Rachael Heffner once weighed 285 pounds and would regularly guzzle up to four large bottles of soda a day.
After her school crush told her he wouldn’t date her because of her size, she decided to slim down to win his heart.
But at 140 pounds lighter, she has no desire to date him now that she’s adopted a healthier lifestyle.
According to the Daily Mail, Rachael said:
My initial motivation was to prove people wrong. In college I was rejected by a boy and I wanted to show him that he’d made a mistake.
I liked him and he didn’t like me, he made it known it was because of the way that I looked and that he wasn’t attracted to me because I was heavier.
Since slimming down and getting healthy, Rachael says the guy in question has asked her out a few times, but she’s refused.
After telling him he was the reason she started losing weight, he was ‘shocked and apologised for what he said’.
She added:
But I’m glad he rejected me, I actually thanked him for it, as he was the reason I was able to get to the size I am today and there’s no point holding grudges.
Rachael’s weight gain began after her mother lost her battle with cancer in 2004. She found comfort in eating, despite her father’s attempts to teach her about nutrition.
At 20-years-old, after years of indulging in sugary drinks and processed foods, her body mass index was over 50 – the World Health Organization’s highest level of obesity.
So she decided to make a change – small, at first, but when she started working out and began to get into weight lifting, she lost an impressive ten stone.
And those little lifestyle changes went a long way:
At first my body missed the sugar, I had to gradually reduce it by switching to Gatorade before going to water. I also started making meals myself instead of eating out and I cut my portions in half.
It was hard at first, whenever I was hungry I would snack on fruits or vegetables and before eating I’d drink a glass of water to help fill me up more.
Rachael is now trying to raise $15,000 (£12,000) for excess skin removal surgery, and she’s currently working three jobs to try to complete her transformation.
Incredible – we wish her the best of luck.
