I’m 24 years old, and when I came into FA I weighed 333 pounds and was miserable. I could hardly do anything to take care of myself. My body was failing me, and I was in pain. My diabetes was out of control, and I didn’t even care.

I have always been a happy person, but when I failed my last diet, I was starting to be sad for the first time. I tried to accept the fact that I was going to die at a young age and not see my son grow up. I just figured if something was that hard to do, then maybe I wasn’t meant to do it.

I remember years before FA, when my husband, cousins, and I all went to Six Flags in Ohio. I was so excited. One of the first rides I went on was the Texas Twister, which is set up so there are three rows of seats, each one lower than the last. When I sat down, it was very tight, and I was worried I wouldn’t fit, but decided to try anyway. We happened to be in the bottom row, around the middle, and as the ride operator was going down the line putting everyone’s lap bar down, I was getting very nervous. When he got to me, he was pushing and pushing, but couldn’t get the lap bar to click. After about 30 seconds of trying, he informed me that I had to get off the ride.

So in front of all of the people and my family, I had to get up and walk off the ride. I was mortified. I immediately went to the bathroom and basically had a meltdown. I cried for about 15 minutes, and my husband was texting me, telling me it was okay, that nobody even noticed. But it didn’t matter; the damage had already been done.

I decided not to try any more rides for the rest of the day, and for five years, I have not tried to go to an amusement park. My husband went every year with other family members, and it was sad every time he left. I thought I was just going to have to accept the fact that I would never get to enjoy that kind of activity again.

Since starting FA, I am able to slowly do things I never could do before—like fit into a roller coaster! I now have a little over 90 days of abstinence and I have lost 56 pounds so far. I wanted to try to go to an amusement park, and we happen to have a small one in our area. I bought a ticket, and I just thought that even if I didn’t fit, that in a month or two I would.

We got there and decided to go into the water park first, because I also hadn’t been able to do that before, because the stairs were too much for me. Well, we were in there for four hours, and I was going on slides and having a blast.

We finally decided to leave to go to the actual park. I was a little nervous, but felt confident that I would be able to fit now. I went to my first ride and I get on. There was no struggle to get the lap bar down. I was so happy, and got very excited to try more rides. I just got to go on five rides that day, but I fit on every one of them. A few weeks later, I went back and had a blast riding all the rides. I even tried the one ride I thought I wouldn’t fit in, because it was small even for normal people.

I was thinking throughout the whole day, “Thank you God for this program. If I were to die right now from a roller coaster accident, I would be at peace with it.” Of course I didn’t want to die, but that just goes to show how much peace and happiness I was feeling at the moment, with the wind blowing in my face and a smile as wide as it would go. I laughed and giggled and, of course, screamed!

That day is one I will remember for the rest of my life. I had such a good time and I fit on every ride. I was so grateful that I was able to ride the rides, eat abstinently, and be neutral about food, even with food all around me. This program not only gave me my sanity but it is continuing to give me my life back, one day at a time!