Sheri's Backstory

My name is Sheri Arcuria. I am the author of "Unzipped" about my life with obesity and "Blindsided" about life curve balls and navigating around them. I am also the owner of Master of Bad-Assery (M.O.B.A.), an apparel brand promoting a badass mindset that anything is achievable, once you get out of your own head and get to moving.

The life of diet culture started when I was about 11 years old and the PE teacher told me I was fat and needed to go on a diet. I was 4'11" and 130lbs. By the time I was 12 or 13, I was 5'7" and it was likely pudging out before a growth spurt, but unfortunately the damage had been done and thus began a 20 year cycle of yo yo diets. Phen/Fen, Weight Watchers, Hydroxycut, personal trainers, medication and doctors, South Beath, etc. You name it, I was in the midst of it at some point.

By the time I was 30, I was over 350 pounds and miserable, unhappy and unseen. I was overlooked at jobs, treated like a 4th class citizen and lived a life of "You have a pretty face but if you JUST lost weight..."

At the age of 32, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, Fatty Liver and High Cholesterol. The doctor wanted to put me on 6 different medications to combat everything. It scared the crap out of me as I did not want to die and become a statistic of obesity. I asked the doctor, "What if I take this the most serious I have ever been and I cut everything out and lose the weight."

Her response was "Even if you lose all the weight, you are going to have diabetes forever now unless you take the medication."

I was heartbroken

I was scared

But I was also stubborn as f*ck.

I grabbed the papers of prescriptions and I told my husband to give me 6 months.

"Give me 6 months to give this everything I have, it barely crossed over the diabetes threshold and if in 6 months, it's still there, I will accept my fate and I will live a life on medication.

For 6 months, I cut everything out, went walking daily, didn't cheat because I was determined.

After 1 month I lost the first 20 pounds

second month, nothing

3rd month, nothing

By now, the old me would have already quit after the first week or two of no results, but this was a mindset shift. This time I wasn't focused on the scale, I was focused on the daily routine and habits. I was focused on the desire to prove that doctor wrong. I was focused on reversing everything on my own.

6 months later I was retested and everything was reversed!

"See," the doctor said, "this is why you take the medication."

Snarkily, I was able to say, "I never even filled the prescription."

Changing your mindset is the first step in changing your life. Unfortunately for me, after 6 months, I didn't lose anything after that initial 20 pounds. It wasn't a lack of willpower, dedication or determination. My heart tells me it was 20 years of damaging my body with different gimmicks and fad diets.

So on 9/19/14 I had Gastric Sleeve surgery. I lost 175 pounds in the first 18 months.

Mindset has been the foundation ever since and it has truly changed my life.

It's been over 11 years now and happy to say I am 20lbs higher than where that surgery took me. Not to say there haven't been setbacks, roadblocks, regain along the way, but the baseline is always still mindset at the end of the day.

In December 2025, I fulfilled my decade long dream of finally getting my arms done with a brachioplasty and it has completely changed my life once again.

Wanting to understand my own body more and how nutrition and movement factor into our results, I have gotten certifications in nutrition, personal training and weight loss support.

Having surgery over a decade ago, there were no resources for me to fall onto for assistance and I was on my own.

I don't ever want anything to have to have the same struggles and frustrations that I have had.

My dream is to continue paying it forward and helping others find their personal trail to success.

We are all so different and how our bodies react to mental, emotional, physical and spiritual stimuli and I am looking forward to helping others fine tune themselves and finding their rhythm to soar.

It's your time to shine baby!

Let's Go!

Namaste Bishes