Sophomore Andrea Spinasanto is a typical everyday student. What people dont know is her inspirational story on her weight loss and what she had to go through in order for her to achieve it.
In 2007, when Spinasanto was a 5th grade student, she broke out in hives and no one could understand why. She went to doctors to try to figure out what was causing her to break out. Unfortunately, there was no test to figure out what was the cause. After multiple trials and errors, Spinasanto discovered that the secret behind what was making her get hives was by eating sweetener. Spinasanto was diagnosed with an allergy to sweeteners. In other words, she is no longer able to consumer any artificial foods.
“In the beginning, it was hard because I had to read every ingredient label,” she said. Spinasanto had to watch every food she was consuming because she was afraid of having another break out in hives. While constantly watching what she was eating and only able to consume healthy foods, she was losing a ton of weight. Because of this, she then decided that she wanted to get healthy again. Andrea started to exercise daily in order to achieve that goal.
She joined multiple sports like soccer and dance. She tried out for teams and wanted to do anything that could help her. “My favorite thing to do is dance,” said Andrea. She is currently on the hip hop team and participates in Orchesis at RB. She has joined a dance company called Impact Dance Studio. She has also joined multiple soccer teams over the course of a few years. She likes to run with her friends who strongly support her on this journey.
“I’m happy that I got the allergy because it made me realize that I needed to changes,” she said.
In beginning, Spinasanto weighed approximately over 200 pounds. That was the most she ever weighed. She has now lost over 50+ pounds and is still determine to lose more. “If there was a biggest loser for kids, I would win,” she said.
Spinasanto said, “I couldnt fit into any designer brand clothing. But when I could finally wear the clothing I wanted to express myself with. Well, that was the best feeling in the world.”
When asked if she was treated differently before she lost the weight, she said,” I am now treated differently because of my image. People are nicer to me.”
Spinasanto is not only eating and working out to keep a good image, but she is also doing it to help inspire other family members to do the same thing. Spinasanto said, “In my family, we have a lot of weight issues. I am trying to help inspire them that if I can lose all this weight, they can too.”
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This feature is part of our “Every Student Has a Story” spotlight. We believe every student at RB has an important story to tell, and we’re committed to getting as many of them told as possible. Look for new additions regularly.
