I grew up in a small town just outside of St. John, New Brunswick. Ever since I can remember I've had dreams of travelling and discovering the world. But if you had talked to me then, you wouldn't have known this.

Until recently, I spent most of my life being overweight. When I finished high school I was topping the scales at 215 pounds. It absolutely killed my self-confidence. I didn't try anything, I felt that everyone who looked at me was judging me.

I remember that I spent a lot of time comparing myself to other girls like my best friend, who weighed 120 lbs. I wanted so badly to look as good as they did, to not have to worry all the time about my weight. I just wanted to have a normal life.

After graduating I worked a number of jobs that I didn't enjoy, and weren't going to take me anywhere. During that time I just kept getting bigger and bigger and continued to do nothing. I just stared at the television at night. My life was going nowhere.

As I got heavier I noticed my energy level was dropping. I was feeling crummy and because I felt bad I ate more to make myself feel better. The cycle just kept on going. I felt powerless to stop it and change course.

I discovered Slimband when I was 24 years old. I had just gone to a doctor's appointment where he told me I was pre-diabetic. At that time I weighed 275 Ibs. Up to this point I had tried everything I could think of to lose weight - even a personal trainer who yelled at me until I cried... anything to make myself the person I wanted to be. Enough was enough, that night I started researching options for weight loss surgery.

In January 2008 I had the Slimband procedure. By 2010 I had lost 130 Ibs. As the weight came off I became more excited to do things. I'm now an avid runner; I do 10 km runs twice a week. Even better, I took the initiative to follow my dream and get a degree in Archaeology. I'm now employed in my field and planning an expedition to Mexico in the summer. There's nothing holding me back now.