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Amber lost 44 pounds

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Let’s show Amber some love.  She lost 44 pounds down from 418 pounds and she is just 25 years old.  Here is what she shared with us about her weight loss journey:
Amber weight loss
“My name is Amber and I am 25. I have struggled with my weight since I could remember. Diabetes and high blood pressure run in my family but I continued to pick up and put on weight as my doctor’s dismay. I have tried almost every fad diet, weight watchers, Jenny Craig, cabbage soup and nothing seemed to keep my attention for very long. The doctor seemed to be constantly concerned about my weight and one doctor seemed to have given up hope that I was going to do anything about it at all. I had continued to make excuses about why I haven’t done anything before now but I know that excuses are tools of incompetence :).  So, after seeing myself in pictures and feeling the most uncomfortable that I have ever felt at my highest weight of 418 pounds, I decided that April that I needed to make that change for MYSELF. Not because anyone told me, not by force but because I did it on my own terms. I changed the way that I was eating, drinking, and exercising for the first time in a long time. Shortly into this journey, I experienced a herniated disc and it forced me to curb the exercise for a few months. It was heartbreaking, especially because I was in the groove and I was just about to finish graduate school. When I moved back to CA, through medical assistance, my back has never felt better. Since then, I have joined the local gym with a majority of my family members. I try to go 3-4 times a week (I do Zumba, body sculpting, water aerobics and I am currently training for a 5k), drink as much water as I can and just try to stay positive about the fact that this is NOT A DIET, BUT A LIFESTYLE CHANGE! This page has also been an encouragement to me as well as MyFitnessPal! It has kept me honest and I utilize the support of other women to get through this journey. I have seen results but I am hungry for more…pun intended  but I just wanted to be able to encourage other women who have had similar struggles that you are beautiful and that this journey is not easy but we are doing it to be healthier! You are absolutely not alone and I hope that my 44 pounds inspires the next woman as I work toward the next 44. Instagram:@ _adeebee. I just recently started a blog on wordpress: http://selfgrowththejourney.wordpress.com/.
Have a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year!
Amber D. Boyd, M.A., MFT
Syracuse University
adboyd@syr.edu

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. -Harriet Tubman”

Andrea lost 68 pounds

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Weight Loss Success Story of the Day: Proud mom Andrea lost 68 pounds in 7 months by changing her habits to create a healthier lifestyle.  Here is what she shared about how she lost the weight:

Andrea before and after weight loss

“My motivation to lose weight was a better ME. Once I became a mother (9 years ago), I just let myself go and put myself last in everything. I knew I had gained a lot of weight (number wise) but I never saw myself as being as overweight as I really was (reality hit looking at pictures of myself before and after my weight loss). I am blessed to not suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol issues, or any other disease associated with being overweight and I wanted to ensure that remained the case as I approached the “dirty 30’s”. The ultimate motivation/goal was that I wanted to lose at least 50 pounds by my 30th birthday.

I changed my eating habits mainly with using the “myfitnesspal” app in counting calories. I cut back on sweets as this is my biggest struggle (I cut them out completely in the beginning), no sodas, rarely eat fast food and when I do I eat healthier choices. I hardly eat fried foods and I make moderations to what I eat.  For example, if I eat a sandwich, I use one slice of wheat bread and I use mustard instead of mayo. I am more conscious of what I eat and how much I eat and counting calories is the biggest help of all.

My workout routines consist of walking/running on the treadmill 3-4 miles 5-6 days a week. I did Hip Hop Abs for 3 months along with monthly challenges on Black Women Losing Weight page. I have only exercised at home; no gym membership!

My starting weight was 249 pounds (my heaviest) when I went to the doctor in April 2013 and that is when I started making small changes with foods and slowly walking at least 1 mile a day on the treadmill every day. I went back to the doctor May 2013 and weighed 246 pounds and that is when I kicked into high gear on this weight loss journey. As of December 12, 2013, I weighed in at 181 pounds. My goal weight (after losing the first 50 pounds) was 175 pounds by my birthday (December 15). Although I missed that goal, I am still so very proud of myself and how far I have come. I am now aiming to get down to 165 pounds (hopefully by May 2014).

My advice to others is to never give up! Gaining weight is easy and losing it will be one of the hardest things you ever have to do. It is hard, takes commitment, strength, determination, will power, and faith. There are good days and bad days but when you have a bad day, pray about it and start over tomorrow-don’t beat yourself up. I have been on this journey for 7 months strong and I have days when I fall off the bandwagon but I just get back up and keep going. Every step and effort you make makes a difference and equals a step closer to a better and healthier you! I encourage others to lose weight for themselves and no one else because when you do it for the wrong reasons, it probably won’t last as a weight loss journey is about a lifestyle change for the rest of your life. No two stories and experiences are alike so you have to do what works best for you and your life. The Black Women Losing Weight page is an excellent source for women on a weight loss journey as it gives women hope and motivation that if “she” can do it, so can IJ

***Picture on the left is from December 2012 and picture on the right is from November 2013***”

Felicia lost 55 pounds

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Today’s featured story: Proud Navy wife and mom Felicia lost 55 pounds.  She provided lots of detail about her weight loss journey and how she transformed her weight and health. Check out her story below:

Felicia weight loss blog

“Summer of 2010 the majority of my mornings I would wake up feeling extremely sluggish & as the day would progress I would still have little to no energy. I am a very outgoing person with an abundance of personality (or so I’d like to think lol) and this sluggish mood just did not fit who I was. I remember being in Chicago for an annual taste fest and while preparing for the day in my hotel room with my family, I noticed there was a scale in the hotels bathroom. I decided to step on it for the heck of it and BOOM there it was. 208 pounds. I was shocked. So, shocked that it basically knocked the wind out of me. This is what opened my eyes to what I have been so blind to. Before I left Chicago to return home, I stepped on the scale again for it to read 206 lbs. Losing the two pounds in two days sparked a little motivation.

My husband was set to leave for bootcamp in September of 2010 for the United States Navy so I used this to set a weight loss goal. By the end of the two months he was gone, I wanted to lose 20lbs which I felt was a sensible goal. When he left I was 197 pounds. Fortunate enough for me, I worked at a company that had a fitness facility which made it easy for me to get a workout in everyday durning lunch. Along with the workout I started watching my portions and attempting to count my calories with an app I downloaded called Lose It. Even though I was not being completely honest with the app in what I was consuming as far as calories for the day, I still managed to lose 17 lbs by the end of my husbands bootcamp graduation!!! I was excited to show my husband I did it! After bootcamp is when things got a little crazy. I was under a lot of stress with leaving my career behind due to military orders for my husbands training and uprooting myself and our two kids from our home back in Michigan to Great Lakes, IL so needless to say, working out and counting calories was the last thing I was concerned about. After relocating to Great Lakes Jan. 1st 2011, I decided to pickup where I had left off with the weight loss kick since I was now a housewife and nothing better to do. I currently weighed 186 pounds and this is when I started the Insanity program by Beachbody. I was terrified as I knew I probably couldn’t perform over half of the moves. Heck, I couldn’t even do half of a push up without slamming face first into the floor! But even knowing all of this, I jumped into it, minus the diet. By the end of the sixty day program, I could do push-ups, push up jacks, walking push ups gained a lot of muscle lost about six inches off my waist but I only lost about 5 pounds. What a disappointment. My husband on the other hand was beyond impressed on my new fitness level so that was enough for me to chuck up the sad feeling of not losing as much weight as I would have like. After Insanity, I did TurboFire just to keep active but as far as weight loss, nothing. But I was maintaining so I was ok with that. By November 2011, we received orders to Naval station Norfolk in Virginia but this time I made a promise not to go backwards with the success I’ve had thus far with maintaing my weight loss.

After being in Virginia for just a few days, I knew that I no longer wanted to be a housewife and I really wanted Adult company/friends for when my husband would be out to sea. Virginia was so far away from home & I needed to find people to lean on. I found a great company and was hired just a few weeks after submitting my application. I met great people and made a few close friends. One dear friend of mine I became extremely close with and we got a long so well at work and outside of work and we honestly could not get enough of each other. We would drink wine every night afterwork and cook dinners every night like you thought it was thanksgiving everyday but life was good, I was back in touch with my adult self and I loved every glass of wine and every delicious meal that I consumed. And so did my belly. Ugh! I gained everything I had loss back plus some! I was now 197 pounds as of June 2012 and I was just over it. And again, I jumped back into attempting to workout and count calories and by November 2012 I was back down to 183 lbs. I maintained up until July of 2013. My husband was leaving for what would be our first deployment (9months) & I needed to be sure I could keep up with our children! I woke up one day and just looked at myself in the mirror and said to myself, is this it? Is 183 pounds really where I want to be? Hecks no! The first thing I did to jump start my new found motivation, I bought a book called SHRED by Dr. Ian to teach me what I had not applied in the past and that was what when and how to eat. I then signed up for my first 5K race and ran it on July the 4th. By the end of my first week of dieting and exercising, I was down 7lbs. Right then is when I knew I was reborn. I had real results and the feeling of that seven pound accomplishment was enough. I set a goal to just get under 178lbs because I had never seen anything less in my adult life.

Today, I am down to 153 pounds and still going!!! I count calories, still using my Lose It app and I exercise during my lunch break Monday – Friday anywhere between 30-45 mins. On Saturdays I run 3 miles and 1 mile uphill and on Sundays I rest. I have never been so happy in my life, I can keep up with my kids and I love knowing that I inspire others. My husband has been out to sea for the last 5 months and while he knows I’ve been working out, he has NO idea of what I look like today!

My advice to people trying to accomplish this same goal is to celebrate all small victories. Set small goals first. If you only lose 3-4 ounces, so what! You lost it!!! Celebrate. Don’t quit because you have a bad day with food, tomorrow is a new day. You can’t get fat off one bad meal just like you can’t get skinny off one healthy meal. It takes time. Follow me on my journey if you wish @she_did_that313 on Instagram”

Felicia before and after

Shannon lost 137 pounds

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Weight loss story of the day:  Shannon lost 137 pounds.  Here is what she shared with us about her 2 year journey to lose the pounds:

Shannon weight loss story

“My name is Shannon. I started my journey April 4, 2011 weighing in at 298 pounds. I didn’t know much about losing weight because I was always the big girl growing up. I didn’t know how it felt to be smaller and fit until now. I started off by getting a gym membership at a local gym. I worked out 5 days a wk and rested on the weekends. I researched everything, especially healthy foods and recipes. I cut out soda completely. Cut back on fried foods, sweets, bread and fast food. I was down 100lbs after my first year which consisted of working out on the treadmill, elliptical and bike. I wanted to switch things up so I started strength training and joined the fitness classes that the gym had to offer (yoga, step, zumba, etc). By the end of my second year, my body hit a plateau. I decided to do my own thing by working out at home. I bought different size hand weights and dvds. That did the trick and I lost my last and finally 20 pounds. Losing weight is not a race. You have to be consistent and determined. Maintaining your weight is just as hard as losing it thats why its a journey. I love the new me and wish I would’ve lost weight sooner. I was motivated to get healthy and look healthy and I succeeded.
Starting weight: 298 pounds, size 18 & 3x shirts
Current weight: 161 pounds, maintaining and toning my body,  size 8 & medium shirts
137lbs gone forever!!!!!”

Shannon weight loss photos

Brooke lost 100 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss success story: Brooke lost 100 pounds with the help of the Oxygen show “My Big Fat Revenge”.  She has provided a LOT of detail about her weight loss journey.  Here is what she shared:

Brooke weight loss story

What was your motivation?

“I had reached 287 lbs from poor eating habits and lack of exercising. As my husband and I decided we wanted to try to conceive. I felt convicted about raising children with no knowledge of how to eat, workout and worried about my own health if I gained more weight through pregnancy. I was blessed with an amazing opportunity to be apart of a hit weight loss reality
show from the creators if The Biggest Loser. The show aired on the Oxygen network and is called My Big Fat Revenge. They focused on teaching us how to loose weight healthily while confronting a bulky who tormented us about our weight. My main goal was to accomplish this for my future babies and telling one of my many horror stories was just a tool for addition help in this case. I relied on my faith in Christ to get me through the process as I discovered their were parts of myself I was unhappy with that I never confessed to anyone but God. Accepting that, believing God loved me anyway and would give me the strength to make it through helped me to step out on faith and conquer a fear I’ve had since childhood, loosing weight.”

How did you change your eating habits?

“The show explained to us how much eating affects of weight gain and loss. They had us take a look at what was in the food we were eating and recognize that a lot of empty calories were actually harder to burn off. We used free tools like an app called My Fitness Pal to keep track of our food intake and see a picture of how balanced our diet was. I ate unprocessed foods, such as cooked veggies, lean meats and protein shakes before and after morning workouts. I kept my calorie intake to 1200 calories 6 days a week and then carb loaded on healthy foods once a week up to 1500 calories. I also drank a gallon of water a day and coffee with a sugar free creamer sometimes for those mornings I felt sluggish.”

What did your workout routines look like?

“Oh my, I went IN! I woke up in the wee hours of the morning and did an hour on the stair mill and half our walking on the treadmill until I built up the endurance and confidence to jog. These activities were very boring to me so bringing music or watching movies / tv shows on Netflix helped me a GREAT deal. I also used a heart rate monitor to get an idea of how hard I needed to push myself.

In the afternoon I met with a trainer for about an hour fifteen minutes for strength training fused with cardio. We did things like climb hills with cement blocks, football drills, leg presses, arm presses, burpees (yea YouTube those smh) as well as jumping jacks to name a few.

In the evening I’d go back to the gym and take a couple of fun aerobics classes like hip hop, flirty girl fitness or even a home work out video like Insanity, in which I did at my own pace not at the level they did on the DVD. If they did 20 jump squats I prob only made it to 5 at first.”

What was your starting weight? “287 lbs”

What is your current weight? “My ending weight was 187 lbs
( I’m currently pregnant and had some complications where Im not able to work out and have been eating tons of carbs for nausea so I’m currently at 200 lbs)”

How long did your transformation take?
“A total of 7 months for my 100lb victory!”

What advice to you have for others who want to lose weight?

“Slow and steady wins the race! I was so discouraged by my 1 or 2 lb losses each week because I thought it wasn’t enough for the results I wanted as quick as I wanted them but it was a healthy speed for my body. Those pounds started adding up and I realized the number on the scale or measuring tape reflected the work I put in each week. How clean did I really eat? How sweaty did I get during a work out or did I not want to mess my hair up? When I was close to a milestone week I got extremely disciplined just hit my goal and it was those weeks I hit big numbers like a 10 or even 13 lb week. But I cried through my work out or cried when I wanted to eat certain foods yet kept myself disciplined. I went from NEVER running in my life, I mean straight up being embarrassed or complaining about it hurting to being able to run a 10k (6.2 miles) and possibly more because I haven’t pushed myself pass that yet. If someone as lazy, as defensive, as undisciplined, as addicted to food as I am lost weight. Anyone could do it! You are MORE than a conqueror!

I operate a small Facebook group called The New Me Project where we share tips, success stores, weak moments and motivate each other to consistently work on becoming the new version of themselves.”

Check out the video and more details from her episode of the show on the My Big Fat Revenge website.

Brooke lost 100 pounds

Peita-Gaye lost more than 65 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss success story: Peita-Gaye of Jamaica lost more than 65 pounds.  This college student changed her diet and embraced regular exercise to lose the weight.  Her story shows that weight loss is an ongoing process.

Peita Gaye weight loss story

“At the age of 20, I was basically hypertensive (BP 150/90). With my paternal grandmother, father and sister having the disease, I decided it was time to change. My initial weight was 222 pounds at the height of 5’4 and I was morbidly obese. After the scare of hypertension, I started swimming and running at least three (3) times a week. I also drank lots of water and reduced my juice intake to only twice a month. Additionally, I snacked on fruits, vegetables and nuts instead of fries and crisps. Honestly, my weight has been a challenge since the age of 9 and I am in the process of defeating it. Currently, I am 157 pounds and was down to 139 pounds last year, this took a total of six (6) months. After an extremely rough semester at school, I gained around 10 lbs and lost 6 lbs in the summer. I’ve gained a total of 18 pounds since September due to weight training five (5) a week and increased protein proportion. I’m on the journey to lose 22 lbs and I would like to encourage anyone out there that weight loss is possible at all stages in life, it’s never too late or early. There will be hiccups. Weight gain will occur, plateaus will happen but just keep going. Don’t dwell on the bad and beat up yourself when these things take place. Just restructure your plan and keep loving yourself no matter what size you are and be journey happy rather than destination happy. In other words, enjoy the transformation.”

Beatrice lost 84 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss story: Beatrice lost 84 pounds by working out and eating right.  She was inspired by her brother’s weight loss and decided to lose the weight after a wakeup call from her doctor.  Here is what she shared with us:

Beatrice weight loss story

“Hi, I would like to share my story. My name is Beatrice.  Exactly one year ago I started my weight loss journey. I went from 268 pounds to 184 pounds and from a size 24 to a size 10.  I did it by working out and eating right. I would love to be an inspiration to others.

My motivation was hearing the doctor tell me that I gained 40 pounds in five months. I couldn’t believe how that happened and was ashamed at myself. Also, my brother lost about 130 pounds and he motivated me.  I was also motived by being able to button a size 22 pants.

I stopped eating salt, fast food and processed sugar.  For exercise, I began walking around the park and playing tennis 4-5 times a week for the first 3 months. I lost 36 pounds.  Then, I joined a workout group at church where we do intense cardio classes 4 days a week.  The people there are so motivating.  Also, I lift weights at home and still play tennis during the day.

My advice to others is to have encouraging, motivating people around you. Keep a food journal so that you can monitor what you eat and how much you eat.  Also, drink lots of water and eat lots of protein. It’s hard work but at least you can say that you did it the right way and you will learn how to keep the weight off for good. It’s not just for the moment but it’s a lifestyle change.”

La’Silya lost 137 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss success story: La’Silya lost 137 pounds.  She wrote to us to share the simple changes she made in terms of exercise and healthy eating to lose the weight.  Check out her story:

“My name is La’Silya. I wanted to share my story to help others in my same situation. On Easter 2012, My sister and I took some pictures at church and when I saw them I was so ashamed. I probably was 290 pounds then and at my highest weight I was 322 pounds. From that moment on I made up in my mind to do something about it so that I could be healthier and look & feel better about myself.  For exercise, I walked everyday and also used the Biggest Loser workout videos. I decided to start eating a healthier diet and started to drink tons of water. I completely stopped eating sweets, drinking McDonald’s sweet tea (which was my favorite) and I stopped drinking sodas, including diet sodas.

I chose healthier choices such as baked chicken, turkey or fish.  I also eat a lots of veggies and fruit. I am 185 pounds currently and would like to loose about 40 more. I am proud of myself because I tried so many times before and would give up so quickly. I had a lot of encouragement along the way and it helped so much. It feels good to be told that I am an inspiration to others. I love being able to help others feel good about themselves :)”

LaSilya weight loss photos

 

Kimberly lost 110 pounds

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Featured weight loss success story of the day: Kimberly lost 110 pounds in a little over 8 months.  She primarily credits the changes she made to her eating habits.  Here is what she had to say about losing the weight:

“I lost 110 pounds over 8 months primarily by changing how I ate.  The dietary changes began mentally. I DECIDED NOT to die or have complications from diabetes. I began to pray.  I was asking GOD for answers to why I had so many bouts of 30 day constipation and blood sugars levels of 350 plus all the time!!! I was enlightened and found that meat was my issue. Eating it with every meal, every day was killing my body. Immediately after cutting just meat out of my daily consumption, I lost 20 pounds in 30 days (no exercise yet). After seeing that, I decided to see what wound happen if I didn’t put ANYTHING in my mouth that was bad.  That’s right, I ate NOTHING but fruits, veggies, whole grains and water for a solid year and was exercising for  half of that time.  After losing about 50 pounds, I starting doing a standing ab routine for about 5 days a week for 30 minutes per session. Because I had changed my mind about food, it seemed like I woke up skinny!!! I went from 280 pounds to 170 pounds in one year.  Now, I am a comfortable at 180 pounds and 5’6” tall! I have put some “treats” back in every now and then, but am still enjoying a healthy lifestyle!!”

Kimberly 100 pound weight loss

Melyssa lost 25 pounds

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Let’s show some BWLW love to Melyssa.  She lost 25 pounds by eating right, leaving soda alone and working out at home only!  It just goes to show that you don’t have to have a gym membership to lose weight.  Here is what she shared about her weight loss:

“My name is Melyssa & I am 34 years old. My heaviest weight was 215 poundss & I hated it! I have always wanted to get more healthy but I wasn’t motivated enough. In 2011, I found out that I had a mass of fibroid tumors (over 50) on my uterus. That alone caused me to be very sick ALL the time! I gained more & more weight & I hated my appearance so much that stopped going out to enjoy myself. This pass January, I was rushed to the hospital for what I thought was a heart attack.  That is when I knew it was time for a change! I threw myself into becoming more healthy. I stopped drinking sodas all together & started eating right. My old eating habits consisted of me never eating, which did not help! I started working out at home by doing certain routines I found online. I also do yoga, & Zumba in my own home, Not once have I been to a gym! I made it work for me at home! I work out 4 days a week. Everything from squats, to planking, to Zumba; I do it all! Since March, I am 25lbs lighter & still going!!!”

Melyssa weight loss story