Guest Post from Rebecca Grafton of My Girlish Whims

Hi there! My name is Rebecca, and I run the blog and Instagram account My Girlish Whims. I am a 27-year-old girly girl from the Philadelphia suburbs who has lost and kept off 100 pounds – even being featured on the cover of People magazine and appearing on Good Morning America for my story!

The start of a new year is always a great time to make goals for yourself, and that’s where I found myself in January of 2014, when I hit my highest weight ever of 246 pounds. I was MISERABLE with myself! I had always been heavy, but two years after graduating from college and moving out, I watched my weight creep up and up as I learned how to cook for the first time using creamy, cheesy, and delicious-looking recipes from Pinterest; started going out socially and drinking more alcohol; and let my workout routine fall by the wayside. None of my clothes fit, and I was in denial about how much weight I had actually gained until it got to the point where my body had started to change so much that I couldn’t even recognize myself in photos anymore!

A Fresh Start

At the start of that year I booked a Caribbean vacation and used that trip as the motivation to start my weight loss journey. After two years of hard work and dedication I hit my 100-pound weight loss goal. It was a long journey with plenty of highs and plenty of lows, but it was ultimately the BEST thing I ever could have done for myself!

At the end of the day, there is no secret to weight loss: You just need to get your nutrition under control, stay active and move your body, and decide that no matter how many times you slip up along the way, giving up is just NOT an option! I changed my diet from the start and started tracking my food and counting calories, made it a priority to get a workout in every day, and stayed committed to myself and my goal week after week until I hit my weight loss goal – and I have been maintaining ever since!

I literally feel like a brand-new person.

It’s crazy how much my life has changed just from losing weight! I am happier and healthier than I have ever been in my life, and it’s an amazing feeling. In high school, I used to be the girl who could hardly even make it around the track without stopping to walk, and now I have trained for and raced in multiple half marathons! I used to have so much trouble finding clothes that fit me in regular stores, and now I can walk into any store I want and can always find something that fits! I’m more confident than I’ve ever been in my life and so happy that I made this lifestyle change.

Visiting a SmileShop

While I’m more confident than I’ve ever been before, I still have some insecurities. One of those is my smile. I don’t hate my smile, but at around the age of 21 my teeth shifted somewhat and I ended up with a small snaggletooth right in the front of my teeth. When I was growing up, I never needed braces. Why did my teeth change AFTER it was socially acceptable to be wearing braces? I never thought I would do anything about it because I did not want to have braces or spend thousands of dollars on fixing this one small insecurity.

I share my weight loss journey daily on Instagram with my 147,000 followers. I’m on the app a LOT. Surprisingly enough, it was on that same app that I first heard of SmileDirectClub from their ads! When I learned that you could get invisible aligners for as low as a single payment of $2050 or use SmilePay with a $250 down payment and payments less than $89 for 26 months¹, I was shocked.

It’s way more affordable than I was expecting. Suddenly taking action to fix my smile to ultimately make me happier and more confident sounded like a no-brainer!

Since I live in the Philadelphia suburbs, I was able to visit a local SmileShop in the city to have a 3D scan of my teeth done. I had the BEST experience at my SmileShop. As soon as I walked in the door, I felt so welcomed and valued. The SmileShop worker who performed my scan was extremely knowledgeable about the process and explained everything to me super simply. She made sure I was comfortable throughout the entire process and then outlined all of the next steps for my smile plan.

My Smile Transformation

I’ve been using my aligners for about three weeks now, and I am so pleased with the process so far. You really cannot tell AT ALL when I am wearing them – my boyfriend doesn’t even notice! It’s forcing me to be better with my dental health as well. I’ve been brushing my teeth a lot more often, and it even forced me to quit my obsession with chewing gum. I had a BAD habit of constantly chewing gum. These aligners were actually the kick in the pants I needed to quit.

I have a lot to smile about these days. Every day I feel so blessed that I made the decision to get healthy. Now I have such a fulfilling and amazing life because of that change. With a straighter smile I feel like I will finally be able to smile even more freely without any insecurities holding me back. I love to share my weight loss story with others to inspire them that they are capable of changing their life, too. And I plan to continue to do so with the biggest smile on my face possible!

See If You’re a Candidate for Invisible Aligners

¹ “Less than $89/month” claim is based on SmilePay™. SmilePay is $89/month for 26 months with $250 deposit ($2386). APR varies. See SmileDirectClub.com/Pricing/APR-Financing for financing details for your state.