Fresno teen shares childhood weight loss story

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- You'll find Breanna Bond in the pool just about every day of the week. She's a competitive swimmer and water polo player. An aggressive player now, unlike the girl she used to be.

Breanna explained, "A lot of kids picked on me but I really didn't know what they were picking on me for."

As an innocent, naive 9-year-old she was an easy target at 4 foot 11 and 186 pounds. Her mother, Heidi, says her daughter started piling on the pounds as a toddler, and she didn't know what she was doing wrong.

"It was my lack of education which got her in the mess in the first place," said Heidi. "I didn't understand the food and the weight gain issue because I was never overweight I just assumed everyone ate Doritos and Cheetos and Chicken Fried steak.

With the problem growing, she took the first step. Walking. Breanna says it wasn't easy. She explained, "It was hard but we started on the trails we walked every day on the trails and that's what we did."

Learning about nutrition and foods Heidi settled on a clean, whole foods routine, fruit, vegetables, lean meats with limits and fat and sugar and exercise. But realizing watching what you eat is the key.

Heidi said, "You cannot ever exercise your way out of a bad diet ever."

But it really helps. After just 14 months, Breanna lost nearly 80 pounds. It's taken a couple of years but Heidi thought her daughters story was so important she wrote a book called, "Who's the New Kid." Breanna said the title was inspired by a friends reaction to her transformation.

"One of my best friends from kindergarten asked, who's that," Breanna explained. "He couldn't recognize me."