A mom who piled on the pounds after gorging on nightly dinner dates in the “newlywed phase” has lost almost 200lbs so she can play with her son.
Chandra Pearce, 36, found herself gaining weight after marrying her husband Chad, 36.
The pair would treat themselves to restaurant meals most nights but after stepping on the scale and seeing her heaviest weight – 387lbs – Chandra knew she had to change.
She got Chad, a university security worker, to take photos to hold her accountable before losing 97lbs through a strict diet.
But after Chandra started collapsing from anaphylactic shock when her son was just a few weeks old she decided to look into a vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) – a type of weight loss surgery where a large section of the stomach is “cut off”.
The operation allowed the mom-of-one to lose a further 105lbs – and she is now a slender 189lbs and a US size medium.
Now she is “healthier” for her son Crew, 1, and has more energy to play at the park with him.
Chandra, a childcare director from Burleson, Texas, US, said: “It was kind of the newlywed phase of going out to dinner almost every night.
“We didn’t have kids, so we were just going to work and then going to dinner.
“You’re just happy, with your best friend having fun and it wasn’t until six months after we got married that I noticed my weight.”
Chandra and Chad tied the knot in March 2015 and the new bride didn’t realize just how much weight she had put on until she stepped on the scale in October of the same year.
She said: “It’s weird because they say it doesn’t come on overnight.
“I see the same person I saw then, and I know that doesn’t make sense but there was just one day where it caught my attention.
“I thought, ‘I’m going to get my weight’, and it was such a shock because I’d never seen that weight before.
“I got off the scales and back on and saw the number again and I was overwhelmed.
“I thought ‘I’m taking control’.
“I said to my husband, please take these photos of me because I never want to be here again.”
Chandra was then diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and was put on metaformin to help treat it.
She started a strict diet – switching to home cooked meals or grilled chicken and vegetables if she went out.
She said: “I lost 100lbs by myself.
“During that time is when we were trying to get pregnant”.
After suffering multiple operations including having her fallopian tubes unblocked, different rounds of IUI, the couple decided to try adoption.
Chandra then fell pregnant naturally but sadly lost the baby as it had implanted itself into her cervix.
She said: “It was the hardest part of my whole life. I had everything I ever dreamed of, and it was gone.”
Despite their heartbreak, Chandra and Chad “picked back up” the adoption route in August 2022 and have since gone on to become parents to Crew, now aged one, in May 2023.
Just weeks after bringing their newest addition home, Chandra suffered a health scare.
She had recently been prescribed Ozempic to help continue treating her diabetes and aid weight loss.
She said: “It was probably when my son was around four or five weeks old that I had my first anaphylactic episode.
“Doctors sent me to have allergy and immunology testing, but everything came back clear.
“All three times I collapsed my doctor had changed my dosage of Ozempic.
“I don’t know if it wasn’t latching in my system, or if it was something I ate with it maybe.
“I just thought ‘I’ve got to get off of this’.
“I was content with my size where I was, and I didn’t want to have to rely on anything”.
A friend recommended Chandra to Dr Cribbins, a specialist in bariatric surgery, for a vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG).
She said: “When I did the consultation I wanted a wonderful life for my son, but I was also scared.
“The doctor said if you do this procedure, you can get off every single thing.
“That changed my thinking a little bit.”
The mom underwent the surgery in August 2024 and has lost another 100lbs and hasn’t had anymore episodes.
She said: “I lost another 100lbs.
“I have a lot more energy now to crawl on the floor and go on the slides at the park with him.
“My interests are working out and being healthier for him.”
With her new lease of life, Chandra’s diet has completely changed.
She said: “Before I ate a lot of fast food, sandwiches and fries.
“We had a lot of pasta, me and Chad loved Olive Garden.
“Now I don’t eat a ton.
“I have protein shakes and snacks, but I don’t even crave any of the bad stuff.
“I had to get rid of my whole closet because I was XXXL and now I’m like a size large, sometimes a medium.
“I can shop at normal stores, before I would have to go to specialist stores to find stuff and I can’t shop at those stores anymore.
“I don’t exactly know what my style is now, I feel like I have more options”.
Diet before
Breakfast: Fast food on the way to work. A breakfast meal from McDonald’s with a large sugary coffee.
Lunch: Fried chicken wrap with crisps and Dr Pepper. A slice of cheesecake for dessert.
Dinner: Olive garden’s chicken gnocchi soup and chicken alfredo pasta with breadsticks. Ice cream or cookies for dessert
Snacks: Crisps, sweets, pretzels
Diet after
Breakfast: Protein coffee (a protein shake poured in a cold brew) sometimes with low carb yogurt
Lunch: Grilled chicken or lean ground meat with taco seasoning
Dinner: Grilled chicken with shredded cheese at a Taco restaurant
Snacks: String cheese, Legendary protein chips, fresh berries, protein bar