Single mom loses 215 pounds in 3 years

A single mom of two girls made a life change a few years ago and lost so much weight she went from a size 28 to a size 6. Even after losing 220 pounds, she isn't happy in her own skin.



"I've been trying to come up with the courage to introduce myself and tell my story to an internet world of strangers," said Nadine Karner.



Karner, 34, first posted her story online.



"I've always been fat. I know that word is shunned upon in most social circles, but let's be honest with ourselves, being morbidly obese is fat. And when I say always, I mean from the young age of 10 all the way up until I was 32."



Now she is sharing it on camera.



"I just remember using food as my security it was always there if I got upset," said Karner.



The compulsive eating started when Karner was 10 and her parents divorced.



It only got worse when she started high school.



"I never went to prom, I never had a boyfriend, I never got to make any really good friends," said Karner.



Over the years the weight continued to add up.



"I'm 5' 2" and my biggest weight was 355 pounds," said Karner.



At 20-years old Karner had gastric bypass surgery, which she had hoped would change her life.



It didn't.



"I gave up," said Karner.



Nothing seemed to help.



Then at 31-years-old everything changed all because of her oldest daughter Kendall.



"There was a little boy on the bus that kept calling her mommy fat, 'Your mom's fat. Your mom's fat." And she got really upset," said Karner.



Kendall, then just 6-years-old, jumped on the boy and started hitting him.



"That was it. That was the moment I said I'm not going to do this anymore," said Karner.



The next day Karner went to the doctor and started a life changing meal plan and workout routine.



"And the weight, I mean, no joke, started coming off like this and I couldn't believe it," said Karner.



She lost 215 pounds in three years.



But even with her new body, now a size 6, Karner is still unhappy.



"When you lose that much weight so quickly there are a lot of side effects," said Karner.



She has several pounds worth of loose skin.



"You can see that this is not fat. This is skin. This is something when I first started losing weight I was afraid of," said Karner.



Karner has excess skin everywhere. The only way to get rid of it is through surgery.



"Total $28,000. $28,000! I don't understand. I get it but I don't understand it and I've fought with my insurance company. Insurance companies don't see it as a health problem but it is a health problem. It's not healthy to carry this around your body," said Karner.



Karner set up a Go-Fund-Me site to raise the $28,000 she needs for those surgeries.



In one week she has already raised nearly $400.



Karner says she just wants to feel normal.

So how did Karner lose the weight?

She says she avoids grains and only eats sugar free sweets.

She also works out five times a week.

She welcomes you to reach out to her on Facebook if you have any health or fitness questions.