Francesca: “One day I decided I didn’t want to be fat anymore. And I lost 80 kilos”

The joy of going out with friends. Enjoying an aperitif. Allowing yourself the luxury of savoring two scoops of profiteroles without feeling guilty, and without running the risk of eating half a kilo in the grip of a compulsive hunger attack. This is Francesca's new life, conquered "without miracles", as she says, but with determination, head, the invaluable help of others. Today Francesca Migliaccio is a volunteer for the Amici Obesi association and her story is a hymn to the possibility of being reborn.
The Cesspool of Obesity“I had fallen into a kind of cesspool,” she says, describing the point of no return. “Around the age of 50, a series of events that had overwhelmed me since childhood led me to completely lose all inhibitions regarding food. It was no longer just a matter of a few extra pounds: my weight had become a prison, a boulder that threatened to crush me.” Obesity, she recalls, is a disease that can be tragic, just like anorexia, although slower, more subtle in its progression: “You also die with obesity, albeit more slowly.”
It wasn't easy to find adequate help back then: 15 years ago, multidisciplinary centers weren't as widespread as they are today. There weren't the drugs that seem so promising today. The battle with weight was often fought alone. And alone, often, one lost.
An outstretched handFrancesca had tried everything, “even Fantozzi’s clinic,” as she ironically recalls. “I had already tried with two psychiatrists, but without success. At a certain point, when I had almost reached 170 kilos, someone unexpectedly offered me a hand. I grabbed it and managed to get out of that pit. I was taken to a bariatric surgeon and this was the beginning of my real journey of change.”
The long road to rebirthThe operation was not immediate. “It took a year and a half of preparation, the time needed for the surgeon to make sure I was ready. At the same time, I began my third journey with a psychiatrist, and this time it was the right one. Fortunately, because surgery alone is not enough”. Her journey was long, about 15 years to overcome the eating disorder. “This shows that there are no tricks or shortcuts: “Nobody works miracles – she confirms with conviction – we are the ones who have to decide to change our lives. And change is a journey of the head and the heart, a constant commitment that requires patience and, above all, help from the outside”.
The Importance of Asking for HelpFrancesca is living proof that “you can overcome an eating disorder and severe obesity, even at an age no longer very young”. A crucial message that Francesca wants to give is that you can’t do anything alone: “You have to ask for help, and not just anyone, but qualified people”.
The Amici Obesi association is a concrete example of this. A place where you can ask for help, which offers the human assistance of volunteers, and guides you towards the specialist assistance of the scientific community. “If you hold out that hand, we will take it and direct you,” he assures. A fundamental support, and not to be taken for granted, even if you look among friends or family. Because there are few, even today, who really understand what obesity is, and what is behind a person who suffers from it. “To those who look at us with contempt or with hilarity, I would like to make them understand that behind an obese person there is always suffering for something serious, not because we eat.”
"Today - he concludes - I live my new life with awareness and freedom. Guilt has given way to joy, deprivation to the possibility of choosing. The fight against obesity can be won, provided we face it with the right mentality, the right support and the deep conviction that change, although difficult, is possible".
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