I started gaining weight at a very fast pace at the age of 11. By the time I was 13 years’ old, I weighed 90kg. By the age of 16, I weighed 100kg and was a size 18. I was a 5’7” teen, becoming more aware of my self-image and how people viewed me. I had low self-worth and low self-esteem. I couldn’t wear the clothes that I liked. I hated myself. I remember going to a wedding with my mum and I didn’t want to take pictures with her. She asked me what was wrong and I told her I was ugly. She was almost crying and asked what I meant by that. 

By the time I got to university, I went up to 130kg in just 3 months of moving away from Nigeria. I started trying to lose weight. I would lose 10kg and gain 15kg back, I would lose 5 and gain 8. It was a constant battle of losing and gaining, till I gave my life to Christ at age 19. I went for a 3-day retreat called ‘Encounter’. I remember when it started; everything was amazing until the part about self-image. I was like, “What is it with people and self-image? Can’t they just let it go?” The lady started talking about how we were God’s master pieces and how He wants to heal us. She was just hitting the nail on the head and it was really pricking me. I burst out crying because I knew God had put His finger on this. He said, “I want to deal with this issue for you. Let’s handle it together.” And that was how the journey started. At the time, I had lost some weight, but still had a negative perception about myself. So now, it was not about the weight but me accepting who God had created me to be and being happy regardless of how I looked or what society said I should be. 

I got on a weight loss program that I started myself, and I just had this beautiful journey of becoming whole. The Father’s love changed my view of myself. I eventually went from a size 22 to a size 10. People have asked me how I did it. I know it wasn’t just will power because I had tried that but it didn’t work. I know it was God.