AUGUSTA, GA. - Obesity can cause many health problems. That is the case for Sarah Townsend, a contestant in Augusta's Biggest Loser.

Sarah’s weight problem also affects how she enjoys one of her favorite hobbies, shopping.

“This day and age we’re all about appearance and what we look like,” she said.

Sarah likes to look good.

“What I try to do is try to look as nice as I can always have my hair done, my makeup done, clothes,” said Townsend.

She has a closet full of clothes.

“I loved to shop”.

She says the hair, makeup and nice clothes were just her way of hiding something much bigger.

“A lot of plus size fat people don’t want to shop but I felt like that was, it made me feel a little bit better about myself. So I could hide the weight,” said Sarah.

The weight – an old foe for Sarah that is the result of a friend she often turns to when things just aren’t going right.

“Food is comfort to me and that’s why I’m like this,” she said.

Lately she's been turning to food more often after relocating to Augusta – a move that brought on a tough job search and difficulty finding friends.

“I’m sure I turned to ice cream and the typical stuff,” she said.

Then one especially difficult day Sarah decided to try to really make a change and beat the weight that’s been burdening her for so long.

“It really has been a life long battle. There comes a point when you just say enough is enough,” she said.

That was the day she applied for Augusta’s Biggest Loser and as she says took things into her own hands.

“This is my problem. I did this to myself. That’s why I am so excited I’ve been given this opportunity to fix it,” she said.

While she’s looking forward to a victory over the weight she's also planning on doing some serious shopping.

“I’m looking forward to walking into a store just a normal regular store and being able to pull off my size that I can wear,” she said.

When Sarah began the process she was 333 pounds. So far, she's lost 21 pounds.