Years of putting her health on the back burner led Joni Henderson of Westerville, Ohio to weigh nearly 300 pounds. Despite being a skinny child and even bearing the nickname “Bony Joni” in college, a lifelong struggle with eating coupled with the hectic schedule of raising four kids ultimately left her overweight and not in control of her health.

“I ate whatever I wanted, and raising a family left me little time to be active,” she said. “I continued to put on weight as I buried myself in volunteering for my kids’ schools and activities. We were so busy. I would drop one child off, drive thru a fast food drive thru for food and on we went. I never took time for myself.”

Two things caused Joni to change: Going up from a 22 to a 24 dress size, and having to buy a 3XL instead of a 2XL. “I was 47, three years from 50, and I decided I didn’t want to be obese at 50 for fear of health problems,” she said. “I was the one who sat on the couch watching Biggest Loser with nachos or a bowl of ice cream in my lap.”
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Sloane Maymon of Branford, Connecticut, had good reason to lose weight: At the age of 45 her father had a massive heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, and her mother also suffered from heart disease. This family history caused concern for her own heart health, which left Sloane not wanting to follow in her parents’ footsteps.

Though weight didn’t become an issue until later in life, Sloane’s struggles with eating had seemingly always been present. “I’ve never had a healthy relationship with food. Even as a child and young adult I misused food and was never taught the value of nutrition.”

Shortly after getting married at the age of 25, Sloane starting gaining a few pounds here and there. After her first child at the age of 29, she found found it difficult to lose the baby weight. “I assumed it was normal now that I was a mom to carry a few extra pounds. With each passing year and then another baby, I just kept putting on more and more weight.”
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Melissa Dunn, 35, of Park Hills, Missouri has seemingly always been overweight. She developed much faster than girls her age, which spurred a binge-purge routine to try and stay as slim as her peers. But each attempt only left her heavier than before, and Melissa eventually turned to yo yo dieting to try and lose the weight.

Compound those struggles with emotional scars from abuse she faced as a child and Melissa began using her weight as a shield to avoid getting hurt by others. “I found the bigger I got the less happy I was, and the less people wanted to be around me,” she said.

Two things eventually caused Melissa to change. First, her dad had grown so heavy that his doctors told him to lose weight or face death, and Melissa wanted to support him. And Melissa had gotten so heavy herself that she struggled to even walk through the store without getting swollen ankles which left her in too much pain to move for hours afterwards.

Out of these struggles came Melissa’s decision to change her health and ultimately her life, and no longer exist in a state of depression.
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Techies and news junkies alike have been flocking to Reddit, the social website that’s been labeled the “front page of the internet” for its forum-style discussion on everything from current headlines to celebrity gossip.

Nestled in amongst the community’s news lovers is a growing number of health fanatics. The two most popular forums for health-conscious members are Reddit loseit and Reddit Fitness, where users share their fitness tips, diet struggles, weight loss triumphs and everything in between.

A quick scour of Reddit loseit led us to several inspiring weight loss stories, one from Josh Bennet who’d lost more than 100 pounds and successfully “unearthed” his dimples.

We reached out to Josh and two other Reddit users for an interview regarding their health transformations. Among other things, we were curious why they chose to share their stories on Reddit.

Josh, 20, of Snohomish, Washington, became somewhat of a Reddit sensation when he shared his before and after photos of his more than 100 pound weight loss.
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Lisa Fox, 49, of Allen, Texas was an active and healthy child growing up. A lack of video games and computers in the 60s and 70s led her to constantly be outdoors, riding bikes and playing with friends. Despite a fairly healthy diet of mainly home-cooked meals, Lisa’s issues with food began early on as she would frequently overindulge when she really enjoyed something.

A little on the heavy side from grade school on, Lisa’s weight didn’t become a real issue until she reached her 30s and 40s when her poor diet and inactivity began to catch up with her. Snacking was her downfall, often reaching for things like chips and desserts. And for meals she loved anything covered in cheese and cream sauces. These unhealthy habits meant the fruits and vegetables she purchased would often go to waste as she rarely chose to eat them over more indulgent options.

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