JESSICA SHULTZABERGER’S REASONS FOR BEING (Pt. 1 of 4):

I am just an ordinary girl who began an extraordinary journey into my complete health, heart, body and mind a little over two years ago. I was laid off from my employer about 2 years ago and it was the swift kick in the butt I needed to realize I was just going through the motions of life and not really living it. Part of living life for me was and is to still learn how to lead a healthy life.

I decided to return to school full-time and complete my undergrad while unemployed. I began to blog about my battle of bulge in a series called, “Fighting Fat.” I also started with a great therapist, surrounded myself with a good support system and took an amazing journey of self-enlightenment under the direction of one of my professor’s, Julie Miller at Baldwin-Wallace College. Julie pushed me to discover my strengths and I began to focus on building my life around my strengths instead of my weaknesses. Along the same time, I discovered Coca Crossfit and I also began to build physical strength as well as mental strength.

I have returned to work in the health insurance industry and have been with my new company approximately 6 weeks. One of the most important benefits to me when accepting this job was to understand how important my employer felt work life balance and employee wellness would be. And I am happy to report one of the main reasons I took this job is because of their focus on wellness and health.

For me health and wellness need to be at the forefront of every experience in my life and connect in all areas, my heart, body and soul. I am not only aiming for heart health, I am aiming for total health!

Approximately 4 years ago, my mother passed away from a heart attack related to her morbid obesity. She spent the last few years of her life bedridden because of her weight. She died on her 53rd birthday and was probably close to 400-450lbs. When she died, they had to take the railings down to get her down the stairs and throw away her bed after her death because her hygiene was so poor. I decided I didn’t want to follow in her footsteps so I elected to have the gastric lap band surgery at my highest weight of 345lbs six months after she died. I lost approximately 55 pounds with the surgery but I plateaued and struggled after that.

Then I was laid off from work and started to worry. Would a future employer hire the “fat girl”? Would my potential employer worry I would cost them high claims on their medical insurance bills? Would a potential employer think I was lazy because of my weight?

With these thoughts in mind, it seemed like all the forces in my life came together over the last couple of years. I found the right support system and exercise routine for me to lead a healthier life.