Hey Steemit! Allow me to introduce myself / How I lost 110lbs / My bunnies

My name is Melissa and I'm a full-time business owner who makes hula hoops and teaches people how to hula hoop. YES! this is a thing!

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Although hooping has been around for awhile now, a lot of people are still incredibly surprise when I share with them my profession.

Isn't hooping for kids?!

Sure, hula hoops are for kids, but my main focus is grown hooping.

Why?

Because hooping as an adult has many benefits which include but not limited to the following:

• Reduce stress
• It is a fun way to workout
• Balance and coordination increases

Just to name a few. :) I'll definitely be talking more about hooping in my future blogs, but this leads me to how I lost 110lbs.

It's crazy to look back on my life in the last 6 years and see so much change that was contributed to this simple plastic circle - a hula hoop.

Before I discovered grownup hooping, I was nearly 300lbs and literally at my wits end. I suffered from depression and had severe panic attacks at work almost daily. It frightens me to talk about this but for awhile I was dancing around the idea of suicide. As I type this, I'm in tears just remembering the emotions I once had and hopeless I was feeling. I had lost my purpose in life or maybe I never found it.

Fast forward, my friend dragged me out of the house and took me to a concert where I saw hoop dancing for the first time. I remember my heart pounding really hard as I was captivated by this dancer on stage with a hula hoop! Here's the original clip from that night!

It was in that moment when I knew my life would never be the same. Sure enough, 6 years later I had quit my corporate position to make plastic circles and teach people how to make changes in there lives with this tool.

I know I know....this sounds ridiculous! But it's true. :)

I lost 110lbs within 6 years all from hula hooping. I found my life's purpose and I'm a completely new person.

If you'd like to hear more details about my story, please comment below and upvote me. :D I'm so excited to share my life's journey with you all. :)

SO....getting to the bunnies. YEP! I have two bunnies! It's wonderful to have them in a room next time me as I work. Yes, they are not caged and YES they have an entire room for themselves. Seriously though, my next goal in life is the have a bunny sanctuary!

Here are my babies....

This is Dusty. He is 8 years old today and we rescued him off the street of Los Angeles. Literally! He was in a tiny cage with no water and no food. It was awful to see him in such conditions, so I had to take him home. Thankfully the cops shut down the area and so far there have been no citing of animals being sold on the streets.

And this is Squishy. About one year ago after Easter Day, my friend found this little white cotton ball in the courtyard of his apartment complex being batted around by two cats. No joke! He brought her to us and well yea...of course we kept her. :)

That's all for now! Thank you all again for taking the time to read my story. :)