Kate's Story

In the Spring of 2020, I was taking a semester off school, living in California. I was supposed to be living my best life- enjoying the warm weather, hiking, going to the beach. But I wasn’t. I was embarrassed and afraid to go outside. I was getting exhausted quickly when I did brave an activity. I hated how I looked in pictures. And my body, especially my feet, hurt all the time. My problem- I had put on so much weight. I was the heaviest I’d ever been. I was trying to eat right and exercise, but I was depressed and miserable all the time, so it was difficult. I found myself emotional and stress eating. And it only made my situation worse.

I decided it was time to change.... 

I ended up in a doctor’s office. In his words I was “too young and too beautiful to weigh over 300 pounds.” He was right. He told me that I needed to lose weight, and that the folks at Marin Weight loss could help me. I met with Cassale soon after. She seemed to have all the answers to my questions and problems. Not only did she know what foods I needed to eat, she would make me a meal plan with recipes. And not just that- she knew how to help me find emotional balance again- lower the need to emotionally eat and help me to reach for other things. 

And she told me that she would help me reach my goals, all of them.

I was so overwhelmed- both with excitement and with fears. I cried on the way home, because I wanted what she was offering so much, but I didn’t know if I could do it.

But I did. 

It wasn’t easy. I had to make a lot of changes. But I was committed to do whatever I needed to do to become the person that I wanted to be. Needed to be. 

Together, over the course of about a year, Cassale and the other folks helped me to lose 100 pounds. But it’s not about what I lost, it’s about what I gained. I can work out and hike again. This is not only important for enjoyment reasons, but also for my studies- I study environmental biology and do lots of field work. I can get out of bed and my feet don’t hurt. I leave the house and go outside more and more, not just when I NEED to, but when I WANT to. 

I gained a functioning digestive tract, especially my stomach. I gained relationships with my husband, my parents, my friends, as I leaned on them and became more   available for them to lean on me. I gained empathy and love and self-confidence. I gained the life I was looking for.

I am still on my journey. I still have weight to lose. And then I will need to make sure that I don’t return to my bad habits. But working with Cassale has given me all kinds of tools for my toolbox to help me make good eating and emotional choices, and I am excited to keep figuring it out.

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Kate is working with Cassale Sherriff remotely from Idaho

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