Throughout their lives, people look back and reflect.

They see their successes, they see their failures.

They see things they’re proud of and they see things they would have done differently.

Family and consumer science teacher Cassie Mueller is no exception.

Mueller had been uncomfortable with her appearance from a young age. She struggled with confidence and she struggled in high school because of incessant teasing.

“I was mooed at in the hallway like I was a cow by these girls that were very mean to me,” Mueller said.

According to a 2006 Gallup poll, 56 percent of Americans said they wanted to lose weight.

Mueller was one of those Americans.

Mueller knew she wasn’t at a healthy weight and she knew the steps that were necessary for her to meet goals but she didn’t know where to start.

“I decided that I needed to do something to make myself feel better. I physically felt bad and I didn’t have a lot of confidence but I had never really dieted,” Mueller said.

Even after Mueller joined Weight Watchers, her healthy weight still seemed to be impossible. But after making small goals for herself, she began to lose the weight she had always wanted to.

“To start with, I knew what a healthy weight was but to me it was such a daunting task. I had to see if I could even do this,” Mueller said. “After the first couple pounds I thought maybe I could lose 50 pounds and when I got there I decided maybe 75.”

Shortly after her success, Mueller’s mother became ill with pancreatic cancer. Mueller completely devoted herself to her mother and her care during this time.

“I was distracted [after losing] 110 pounds because that’s when my mom passed away. I gained back 15 pounds,” Mueller said.

Mueller’s mother joined Weight Watchers after her daughter’s success. During her mother’s illness, Mueller tried not to gain the weight back. Even after trying to stay on track, Mueller gained back 15 pounds.

“I lost sight of my goals. I was so wrapped up in her care and trying to take care of her,” Mueller said.

When Mueller’s mother lost her battle with cancer at the age of 47, Mueller found it hard to grieve and found it especially difficult to accept what had happened to her mother.

“I’m an emotional eater and I was actually feeding my emotions versus dealing with them,” Mueller said. “I had never really understood how to deal with grief before. My mom was very young. It was very difficult.”

But Mueller knew she still needed to lose weight in order to be healthy. Her father encouraged her to lose the weight because he knew the risks being overweight posed to his daughter’s health.

“Over time and getting help with my grief, I realized that I could do this. I needed to be at that healthy weight,” Mueller said.

After three years of struggling to come to terms with her grief and the death of her mother and after finding support through friends, family and grief support groups, Mueller was back on track to being a healthy weight.

Once again, Mueller made small goals for herself and after the first 50 pounds were lost, being a healthy weight didn’t seem unrealistic anymore.

“I knew I had to be very strict with myself and very active and by June [2012] I had met my goal,” Mueller said.

During her journey to lose weight, Mueller found support in her group leader Marni Murphy.

Murphy joined Weight Watchers in 1990, became a lifetime member in 1991 and began working at meetings in 1993 where she became a Weight Watchers Group Facilitator and solid support system for others.

“I like to think I help members rely on themselves, that I am just there with them along the way,” Murphy said.

As Mueller experienced weight loss and gain, Murphy was there for her.

“When Cassie lost her personal support system, her friends and co-workers [that had come and gone in the meetings] she was able to turn to us at Weight Watchers to support her,” Murphy said.

Murphy believes Mueller struggled the most after the loss of her mother.

“During the emotional time of losing her mom, Cassie struggled the most in her weight loss efforts,” Murphy said. “I would hope that the support of myself, as well as other staff and members, helped her continue through this time.”

Murphy says the reason she was able to connect with Mueller and support her during her struggles was because of the time she spent with her.

“Spending a little one-on-one time gave me better insight into what she was going through,” Murphy said.

Even after her mother died and Mueller felt it was impossible to reach a healthy weight, Murphy never left her side. Murphy supported Mueller until she finally reached her goals.

“Cassie’s greatest accomplishment was she started living a healthy life,” Murphy said.

Murphy urged anyone who wants to be a healthy weight to make changes to your lifestyle that will last forever.

“Make it a lifestyle that you can live with.  If it is a miserable experience you won't want to continue. Enjoy what you are doing,” Murphy said.

After Mueller had maintained a healthy weight, she was introduced to an opportunity within the Weight Watchers community.

An ad contest.

The ads would feature Weight Watchers’ members who had successfully reached their goals and wanted to share their story.

Mueller submitted her application that included her personal story of how she struggled after losing her mom but finally reached her goal and lost a total of 147 pounds.

“She deserves to be in an ad for Weight Watchers, [she is] a great representative of all Weight Watchers is,” Murphy said.

While filming the commercials in California this past month, Mueller met with the other contest winners. Many of them shared the same struggles Mueller had.

“The best part was meeting people who are in the same boat as me. [People] who had lost a lot of weight and made life changes,” Mueller said.  

The Weight Watchers website will launch a video blog Dec. 26 chronicling Mueller’s journey to lose weight and her complete story.