Update 2017: Shout out to Jameelah. She shared her story with us in 2015 and she has kept the pounds off. Maintenance is the hard part.
Weight Loss Transformation of the Day: Jameelah lost 158 pounds. At 21 years old, this Alpha Kappa Alpha soror faced hypertension and weighed 333 pounds. Seeing an inspirational weight loss story gave her the wakeup call she needed. Now, she is sharing her story to inspire others. Here is what she shared with us about her journey…
My name is Jameelah Meredith. In the picture on the left, I weighed 333 pounds. Now, I weigh 175 pounds. I am 5’7″ tall. I was motivated by a video of a man who was handicapped and overweight. He changed his life, lost weight and was able to walk on his own again. Seeing that video motivated me, because if he could change his life and become mobile again, I could do the same thing.
I stopped eating fast food, red meat and pork. I added more fruits and veggies into my diet, and completely cut out fried food. When I started my journey, I was working out 5 times a week! I was in the gym doing 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of lifting. Some days, I run outside for 1-3 miles daily. I also started doing outside activities, like running, climbing mountains and swimming. Currently, I work out 4-5 days a week.
I started my journey in 2013 and have lost over 150 pounds just by being more active and not being a couch potato. I was just 21 years old when I started and I knew that it would be best if I started to change at a young age. I feel much better and I’m so much healthier. Before this transformation, I had prehypertension. Now, I feel normal and I’m completely healthy. I feel so much better. I look better and I’m so happy that I decided to make a change.
My advice for someone looking to lose weight is just change your diet and become more active. Add veggies, fruits and lean meat to your diet. I cut out red meat and only ate chicken and turkey (I’m allergic to fish and seafood but those are good options as well.) I drank water only! If I wanted something other than water, I made a real fruit smoothie. I challenged myself some months with different diets also. Some months, I went without any meat at all or I cut out bread. I got to know my body and discovered what worked for me and what didn’t work for me. I did it all by myself without a trainer or anything. You just have to believe in yourself and just do it!
Instagram: @foreverxxi_1908