A 28-year-old mother, from Wyoming, USA, would drink alcohol every night, smoke cigarettes, and eat junk food to cope with her depression.
Kassidy Riekens weighed 18st 5lb after she started drinking and eating fast food in 2010.
Her husband was forced to take care of her when she was drunk and things got even worse.
Kassidy said: “What brought on my weight gain was terrible food choices, drinking alcohol, and neglecting exercise.”
“I would eat fast food and junk, get drunk at night, and sit around doing nothing with myself. I was extremely unhealthy.”
In 2014, when she gave birth to her first child in 2014, she weighed 18st 5lb.
Two weeks after giving birth to a girl, Kassidy decided to lose weight and has never looked back.
She started exercising and eating healthy meals. She totally gave up alcohol and has now lost 9.2st.
After losing weight, Kassidy went on to have another daughter.
The mother-of-two now feels great after giving up alcohol and her other bad habits.
She says being sober is amazing and now hopes to encourage others to give up alcohol to live a better life.
She said: “My drinking was getting out of control. I was leaning on alcohol to mask my depression, mask my feelings, mask my physical pain, and mask the world.”
“I was drinking often which is terrible for you not only physically but mentally too. I would act irrational and do things that weren’t like me.”
She feels everything is possible if you put mind and heart into it. She admits that it’s hard giving up on something that makes you feel better for a while but it’s for your own good.
Kassidy says she never thought she could change her life in ways she did. She says she is proud of the person she has become now after giving up alcohol and losing weight.
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