HOUSTON’S very own “bariatric bestie” Dominique, spent years feeling depressed about her body - not only how it looked, but by the things it hindered her from doing. From being embarrassed in public to her own private struggles with hygiene at 420lbs, Dominique says “she needed to make a change” in order to save her life. After having weight loss surgery, and losing 205lbs, Dominique's confidence levels have skyrocketed as she claims to be “the president of America” and shows off her glowed-up body every chance she gets.
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FunTranscript
00:00 I was eating about 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day.
00:03 I did have health issues with my heaviest.
00:05 I woke up one day and I couldn't stand.
00:07 Like, my back was killing me.
00:09 But when I tried to stand, I fell to the floor.
00:11 I didn't think that the cause of my weight
00:13 that I'm having knee and back issues.
00:15 I'm sorry.
00:18 I have to do something about it.
00:20 Went to my doctor and they gave me some advice
00:23 on gastric surgery.
00:25 My heaviest weight was 420 pounds.
00:28 And I have lost 205 pounds.
00:30 My weight over the years definitely fluctuated.
00:40 I was always a chubby girl growing up in school.
00:44 On one day, I can account that I was eating
00:46 about 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day.
00:48 I did have health issues with my heaviest.
00:50 The year I will never forget, it was 2020.
00:52 I woke up one day and I couldn't stand.
00:54 Like, I could not stand.
00:56 Like, my back was killing me.
00:58 But when I tried to stand, I fell to the floor.
01:00 I went to the emergency room.
01:02 I didn't know what was wrong with me.
01:04 Literally crying tears because it was hurting
01:06 to just barely get on my knees.
01:08 After doing a whole bunch of tests,
01:10 he was like, "If you don't change,
01:12 something's going to basically get cut off."
01:14 I didn't think that the cause of my weight
01:16 that I'm having knee and back issues.
01:18 I'm going to say that my lowest moment is when
01:20 it was seven months before I decided
01:22 to have weight loss surgery.
01:24 I was in the bathroom. I couldn't wipe myself.
01:26 Like, I couldn't. I kept doing this.
01:28 You know, all my weight was like in my back.
01:30 So when I turned around, I couldn't wipe myself.
01:32 So I was able to wipe it just a little bit
01:34 and I had to get in the shower
01:36 because I couldn't do it.
01:38 And I was like, "How did I let myself get that big?"
01:40 When you was little coming up,
01:42 because you know, we was not limited
01:44 to eating or going in the icebox
01:46 or nothing.
01:48 Anything y'all wanted, I gave it to you.
01:50 To be honest with you, she never let me
01:52 in unhappy on her heaviest.
01:54 She never showed me her confidence was low.
01:56 Skydiving. That was something
01:58 I always wanted to do.
02:00 When I went there, he was like, "There's a weight limit."
02:02 I said, "What's the weight limit?"
02:04 That day, I stepped on the scale and it said, "E."
02:06 I said, "What is that?"
02:08 And he was like, "Basically, that's where you're
02:10 past the weight limit on the scale."
02:12 I said, "What's the weight limit on the scale?"
02:14 He said, "400." In front of all these people.
02:16 I was like, "Okay."
02:18 So I went home, bought a scale.
02:20 I stepped on it and it said, "420."
02:22 That was the highest I've ever been in my life.
02:24 And then that same month, me being
02:26 the distraught that I am, we went to Vegas.
02:28 My friends wanted to zip line.
02:30 Yet again, they said, "Oh, you can't."
02:32 They didn't even put me on the scale. They just looked at me.
02:34 "Oh, you can't ride. Too big."
02:36 I was like,
02:38 and it hurt, you know?
02:40 I'm sorry.
02:42 My friends,
02:48 they tried their best to keep me lifted.
02:50 Say nice things. Be like,
02:54 "You still that girl.
02:56 Don't worry about it. You still this. You still that."
02:58 "Yes, you're telling me that, but I don't feel that way."
03:00 So that's when I said,
03:04 "I have to do something about it."
03:06 So I was like, "If I can't do it on my own, I need help."
03:08 Went to my doctor
03:10 and they gave me some
03:12 advice on gastric surgery.
03:14 And then June of 2021, I decided to have the procedure.
03:16 I had the procedure.
03:18 I got back.
03:20 I instantly started walking.
03:22 Because I had incisions and stuff on my stomach,
03:24 I couldn't do lifting, but I started walking.
03:26 And then I had to start strength training.
03:30 Once I started strength training,
03:32 got me a personal trainer, and the weight started back coming off.
03:34 I was
03:36 stalling for like about seven or eight months.
03:38 Changed my diet up again,
03:40 started working out, and then I started back to fall off.
03:42 My heaviest weight was
03:44 420 pounds, and I have lost
03:46 205 pounds.
03:48 What attracts me to this type of workout is
03:50 basically, I don't like traditional
03:52 cardio. I don't like treadmill. I don't like stair
03:54 steppers. I don't like none of that elliptical.
03:56 I like to build my endurance by
03:58 jumping rope outside, outdoors.
04:00 Exercise makes me feel rejuvenated.
04:02 I just block everything else out
04:04 and I just go hard and go home.
04:06 [Music]
04:14 How do you feel?
04:16 I feel great. I'm ready to
04:18 get dressed and turn up.
04:20 [Music]
04:22 Having loose skin made me feel like I didn't accomplish
04:24 anything. The reason that I say that
04:26 is because I still, to me,
04:28 in my eyes, I still looked at the same.
04:30 I felt like I couldn't
04:32 see what I worked hard for. I felt like
04:34 I needed to have that in order to
04:36 like the finished product of what I worked
04:38 for. I had loose skin surgery
04:40 about two months ago.
04:42 Tell us about your new body and
04:44 why you're so proud of how you look.
04:46 I mean, did you see me? I was just saying.
04:48 My comfort level,
04:50 I am the president of America.
04:52 You can't nobody
04:54 tell me nothing, honestly, because some people
04:56 don't even believe that that was me.
04:58 Hey, man.
05:00 I'm Dre, the
05:02 bestie. We're getting drunk tonight.
05:04 Why you drinking water?
05:06 This ain't
05:08 water.
05:10 She has been
05:12 someone who has been just
05:14 up and open about life and her confidence
05:16 back then and her confidence now,
05:18 I feel like it's the same because she's going
05:20 to do what she needs to do.
05:22 She's Dominique, you know?
05:24 She's D.D.
05:26 I love her glow up because it's gotten her further
05:28 out of her shell. I look at her and every
05:30 day she feel like she can take on the world
05:32 and I'm here for it. That's what I love to see.
05:34 The energy she has every day is
05:36 outstanding, like the person she is.
05:38 [music]
05:40 [cheering]
05:42 [music]
05:44 [cheering]
05:46 [music]
05:48 [laughter]
05:50 What I would like to say to Dominique today is
05:52 I'm proud of her. She made a
05:54 tremendous change,
05:56 not just for her, for her child
05:58 and for her entire family.
06:00 She's a woman of her word.
06:02 She's a woman of her word.
06:04 She's a woman of her word.
06:06 She's a woman of her word.
06:08 She's a woman of her word.
06:10 She's a woman of her word.
06:12 She's a woman of her word.
06:14 She's a woman of her word.
06:16 She's a woman of her word.
06:18 She's a woman of her word.
06:20 She's a woman of her word.
06:22 She's a woman of her word.
06:24 She's a woman of her word.
06:26 The question is knowing that you're not alone,
06:28 that you don't have to go through it alone like I did.
06:30 I'm here to help you. Do it for yourself.
06:32 Don't do it for anybody else.
06:34 Because if you do it for other people, you're not going to be happy.
06:36 A lot of people kept telling me that
06:38 you're not mentally ready, you're not emotionally
06:40 ready, you're not physically ready
06:42 because you're not ready to change your lifestyle.
06:44 You don't know what I'm ready to do.
06:46 [music]
06:48 [music]
06:50 [music]
06:52 [music]
06:54 [music]
06:56 [music]