The cruel bullying began for Hope Desroches when she just 15 years old. When she began attending private school in California, she was immediately rejected by her peers.
They would mock her size and call her 'cow,' severely affecting her sense of self-worth.
“The bullying was relentless. It was really really hard for me as a kid, and it made me feel like less of a person. I didn’t deserve it," she told SWNS.
Hope would continue to gain weight, eventually hitting her heaviest at 322 pounds. It was only when she began motherhood and her size got in the way of fully experiencing her children that she began to reach out for help.
The mother-of-two's journey was not just about vanity, but about understanding herself and finally giving herself the chance to enjoy life. Hope lost almost half her body weight in about a year's time, but she gained a deeper connection with her family and herself.
See Hope's incredible transformation below.
It all began when Hope Desroches attended a private school in California. The 250-pound teenager struggled to fit in with her rather superficial peers.
“I went to a private school and I was immediately rejected. It was the kind of place where everyone was a Barbie and athletic, and I weighed 250 pounds," Hope told Caters News. “[Vaca] means ‘cow’ in Spanish — every time I walked down the corridor, that’s what everybody called me. They screamed it at me."
“I felt like such a loner. I could never meet people, so I started calling DJs on radio stations," she said. “I had this one I would talk to every day. He felt like my only friend from the age of 12 years old.”
Hope continued to gain weight due to unhealthy eating choices. She would eventually meet her husband and have children. Her inability to do certain activities with her kids, however, was a real wake-up call.
“It impacted my ability to do things with my daughter in a way. I just didn’t have the energy to take them to the park and things like that," the mother confessed.
“I would sit on the bench, eating snacks. Then I would feel guilty about being so fat, and then I would binge."
Hope began therapy in 2015 to understand why she was acting against her own best interest. A few months later, she began a weight-loss journey that was really just an expedition into learning to love herself.
“Before, when I looked in the mirror, I was disgusted with how I looked.
"Now I feel a million times better, and I’m more confident. I always wanted to be able to wear dresses and heels and look pretty — now I can," she said.
Hope has dropped a stunning 154 pounds since she began changing her eating habits and going on long walks.
The world has opened up to her in ways she never imagined.
“When I’m hiking, one of the things I love is that no one is around to watch me cry happy tears.
"There are so many times when I’ll be pushing myself to do things I never thought I would be able to do before, and I will cry because it feels so amazing," she said.
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