Update 8/2014: MelissaRoshan noted that a lot of the weight gain she experienced had to do with emotional baggage. She shared a video with us about her journey.
Today’s weight loss before and after story: Model and makeup artist MelissaRoshan lost 74 pounds going from a size 10 to a size 2 with clean eating. She no longer deals with symptoms of PCOS and insulin resistance. Here is what she shared with us.
My story is that I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) and insulin resistance. I was modeling in my earlier twenties, and by the time I was diagnosed with it, I had gained forty pounds. I lost my modeling contract and also self esteem. I felt rejected, and fell into depression. Despite the smile in my before pic I waa miserable and unhealthy. I couldn’t walk up the stairs without gasping for air and my cycles dissapeared. I got tagged in a photo on FB and did not realize how big I was. THAT was my wake up call. A friend introduced me to Eating Clean after I shared with her I was tired of being tired. That’s when I made my change. In a year, I lost 74 pounds by eating clean and Pilates/cardio. I also let a lot of painful issues go from a painful child-hood, chose forgiveness, and healing. That literally was 20 pounds right there! The weight came off, and I’ve kept it off since. The key for me was changing my mind so that my life could change. I got my modeling contract back, but most importantly my health. We can do anything we set our minds to, and one of my missions is to inspire women to live their healthiest life possible. If you’re already fit, then what’s the heart look like? There’s always room for self betterment.
Upon returning home from vacation I decided I needed to do something about my weight. I was about 265 pounds and standing only five feet tall. At the time I was a year and a half from my 30th birthday, and I didn’t want to enter the next year of my existence with the unwanted weight. Further, I knew that it would be harder to lose the older I became. I started by joining a Biggest Loser completion at my office. It helped to keep me motivated in the beginning because I’m very competitive and there was money involved for the top two losers. I ended up coming in second place after losing 17 pounds in eight weeks; however, after a few months of working out I hit a plateau and became very discouraged. I was around 30 pounds lost when I decided to change gears and stop working out at the gym. I instead took to a female dance studio that hosted classes like Zumba, Belly and Pole Dancing. I looked like a fish out of water participating, but I kept at it. What I liked most about the studio is that there were women of all ages and sizes, and they pushed me to do better. I kept up with the classes for about two months and then decided to start working out at home to save money. I took to walking and the intense Insanity workout. This forever changed my life. The program was tough, but I pushed play every day because I knew that if I did I would get results. Eventually my daily one mile walk turned into a two mile jog and increased to running several miles later down the line. I finished two rounds of Insanity and then moved on to another home program called TurboFire. The convenience of working out at home helped me stay on track because all I had to do was walk into my living room, which gave me no excuse as to why I couldn’t work out.
I decided to enter a pageant this year which caused me to finally focus on me. I felt good and looked good! Since November 2012, I have lost 40 pounds and I have been crowned Ms. Washington Plus America 2013! I am not where I want to be, but truly not where I used to be. I work out 5 days a week, eat as clean as possible, take healthy supplements, laugh, sing, read blogs and check pages like Black Women Lose Weight. I also keep my goal in front of me, which is to lose 128 pounds. Slow and Steady! I struggle but I always get back up!
