Theresa Borawski primarily relied on an electric wheelchair to get around. She hadn't even walked to the mailbox in two years. That was March 2011, when Borawski weighed 428 pounds.

"I could no longer participate in life's activities and was forced to become a spectator while people around me lived their life," she wrote on iReport.com.

"Today, I am 276 pounds lighter, 14 jean sizes smaller, and no longer need a wheelchair or cane to get around. I am a walking, talking miracle and have been given a second chance at life."

How did she spiral out of control in the first place? It started when she was 8 years old and her father died. Everyone gave her treats to eat and extra portions to help ease the pain.

Food did seem to help and so the pattern continued throughout her life. She even masked the pain of being overweight by eating more.  Soon she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, which worsened as she ate more sugar.

She describes one moment as the miracle she needed: "After my grandmother died, my sister told me that she was having bariatric surgery."

She had heard horror stories about the procedure, so she went to the refrigerator to get (what else?) a sugary soda. She suddenly realized after looking at the label that she was consuming 7000 calories per week just in drinks.

She poured the soda down the drain and upended the sugar bowls. She decided to restrict her diet to 1,000 calories a day, which wasn't so hard for her because being immobile doesn't require much energy.

"I started eating eggs and dry toast or oatmeal for breakfast and replaced my fast-food lunches with a can of low-calorie soup or fruit and yogurt. I began eating pork, chicken or stir fry for dinner with A LOT of vegetables.

Soon the pounds were just melting away, all without surgery, diet pills, any specific diet plan, or even exercise until a few months ago due to the immobility."

The key was not finding the right diet, it was finding a plan that she could live with for the rest of her life.

(READ the full story from CNN)