Transformation of the Day: Karla lost 119 pounds. Our UK sister felt like “the big girl of the group” when she would go on holiday with her friends. My Fitness Pal, meal replacement shakes, weight training and learning how to eat treats in moderation have been key parts of her journey. Check out her story.
My main motivation was that as a teenager and young adult at university most of my girlfriends wanted to go on holidays every year. I’ve always been the biggest girl in the group but there was one year in particular where I felt the most pressure and was the most self conscious. We went away to a holiday that was put together by event planner and DJ’s in England, where everyone from all over the country would come together and party. When I got there, I recognized so many people and they were all bikini-ready. I felt like the only ‘whale on the beach’. That was the worst feeling ever and I will never forget that holiday. It had literally helped to turn my life around.
Since then my weight has been up and down, however when I fell down, I always got back up and pushed through. This has helped me get closer to my goal with a total of 100 pounds down and another 28 pounds to go. At 5’6″, my starting weight was 19 stone (266 pounds) and I’m currently at 10.5 stone (147 pounds). My journey technically started in late 2013, however I was not serious and consistent. My consistency started in January 2014.
I wanted to share my journey with people on Instagram, so I created my weight loss page. To this very day, my Instagram page has helped me stay accountable and it also helps me to check out other people’s journeys to keep me inspired on a daily basis. Another thing that has helped me push through when I lacked motivation was looking back at old pictures to reflect on how far I’ve come. Looking at these pictures gave me a wake call and made me think “you can’t quit now Karla!”
I have tried so many diets. I started off with Weight Watchers and the Cambridge Diet. I even tried to starve myself, but that didn’t work obviously as I would binge eat a few days at a time. I finally came across Herbalife supplements, which helped me lose the majority of my weight. Then, I tried intermittent fasting and also counting my macronutrients on My Fitness Pal. When tracking my food intake on a daily basis became tedious, I decided to go back to using Herbalife which I enjoy much more and I’m still taking the products.
I cut down on alcohol from 2-3 times a week to once every two week. I cut down on all junk and processed foods. I have junk once a week now compared to every day before I started my journey. My foods now consist of fruits, vegetables, sweet potato, brown rice, whole meal pasta, eggs, Greek yogurt, fish, poultry and rice cakes. I take the meal replacement shakes for breakfast and dinner with two snacks and one main meal of fish/poultry, complex carbs and vegetables. I also take fibre and multivitamin tablets alongside with the herbal tea. At present, I try and aim for 1,600-1,700 calories a day, tracking my food intake on My Fitness Pal.
At the beginning of my journey, I did no exercise whatsoever as I was to embarrassed to run on the street or workout at the gym. Once the weight started dropping off, I then joined the gym. That was 6 months after I started.
I began with 45 minutes to 1 hour of cardio twice a week, then progressed to four times a week. About 6 months later after I began working out, I started hearing about weight lifting and what benefits it had with regard to loose skin (I was especially scared of having lots of loose skin). This pushed me to buy a weight lifting program which consisted of using weights and machines in the gym, 3-5 times a week. One month later, I saw the way my body was changing! Fat was melting off and I could feel how hard my thighs were getting which meant I was also gaining muscle mass (which I loved). Since then, I haven’t looked back and currently weight lift 5-7 times a week! It’s my passion and my life. Hopefully in 2017, I can compete in a weight lifting competition.
My advice to anyone who wants to lose weight is to find something that fits your lifestyle. There is an endless number of diets, cleanses and detox plans out there, but scientifically it comes down to calories in versus calories out. Find a way that you can enjoy the exercise you do and also enjoy what you eat. More importantly, do some research to know more about the foods you are eating and their benefits. Look for the foods that do your body good, inside and out.
In addition, you need to accept that having ‘junk foods’ in moderation can help you stay focused and remain on track, as banning it altogether whilst on your journey will make it harder and far less enjoyable. At the end of the day, we are all human and events/special occasions will pop up here and there which we can’t avoid every time.
Do not compare your journey to others as we are all at different stages of our own journey and may also have other battles to fight outside of weight loss. Last of all, write down your own short term and long term goals and tick them off your list as you go along. You’ll look back one day and realise how far you’ve actually come.
Instagram: @x_karla_vs_karla_x
Adria Mitchell says
You go girl….major accomplishment is not a largest enough word for the mass expression of pride I have for you! You look simply amazing! Good luck and keep going. My struggles are the same, its just a combination of having Multiple sclerosis with seizure activity that holds me back but I still keep faith. I love your story.
Adria