CLEVELAND -- From the outside, Gabrielle Taylor, 16, is happy, popular and full of life. She loves to be with her friends.
On the inside when she's alone, she is riddled with insecurities about her weight, reported WEWS-TV in Cleveland.
"It's taken me awhile to realize it, but I have a problem," said Gabrielle (pictured, right). "I have a problem because I have obesity."
Using a home video camera, Gabrielle agreed to share her most private thoughts, fears and emotions about trying desperately to change her habits.
Until she weighs less, she will feel like she is less.
"Cheerleaders aren't fat, and that's what I am. I don't want to be fat anymore. Obesity is highly overrated," she said.
Gabrielle is part of a larger trend in the United States. In the last 20 years, the number of overweight children has tripled.
Some children, however, will get help at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland with a pilot program getting under way.
Dr. Bob Parry, acting director of the program, said the program will attack childhood obesity from many angles because there is not one magic cure.
"It's not like you just give it a one-shot kind of thing. (Say) here's what you do and off you go," said Parry. "It is weeks of intervention with someone."
For now, that intervention is working for Gabrielle.
In January, at 5 foot 1 inch tall, she weighed 205 pounds.
At this story's deadline, she was 191 pounds.
She feels good, but feeling good isn't her favorite thing about weight loss. It's getting noticed.
"People might have seen me a couple years ago when I was humongous," she said. "(I like) them looking at me now and (saying), 'You lost a lot of weight.'"
It hasn't been easy for her, though. She tries to exercise every day, and when she doesn't, she is plagued by guilt.
In a video excerpt, she said: "I haven't used any exercise tapes. I haven't really gotten on the treadmill."
Instead of giving up fattening foods altogether, Gabrielle is trying to eat less of it. But no matter how hard she tries, it seems that there is temptation all around.
"Pizza is my worst enemy," she said. "So I'm going to try my hardest to not eat it or eat one piece."
Thanks to the doctors and nutritionists at the hospital, Gabrielle has learned a lot about what's in the food she eats. She knows the importance of exercise and that staying obese could eventually destroy her health.
"I'm 16 years old, and I wear a size 18 in clothes, and my friends wear 13. That's a five-size difference," she said.
She realizes that people notice her weight. To avoid embarrassment, she makes jokes about herself before someone else does. Others' comments, however, are discouraging.
"I'm big. I know I'm big. You know I'm big. Why are you saying something that's already (known)? I mean, I already know this," she said.
Gabrielle said she's never seen herself skinny, except in her dreams. She said she would love to be able to shop for clothes where her friends shop.
"I'd be able to get all the clothes I want -- the cute ones -- not the overly large ugly ones," she said. "I'd be able to shop much better because they'd have clothes in my size."
Dreaming of that day helps her get through the rough ones.
"I mean, it's gonna go great, trust me. I am not going to fail," she said. "I've done too much just to quit."
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Gabrielle's Video Diary
