Chantal's Story

Perseverance, personal commitment and patience are three traits 16-year-old Chantal Braziel has mastered over the past three years. For much of her childhood, Chantal lived the life of a sedentary youngster. Although the road to making healthy lifestyle changes has not been easy, today she is a vibrant, active teenager—and one of the successful patients of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC’s Weight Management and Wellness Center.

Chantal was referred to the Weight Management and Wellness Center when she was 12 years old, because she was an overweight adolescent whose family has a history of diabetes. After meeting with Children’s Hospital physicians and dietitians, she began making a few changes to her diet. However, she admits she didn’t commit fully to the intensive changes she would have to make, including making exercise part of her daily life.

“The staff at the Weight Management and Wellness Center told me there was a difference in my body mass index, but I really didn’t see much of a change in my weight,” says Chantal. “It kind of wasn’t a priority for me at that point. I knew I’d have to make changes in my life and that my glucose levels in my blood were high, but it took awhile for the commitment to kick in.”

Chantal didn’t return to the center for about a year, during which time she once again began to notice her weight increasing. One day in the fall of 2007, Chantal told her mother, Valda, that she wanted to return to the clinic.

“We returned in October 2007, and at that point I could tell Chantal was ready to make those changes,” says Valda. “They told her once more everything she’d have to do to lose weight, and right away she began making the effort. She was older, more mature and she took responsibility for her life.”

Chantal began exercising Monday through Friday, she adhered to the ‘healthy plate’ plan faithfully and made several other changes to her eating habits.

Despite a small setback when she broke her ankle soon after returning to the program, Chantal began seeing results. Since October 2007, her body fat dropped from 41.3 percent to 27.4 percent. She also decreased her waist circumference from 96.5 cm to 88 cm.

“Chantal is an extremely motivated young woman,” says Megan McQuaide, MA, RD, LDN, clinical dietitian and wellness advisor. “With our guidance, she has taken the initiative and followed through with all of her goals on her own. She decreased her snacking, and she tells us that she walks about two miles daily.”

When Chantal began making intensive changes to her eating habits, the Braziel family—which also includes her father, Melvin, and her sister, Manique—decided to make it a group effort. Although Valda admits she had to adapt to cooking differently, she realized little changes go a long way.

“In the beginning, it was a challenge to keep fried foods and most sweets out of the house,” says Valda. I bake a lot, so I began to use Splenda®. Now I don’t even think about using substitute sugar rather than real sugar. We don’t keep regular soda in the house much, and we all try to remind ourselves to be sensible.”

Chantal says that the holidays and birthdays are difficult, but that she monitors what she’s eating so she doesn’t make poor choices. “Once I started again, I knew I’d have to be disciplined in order to be successful,” Chantal says. “I have to remind myself that it’s okay to have sweets occasionally or to take a day off from exercising if I don’t feel well. It’s such a part of my daily routine now.”

In addition to exercising on her own and being a tenth-grader at PA Cyber School, where she attends virtual classrooms daily, Chantal also is a very involved teenager. She participates in Urban Youth Action, attends a girls’ social group every Wednesday, takes voice lessons and sings in her church choir.

“Chantal is very busy and leads an active lifestyle now,” explains Valda. “She’s taken a big interest in different activities, being healthy and doing things that make her proud of who she is. She looks in the mirror and likes what she sees, which has made a world of a difference for her self-esteem.”

Chantal’s goal is to lose about ten more pounds, at which point she can focus on maintaining rather than losing weight. She also wants to be sure her glucose levels are within a healthy range, since the risk for diabetes has been a key factor for her motivation.

“It’s been a long road for me and I had to grow up a little in order to keep motivating myself, but I am proud that I came back to the program,” says Chantal. “The Weight Management and Wellness Center taught me what I needed to do, and now I’m really glad I did my part to be successful. I’m really thankful for everyone who supported me and helped me to become the best person I can be.”