Bright Side With Tekneshia

Michelle A. Roberts of Atlanta, Georgia, is a fighter and a winner. She describes her impressive life change in this way: “After being married for 17 years, I finally awakened to the realization that my drug-addicted husband was not going to change. I had remained in the marriage—for too long—largely for two reasons. One was because I thought no one would want a fat girl with three babies. The other, deeper reason was that I was not raised with my father and always longed for that relationship, so I clung to the hope that my husband would be the man who would fill that void. He did not. In fact, he put our children and me through the maddening frustrations and disappointments that come with sharing life with an addict. I became so depressed I began carrying 268 pounds on a five- foot frame. Finally, however, I took charge of my life. I had life-altering surgery, gastric bypass, and lost more than 110 pounds. I got a divorce, began a lifestyle of fitness, went back to school, and obtained bachelors, masters an