "how" fat you were. I, was fat my entire life and this is whay my skin has the issues it has.

Doris,
I have a friend who is 40 and she had a gastric bypass. She has been exercising
since the surgery and as far as I can tell her skin is shrinking and she is looking
good.

It's not always about age, it has to do with genetics and the elasticity of your skin, as well as your activity level throughout life and your eating habits. That is why sometimes you see a 40-year-old woman with a tight, toned body versus a 20-year-old woman whose stomach is soggy and full of stretch marks even after working out.

Good for you Becky. That's how I started, the eating part. You can exercise all day long, but if you don't eat right it won't mean squat.

Like you said, just start moving!!

I agree with you 100% For me it was the onset of diabetes and fibromyalgia... Being over weight is not a good thing. I am the most glutonous person, but had to make changes and beter myself via exercise.

I'd be checking to see if she would join me for lunch, maybe catch up on old times. Of course, that's just me~~~

Unfortunately, skinny doesn't always mean healthy. My uncle by marriage did everything right- followed the Pritikin Diet for years, exercised daily, never smoked, etc. -and he's still dying of cancer in his early '60's. His treatment over the past couple of years has been very expensive.

If everyone had a healthy lifestyle, fewer people would need treatment for cardiovascular disease, but more people would likely need cancer treatment. Seems like it's always one or the other that gets you in the end...