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When I was in elementary school I always ate a lot
but over time this accumulated and eventually
I startled myself when I weighed myself when I was
220 pounds at the age of nine.
I couldn't do most things kids did.
I couldn't run around in the playground.
I couldn't even tie my shoes. I couldn't bend down.
I was scared inside but at the same time I was like,
oh this will get better.
I won't have any issues.
Like my mother always was concerned that I weighed a lot.
When he was growing he was, for some reason,
the tallest and the biggest one, the heaviest in the class,
even in pre-kinder.
She was like, "Jesse, you always eat all the time."
And I was like, "No mom, I'm fine. I'm fine."
But eventually she took me to a doctor by the name of Dr. Peng
and she helped me a lot.
I think the person who actually did the changes,
who actually went into Jesse's mind, it was Dr. Sharon Peng.
The first time I saw Jesse I was very concerned.
The main reason is his BMI was way, way up at 28.5
which is far above 95 percentile for his age.
I shared his growth chart and I showed him where he was
and where he should be.
Then I mentioned about the consequences;
the morbidity and possible increased mortality
in the future.
I also tell him understand that I care about his health
and I'm not talking just about size.
And I say that I want him to be healthy and live long
and he would not have to carry the burden of chronic diseases.
So eventually when she told me,
"Jesse, do you want to die from a heart attack?
Do you want to have diabetes?
Do you want to just die one day and not even know
what happened?"
And that really terrified me inside.
So I made it a commitment.
I told myself I have to lose weight.
I have to stop eating all the junk food I always ate.
And I also bought myself a calorie book to count
how many calories I had.
I learned how many carbs I should eat.
I learned that I shouldn't go above 1,800 calories.
I dropped my sugar intake from juice, soda; all that stuff.
So after I got the calorie book, I realized that it
wasn't enough.
I dropped some weight, you know, five, ten pounds
but it wasn't enough.
I needed to become mobile. I actually had to move.
I had to exercise and not just sit around on the computer
all day.
And I surprised myself.
Back then I wouldn't even want to walk to my kitchen
for anything.
Now, since I'm 17 and I lost a total of 46 pounds,
went from 220 to 174, I realize that not only did I gain
self-confidence from losing weight,
but I also felt better physically.
Look at him. He's tall and thin.
And I'm very proud of him.