When I was approached and asked by The Tribune to “share my story,” I thought: do I?

Do I really spend the next 12 months telling you the ins and outs of where I started and where I want to end up along with the daily and weekly struggles?

Do I? Would you?

Immediately, that answer was, “Yes. You share this, Heather, and put yourself out there for someone, just one other person who might need the inspiration.”

So here goes — my story, my journey and where it started. You get the real, uncut version of my life.

I have always been someone who struggles both internally and externally with my weight. For years, I have allowed it to define me, hold me back and not let me breathe (emotionally, not physically).

I was just like you. Yep, you. I tried the “take this pill” and “drink this drink” and “eat this food.” It was starting to become a little like Alice in Wonderland, like “Drink me.”

When I realized none of these things worked, why there was my answer — my head. I didn’t have my mind right. I needed to have the mindset it took to give the results I needed. My mind: it really sounds so simple.

So I embarked on an 18-month journey of learning — learning how to eat, how to work at it, how to fix my mind.

And guess what, folks? It worked.

Now, sure thing I slipped up and ate cake. I caved in and had what I wasn’t supposed to. I am human.

It isn’t about slipping up. It was about having the mindset to not live that way and just enjoy a splurge, and that is OK. Eat the cake, people!

I worked at exercising at home (no gym; I was scared). I know, how silly? And over that time frame, I lost pounds and inches every week. I lost more than 60 pounds doing it this way.

I get it. Slow, right? But doing it.

Then October 2017 came. I gained after 18 months. I was upset. What? Gained? Consulting with my physician, I asked him why. He said, “You are plateauing, and we need to think outside the box of how to change things.”

Change things? I mean, I did change. I spent time researching gyms in town, what they offered and even Facebook polled my friends list, “What is your favorite gym and why in one sentence.”

I was sick to my stomach, terrified to walk in that door. It took pep talks, friend cheering and accountability. I know I am not the only person who was scared of the gym.

I landed at Snap Fitness in Seymour and I found the most amazing new support system — “gym friends.” Gym friends are people who text you and say, “What’s your gym schedule this week?” Gym friends stop by your desk at work and say, “Hey, you going tonight?” Gym friends are just like me — real people on real journeys who are producing real results.

Did I mention gym friends were complete strangers before? I know you are thinking, “Oh great, she is pitching a gym membership to me. Nah, I am done reading.”

I am not pitching anything. I want you to see I am just like you — struggling and learning. I just want to tell you, “All that doubt you have, the I can’t do this, I am not pretty enough, I am not strong enough, I can’t afford it, I don’t even know where to begin,” crush it and reach out to me.

Y’all, I am real, not a paid actor telling you the good stuff.

Since starting the gym, I have lost an additional 16.2 pounds (yes, that .2 needed to be typed).

I can’t wait to share with you this whole journey.

I can’t wait to share this journey.

I would not be where I am today without the support of my amazing family and friends.

I cant begin thank my parents enough for believing in me and cheering me on. They hold me up when I fall, dust me off, and keep me going.

I have a 9-year-old boy who is my whole world, and I needed to do this for him: to be healthy for him.

My next story is about completing a 5K and working with a trainer.

Heather Chase is a Seymour resident chronicling her weight-loss and fitness journey. Chase will be writing a monthly column, published on the final Friday of each month, for one year with The Tribune.