On February 27, 2023, I had gastric bypass surgery.

The weekend before, I cried because I was terrified. I was about to permanently rearrange my digestive system. I was afraid I would never eat normally again. Afraid it wouldn’t work.

But the deeper fear was this:

What if it did work… and I was still unhappy?

The surgery worked.

The weight came off. Slowly at first. I missed food. I cried over pizza commercials. Certain foods made me sick. My body felt unfamiliar.

But over time, things improved.

I lost 120 pounds. I shrank back into the size I had been in my twenties. I finally looked the way I had always looked in my head.

And yet… I never truly rebuilt my habits.

I ate less — but I still ate sugar. I still leaned on carbs when stressed. I still used food emotionally. I was moving a lot at my job, and that activity quietly covered up what I hadn’t fixed internally.

Then life changed.

In April 2025, I began working from home. I was sitting all day. The kitchen was steps away. The structure disappeared.

By November, I had regained 20 pounds.

The regain wasn’t just physical. It was psychological. I felt like I was betraying the opportunity I had been given.

That’s when everything shifted.

I didn’t panic. I didn’t crash diet. I didn’t pretend it wasn’t happening.

Instead, I made one firm decision:

I will not spiral.

I set a reasonable calorie target. I tracked everything — honestly. And over the next 100 days, I built something I had never truly built before:

A system.

Not restriction.
Not perfection.
A system.

Protein anchored every day.
Clear calorie boundaries.
Simple repeatable meals.
Daily tracking.
And most importantly — a recovery plan for when I slipped.

Because I did slip.

But this time, I didn’t spiral. I reset.

By the end of those 100 days, I had lost the 20 pounds — and five more. But more importantly, I had gained control.

That is when the Shellhaus Reset™ was born.

Not in the operating room.
Not during the first 120 pounds.
But in the decision to stop sliding backward.

The Shellhaus Reset™ is built on one truth:

Tools don’t change habits.
Structure does.

Surgery was the tool.
The system was the transformation.

And now, I am sharing my story to help other women feel more in control and get back on track!