Quick Stats –

Name: Erica Finn

Age: 20

Height: 5’3

Weight: 270 lbs.

BMI: 47.8

Food Weaknesses: Bagel bites, doughnuts

Ideal target goal: anything below 200 lbs.

 

“I basically came out of the womb looking around for the Hershey syrup to add to my moms’ milk.”

Erica Finn has more of a sense of humor about her weight than just about any size 20- wearing person. She said she’s always been big and doesn’t know any different.

“I was watching home videos of me in my baby swing,” Finn recalled. “I was probably six months old, and here comes Maw Maw in the room with a Snickers bar pretending to feed it to me. I suppose it was all downhill for my waistline from then on.”

But she wasn’t always so comfortable with her body image. Finn remembers instances in her youth that were downright humiliating.

“I started a new school in Madison in the sixth grade,” she said. “I was fat and had glasses. Basically-a mean girl’s dream.”

Finn recalls many afternoons spent crying after school. Her mom even tried to take matters into her own hands by speaking with the principal about the constant bullying. Eventually, Finn came out of her shell around the ninth grade.

“I had more friends and I just forgot I was even fat,” Finn said. “I also think people were afraid to mess with me because they knew my dad was a cop.”

Her father underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2005, the same procedure she’ll have done after finals in May. She said it was the 160 lb. weight loss that she saw in her dad that caused her to consider the surgery.

Diagnosed as a premature diabetic at the age of 13, Finn admits she just loves food.

“My fourth meal is the biggest meal of my day,” she said. “After dinner, I snack all the way up until I go to bed.”

She admits she hasn’t worked out since she was 16 years old, but with her best friend undergoing lap band surgery in January, the two of them will be inspired to lose weight together.

“I think Katelyn’s expecting bigger results than I am, and if she doesn’t achieve them, I’ll be here for her,” Finn said. “Katelyn’s been skinny. She has a harder time saying she’s fat. I just want to be healthy. That’s really my only goal with this whole thing.”

The two girls met in high school, and attending UNA rekindled the friendship they once had years ago. Now roommates, they’re determined to battle their weight together.

“Last semester there were several times I drove around looking for a parking space, and if I couldn’t find one close enough to the building my class was in, I’d turn around and go home,” Finn admitted. “But it’s just little things like that I am going to change. I can’t be lazy anymore. I need to do this for my health.”

As the two girls undergo their procedures, The Flor-Ala will continue to follow their progress on their weight loss journey.