2 minute read
FORK ON THE ROAD
PEOPLE
Hungry for change
For Angie Dolan, losing weight helped her gain a happier life.
STORY: JAMES COMBS
everal years ago, Angie Dolan desperately needed to get something off her chest. It was more than 100 pounds of unwanted fat. Weighing nearly 300 pounds, she needed to have a heart-to-heart conversation with herself about the unhealthy habits that led to diabetes, sleep apnea and polycystic ovarian syndrome at the young age of 22. A trip to her doctor revealed another grim prognosis. Her obesity might hinder her chances of having a successful pregnancy.
“At that point in my life, my eating habits were horrible, and I hadn’t been to a gym or really exercised in a long time,” she says.
With her life mired in despair, Angie, a resident of Tavares, decided to chart a new course.
She joined a gym, enrolled in a CrossFit class and meticulously tracked all foods she consumed. Before long, these healthy habits became ingrained in her daily routine.
Three years later, she is now living large, and it is all because she made
— A NGIE DOLA N
the life-changing decision to downsize. After losing 115 pounds, Angie no longer requires a CPAP machine to breathe while sleeping, has reversed her diabetes and has gone from a dress size 24 to size 9.
There’s more good news. The 25-yearold is now 16 weeks pregnant with a baby boy whom she has already named Noah.
Lake and Sumter Style talked to Angie about her incredible transformation.
When did you fi rst realize your
weight was out of control? In
May 2017, my husband, Andrew, and I were trying to get pregnant. It wasn’t happening. I went to a doctor. I was already using a CPAP machine for sleep apnea, and he told me I was a Type 2 diabetic and had a mild case polycystic ovarian syndrome, which means there are cysts on my ovaries. He said I might not be able to have kids because I was obese and told me that the only way to get rid of these medical problems was to lose weight. It was a wake-up call for me.
You were only 22. How did you react to having all these medical
conditions at such a young age? I
knew things were bad. After turning 21, I gained between 60 to 70 pounds because I had gotten to a place mentally where I didn’t care about being overweight and just kept eating and eating. I could feel my health deteriorating, so when the doctor told me those things it reaffi rmed what I already knew. But yes, hearing those diagnoses come from a doctor adds a bit of fright.
You said you had gotten to a place mentally where you didn’t care about being overweight. Can you
elaborate? Andrew always accepted me
