A near-fatal car crash encouraged a woman to lose 183lbs after she was left feeling horrified by the MRI scan images.
Melody Purdue, 36, has struggled with weight most of her life and would often find herself yo-yo dieting. Melody, of Franklin, Massachusetts, was involved in a near-fatal car accident in 2012 where she lost consciousness and woke up in hospital, shocked to discover she weighed 283lbs.
Melody told Truly: “I received MRI images and actually seeing myself and what my organs looked like on the inside made me realise this is it.”
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Melody’s near-death experience was what she describes as a “blessing in disguise”, as it encouraged her to confront her unhealthy eating habits.
Before the accident, Melody believed she had a normal relationship with food but on reflection admits she was a secret eater, which wasn’t easy on Melody, both physically and mentally: “I was always fatigued and tired and wanted to do things that my weight held me back from.”
Since the accident, Melody has lost 183lbs and now weighs 128lbs. She has been left with loose skin from her weight loss, which she plans to have removed but for now describes it as liberating: “I’d rather have this than be where I was before.”
Melody’s transformation has improved her family life too, especially when it comes to parenting her son, Alex, with her husband, Patrick.
“I am able to do things that I want with Alex, I can run, I can play - I feel like I’m living the life I was meant to live.”
Patrick, Melody's husband, kept her on the straight and narrow and stopped her from throwing in the towel. Having an accountability partner changes the game, according to a new study published this year by the European Society of Cardiology: when spouses join the effort to change habits, patients have a better chance of getting healthier when it comes to losing weight.
Compared to those without a partner, patients with a partner were more than twice as likely to lose a significant amount of weight within a year. Two heads really are better than one: with a partner or friend joining in, it will effectively double your chances of succeeding.
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