text: Hello, my name is Jenna, and when I got married in 2017, I was 120 pounds, my ideal BMI weight, confident in myself, and ready to take on the world. I married Mark Taylor, you probably already hear it, but I didn't until my wedding day. "Please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Jenna Taylor!" My husband sounded like he was marrying his private parts. It was then I decided to take my old name and go by Jenna Small. Anyway, I gained a little weight, about 90 pounds, during the next four years. At the start of 2022, I made it my goal to get back to my infant weight; just kidding, but seriously, I was so heavy I started to develop a gravitational pull. Over the course of this infomercial, I will share the secret diet that helped me get confident again and more! Don't get me wrong; it wasn't easy; you have to kiss a lot of frogs until you find the diet that works for you. I was on the STARVE Diet, which stands for "Strength Training and Rigorus Vegan Eating." It was great until I discovered I was missing meat so badly that my husband had to tie a steak to a string to get me to run on the treadmill. I tried blue plates, small plates, no plates, and all I got was a full dishwasher. I tried, and brace yourself for this one; it's a little gross, the Chew and Spit Diet. This is where every other bite, you chew and spit. I had only been on it for two days when I realized I was making others sick in the break room. I tried Colonblast, Colonblow, and the now-illegal, Colonplow. They were all OK until your work uses a community bathroom. I experimented with Keto, Atkins, Paleo, Whole-30, and the lesser-known Whole-19.5, for those who try for 30 days but fail. It worked until I found myself floating to a pie sitting on the windowsill like I was in Tom and Jerry cartoon. I was low-fat, high-fat, no-fat, good-fat, unsat-fat, and all I had to show for it was, yes, you guessed it, fat. My husband even attempted to help. We investigated it and discovered that I ate a lot of my snacks while watching television and movies. So we limited our munching to when we watched sports, which was only a few times a week. This worked until one day; I found myself watching Finland versus Parguary exhibition curling at 3 in the morning. I was on the South Beach Diet until I went to South Beach and gorged myself on Pina Coladas and Empanadas till I required a new pair of jeans. I considered lap band, lap sleeve, and actual laps around a track. All of these were swiftly eliminated when I discovered how costly they were; financially for the first two and physically for the last. Then there was intermittent fasting, twice a week fasting, 24-hour fasting, and the lesser-known 15-minute fast, in which you are supposed to fast for 24 hours but eat something after 15 minutes. I experimented with frequency diets, eating 6 meals a day, 3 meals a day, and 1 meal a day until I was eating 10 meals a day and hiding my face in the McDonald's parking lot. I joined a gym, which quickly became a monthly reminder of my failure; I purchased a treadmill, which stores more clothes than my closet; and a Total Gym, which conveniently sits in a box in my bedroom. Every day when I get up, Chuck Norris is taunting me on a dusty box. I drank protein shakes, nothing but water, fruit smoothies, vegetable smoothies, and all I lost were several tumblers and bottles that cost $8.99 each. I tried the skip breakfast, skip lunch, skip dinner; no matter which meals I skipped, it always resulted in me crouched over the kitchen sink, eating chocolate cake in shame. I reached rock bottom when I found myself in the Chick-fil-A drive-thru, sipping a Dunkin Donuts coffee, eating Doritos, and entering my calories into my fitness tracker. I made the decision to stop. For a few days, I just wanted to be normal. After a few more days, I began to notice my body's natural hunger and fullness cues. I also made a conscious effort to eat foods that I enjoyed, and that nourished my body, rather than trying to restrict certain foods or food groups. After a month, I decided to become more active. I began going for walks, practicing yoga (badly), and even joining a local kickboxing club. I found that I was losing weight, and my heel hook kick to the groin was coming along nicely. Slow but steady, the weight began to drop. I concentrated on how I felt rather than the numbers on the scale. My clothes began to feel more comfortable, and I had more energy throughout the day. Now, at the beginning of 2023, I've learned to love and embrace my body for what it is, to be happy and healthy rather than to fit into a specific dress size. Self-love is derived from within, not from a number on a scale. If I'm crouched over the sink eating chocolate cake now, it's because I want to, and I do it confidently. This has been Jenna Taylor-Small... yes, I hear it; and I hope my story might inspire others battling with their weight. Remember that there is no one-size-fits-all diet, so figure out what works best for you and your body. And most importantly, be kind to yourself and trust the journey.