Jenna Vaught - Meet the Inspiring Miss America Plus Elite 2007

Jenna Vaught is not your average beauty queen. She didn't grow up in a life filled with pretty dresses and perfect make-up. Instead, Jenna was an obese child and the accessories she wore were shame and self-loathing. In her young 20's, Jenna had her daughter and soon after reached her highest weight -- 427 pounds. Her mobility was affected as was her health. More importantly, Jenna realized she was caught in a vicious cycle -- her insecurities were the root cause of her weight gain and her weight gain was adding to her insecurities. Jenna went on a mission to lose the weight, rediscover herself, and reach her life goals. Jenna's weight loss is inspiring, but even more inspiring is the insight she now has regarding body image and learning how to love yourself. I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with Jenna so she could share her story with That's Fit readers. Read on for the first half of her interview.

Each and every day, I wished I was really just waking from a terrible dream. Yet my life was not a bad dream, it was a reality filled with moments of embarrassment, self-hate, and complete denial. My mother and I often remember the day I walked into my university only wearing house slippers, because my shoes wouldn't fit that day. At 427 pounds, I only wanted two things: to lose the weight and to become a doctor. How was I going to achieve my dreams when no one believed that I could? How was I going to finish my undergrad when I could barely fit in a chair? Who would listen to a doctor that weighed 427 pounds? Without a doubt I was facing death at a young age. At 24 and 427 pounds, I had extremely high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, and had already experienced heart failure after the birth of my child. This was all associated with my sedentary lifestyle and abuse of food ... it was time to change!

What made you decide to lose weight?

As you can see, I was allowing life to pass me by. Being a scared single mother, wanting to become a doctor, hoping for love in my life, and just wanting to live a healthy life were all key points in my transformation. Yet, I had a real awakening period in my life when I had the luck of forming an incredible friendship with a young doctor, his name was Andreas. This friendship we formed was a launching point for me. He really helped me see who I really was. That in fact, I was already an incredible woman at that very moment. Fat or thin, I really always had exactly what I needed. Days were flying by, and I was experiencing none of it. I decided that it was time I stopped listening to everyone else and start listening only to myself. I was tired of everyone and myself saying that "I wasn't good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, or worthy enough." Simply put, I just could not take it anymore. In that moment, I was 427 pounds. I could either love myself at that very moment and move forward or keep hating myself and eventually weigh 527 pounds. The decision was made.

How did you successfully lose weight? Do you have any tips to share with our readers?

What a lot of weight loss plans focus on is diet and exercise. Those two things indeed helped me lose over 190 pounds! Without healthier eating and fitness in my life, I would certainly probably be at 527 pounds right now. Yet the real key to losing weight was finding myself and asking the hard questions. I could diet and exercise all I wanted, but if I did not change the internal thoughts of myself that were literally killing me with food, I could not change. I started to really find out who Jenna really was! What did I want for my life? Why was I abusing food? Why did I obsess over food?

People have issues with weight for a variety of reasons. For some it is simply poor food choices, a sedentary lifestyle, stress, post-pregnancy, and the list can go on and on. Myself, I hit 427 pounds because of all of these reasons plus I had an eating disorder. Food was my drug, my way of coping. If I had a bad day, it was not unusual for me to run through three different fast food chains and eat from all of them in my car. I had to face this addiction, and I knew this "experience" was going to be an uphill battle with myself. The conclusion was that I had only this life, and I wanted to actually experience it. Success was created on my terms, not others.

Once I started to make sense of my life and where it was going, I secretly started making small steps to change. The first thing to go was SODA! I was drinking over 1200 calories a day in sugary soda. I replaced that with water, tea, and diet soda. To this day, I will not even consider picking up a regular soda! The next thing, I allowed myself to have fast food only once per week. I was eating fast food every single day for years! Right away, I started to lose weight. I was quite familiar with the Weight Watchers plan, I was even a member in fourth grade. So I pulled out all the material I owned through the years of trying to lose weight and put it to good use. Once I gained more confidence, I started to attend meetings. The weight loss was slow, but I was feeling confident. Eventually, I added exercise. Seriously, I could not make it once around the track or five minutes with a home workout tape. With persistence, I was eventually attending Jazzercise classes. Step by step, I have come to lose over 190 pounds! I have lost and maintained this weight by exercising 45-90 minutes per day, most days of the week. Deprivation is not a factor of my diet, I enjoy the Weight Watchers approach to healthy eating. ALSO, I trained for and completed a half-marathon. The journey for me has not ended, nor ever will. I am still working on losing another 40 pounds.

Jenna's story doesn't end here... be sure to check out the second half of Jenna's interview.

Jenna welcomes your thoughts and ideas, and comments are always encouraged. Find her at www.jennavaught.com