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Update: Aliyah lost 68 pounds

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Update: Aliyah lost the weight and has kept it off.  We featured her back in July 2014 when she’d lost 66 pounds and now she’s down 68 pounds (down from 250 lbs) and getting more toned. Here is what she shared with us about her journey so far…

aliyah weight loss story

Good morning!!! I just wanted to give an update!!! You guys featured me back in July and I’ve only IMPROVED! I’ve not only kept off the weight I lost but my body is getting toned and my skin is getting tight! I haven’t lost any more weight but I have lost inches and and have definitely gained some much needed muscle! The last time I stepped on a scale I was 182 pounds but my size 12 jeans are falling off of me and my size medium shirts are huge! I’m in love with improving my body!

Instagram: @msupshur

Read more about how Aliyah lost the weight.

aliyah before and after

Lisa lost 100 pounds

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Weight Loss Transformation of the Day: Lisa lost 100 pounds.  This proud mom started at over 300 pounds and has changed her eating habits to battle emotional eating and improve her health significantly.  Not only has her life changed, but she was also a positive, motivating influence on her family.  Here is what she shared with us…

lisa before and after

Hi, I’m Lisa Cole. In 2012, after being tired of being sick as well as life kicking me in the behind, I decided to live a healthy lifestyle.  I wanted a lifestyle that was not just physically healthy, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy. At 45 years old, it was time to make sure that I was still here for my kids in 10 years, especially since my own mom passed at 45.

Weighing in at 318 lbs, I began watching what I allowed in my body, in my space, and my life. Although years before I feed my emotions with drugs, my addiction to food and feeding emotions had to change. So, the healing began with giving it all to God. It has been a long journey.

I changed my eating habits by cutting out fast foods the first month. No sugar, sodas, fried foods. I increased water to 1-2 gallons a day. During my first 2 months I ate 1 cup of any green veggies, 1/2-1 cup of rice and baked or grilled chicken or fish the size of a deck of cards. I had 3 meals a day and all the fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese I wanted. After 1 month I allowed myself one cheat day a week. I found by two months I could no longer eat anything bad because I would get physically sick. I prep my meals in advance for the week. I grabbed one when I left house in order to resist buying fast foods. I also find that pre-making meals keeps you from going in starvation mode because you just toss them in microwave. With processed foods out and lots of fresh veggies and fruit, I realized my grocery bill cut was in half by preparing fresh foods. Try price comparing and find sales in stores. When eating out, I ask for to go box with half the meal and I eat the other half. My trick now is eating from a bowl or plate the size of my hand span. If the food portion doesn’t fit, I can’t have it.

I had medical issues, including arthritis and chronic back painso I couldn’t workout but I would park the car far from my destinations and get some walking in when my body permitted. When I started in 2012, I was on 20 different medications and today I am on 3 meds. Making me first and learning my health comes first helps me get through stress. I keep busy and my mind is occupied. This week I have started working out and even taking a yoga class. My body still tries to dictate limitations but I push past that. I am in control and I plan.to stay that way

 

I lost 100 pounds with just eating healthier and portion control. I still battle feeding my emotions with food in tough times but it’s one I won’t give up. It is not an option. Also, in changing the entire household food dynamics my two young adult children lost a significant amount of weight too.  They now have adopted this way of living and are now living on their own. In my case, losing the weight became easier when my old pains were feed with healing.

Lisa weight loss transformation

Update: Jacque lost 100 pounds

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We featured Jacque’s story back in 2013.  This Zeta Phi Beta soror lost 80 pounds in 7 months.  She recently sent in an update to let us know that she’s not only maintained her weight loss, but also lost another 20 pounds for a total of 100 pounds gone.

jacque before and after

I have lost 100 pounds! I continue to workout by teaching Zumba and reducing my food intake. I stay motivated through my students. The biggest lesson I have learned is staying healthy is a way of life. If you eat everyday, you should workout everyday. Some days more than others. Whether you do a Zumba class or you take the stairs instead of taking the elevator, you should have some form of exercise daily.

I’m hosting Zumba classes in Raleigh, North Carolina, hoping to help people in my area. My business, Z-Fitness with Jacque Inc., is all about helping women meet their fitness goals.

Learn more about how Jacque lost the weight and see more of her before and afters.

Update: Naajma lost 130 pounds

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naajma weight loss“Hello! Thank you so much for featuring me in October. It truly meant a lot. I just wanted to let you know that I’m currently at 130 lbs lost (20 additional pounds since Oct 2014). After reaching the 100 lb mark, it took true change and extra effort to keep my weight loss going. I’m so proud of where I am and I thank you for getting my story out there. I truly feel like I’ve been able to help other women who were in a similar situation. I run and play with my kids now! This summer isn’t ready for me.” – Want to know more about how she did it?  Her story – Read what she shared with us back in 2014 about how she lost the weight.

Instagram: @dimplesonblast
Check out her FB group: www.facebook.com/blackgirlsgetsleevedtoo
Naajma before and after Naajma gastric sleeve weight loss

 

Regina lost 99 pounds

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Weight Loss Transformation of the Day: Regina lost 99 pounds.  Inspired by her sister’s progress, she found a great workout group  for support and learned to change her eating habits for life instead of just dieting.  Here is what she shared with us.

Regina before and after

My motivation was that I had outgrown all my clothes once again. My sister started working out and I realized she was losing weight. I called her up and asked what all she was doing ? She explained she joined a Bodycamp class. She told me to bring a mat, a water, wear tights and a shirt. Now, I have been going ever since.

I didn’t know my eating habits would have to change. I thought I could eat whatever and still lose weight. I was sadly mistaken. The instructors of the class asked me instantly, how is your diet? I changed gradually and have done really great. I realized it’s a lifestyle change, not just a diet per say. I started eating baked, boiled, or grilled chicken, turkey, tilapia and very little red meats. I also eat whole wheat or wholegrain items, like brown rice, oatmeal, or wheat breads and have lots of vegetables and fruits. Almonds, yogurt, trail mix and protein shakes are also part of the mix. I drink way more water now. Before, I was eating a lot of fast foods, fried foods, sweets, sodas, chips and anything that was quick to get to.

In the workout class, we never do the same thing twice. Each day has different activities. Monday is leg day with cardio. Tuesday is shoulder day with cardio. Wednesday is back day with cardio. Thursday is everything day, total body. I attend class 4 days a week. Monday thru Thursday.

I started at 287 pounds  and I am currently 188 pounds. It has taken me 1 1/2 years to get to this point.
My advice to others is to surround yourself with same minded and positive people. Start slow and you’ll gradually see change. Cook at home and meal prep your food, if possible. That helps keep you from making bad last minute food choices.

Instagram: @rhall0407

Christie lost 75 pounds

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Weight Loss Transformation Story of the Day: Christie lost 75 pounds.  Learning about proper nutrition, Zumba class and a group Bootcamp helped her to shed the pounds. She was encouraged to share her weight loss story by her trainer Tiffany Brown-Bush at Fit 4 Life in NC.

Christie before and after

To start, I moved to Charlotte, NC about 3 years ago. When I came here I was weighing 262 lbs. At first I did not have any motivation to start my weight loss journey. I was just riding down Mallard Creek Rd and noticed a sign that read Zumba and had a phone number listed. I drove by the sign a weeks t before taking the time to inquire.  This is how I became an active part of Fit 4 Life. I started attending the Zumba classes there on a regular basis. Starting to see some changes, I was inspired by another great person in the F4L family to try out the bootcamp classes there as well. Bootcamp is where continued to see my body change and a little more weight loss.

After bootcamp, I again was advised on how much learning about nutrition would help me on my journey. I was a person that loved to eat cereal (any kind) and M&Ms. I ate very little vegetables and all of the wrong combinations of food. As you can tell, no real substance there. I became a nutrition client and learned more healthy options and a completely new way to eat to not only loose weight but also allow the body to heal with proper nutrients.

I have now been with Fit 4 Life more than a year and have lost a total of 75lbs.  At 5’4″ tall and much lighter on my feet, I feel better than I ever have before. I am still pushing to continue to lose as there is a goal number I have in mind to reach. To anyone else looking to change their life or lose weight, my advice has been and remains “it will not be easy, but it will be worth it.” There will be times when you don’t see the progress, but don’t give up. Just because you can’t see it immediately doesn’t mean what you are doing is not working. Use that energy to push harder, dig deeper, and go further.

I am very grateful to Fit4Life because being apart changed my life and gave me a family dynamic in a city that I was new in, and allowed me to see life from more healthy prospective. I hope this blesses and helps someone else along the way.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/fit4lifetbrown

4 Ways to Document Your Weight Loss Journey

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Documenting your weight loss journey goes much further than weighing yourself every week. Relying solely on the scale’s numbers isn’t effective for two reasons:

  1. It doesn’t account for fat replaced with muscle or water loss.
  2. It is demotivating for some people.  Not seeing the number on the scale change in the way you want it to can become discouraging.

Usually people who are trying to lose weight will add some type of exercise regimen to their lifestyle. Since muscle weighs more than fat, as you start working out and drop fat, you’re also adding muscle which can skew your weight at times. This can make it seem like you aren’t losing fat or are losing weight really slowly when in fact your body is changing, you’re just simultaneously adding muscle with your fat loss. Other factors that can hinder you from seeing your process in terms of pounds include menstrual cycles, water retention, weight loss plateaus, and loose skin issues.

Here are 4 effective “non-scale” ways of documenting your weight loss journey.

  • Take Photos of Your Journey
Myya Mixon People Magazine
Myya Mixon took pictures of her journey and was featured in People magazine. She now helps others get fit and healthy. www.myyamixon.com

Taking pictures is a really effective means of tracking your weight loss. Most people wish to lose weight for health reasons but also for aesthetics which means the way their body looks is important. Taking a few “before” pictures at the start of your weight loss journey and then taking photos weekly, biweekly or monthly will allow you to see just how much your body is toning up over time.

For women it is best to strip down to a swim suit (if you are comfortable) or shorts and a sports bra. Really, the least amount of clothing the better since you’ll see more of your body. If you plan on publicly documenting your journey then you’ll be the judge of how much skin you are comfortable people seeing. You may just have the swimsuit photos for your eyes only. Take the photos in portrait format so you can see your entire body in the frame. It’s also a good idea to take photos from several angles; front facing the camera, side of the body, from the back, arms up, etc.  Get a friend to help you or use a tripod.

When you are ready you can submit your success story to us. 🙂

  • Use Instagram to Share

With nearly 300 million active users, Instagram is a super popular social media platform that allows you to easily share pictures. If you’ve followed the advice of taking pictures of your weight loss journey you’ll find that Instagram is a great way of tracking and sharing your progress.

The real benefit of sharing your journey on Instagram is creating a cycle of accountability. First off, when posting photos you’re more likely to want to stay on track with weight loss because people are watching. Secondly, by using health or weight loss hashtags you can find other Instagram-ers who are on the same journey. You can develop camaraderie and motive each other. Instagram allows you to make your profile private, so your close friends, family and those who you chose can be the only people who see your images.  Post photos of your progress, photos from your workouts, food photos and videos.  You never know how your journey will bless others and motivate them to change too. (PS: Check us out of Instagram)

  • Create a Food Journal

Food journals are really underrated but are beneficial for a numbers of reasons such as:

  • Seeing your eating trends
  • Find patterns of when you slip up
  • Keep track of nutritional intake
  • Helps with budgeting for groceries the month

The key to making a food journal work is to use it every day, for every meal and snack. It’s a habit that can be tricky to remember so setting reminders on your phone or computer will help you remember to jot down what you ate. To make food journaling even easier, consider using an online or mobile app. MyFitnessPal is a great free mobile app and website that makes tracking super easy, is fully customizable and sets reminders for you to input your meals.  There are online tools like swole.me, Spark People and Fooducate that can help you as well.

If you don’t have access to a smartphone, don’t worry. Traditionally journaling in a notebook or using a computer program like Excel is a little more work but still very effective. Use whatever method you know you’re going to use and be consistent with.

Finally, blogging is the fourth way you can track your weight loss effectively. Similar to using Instagram, blogging is a wonderful tool for creating accountability, motivating others and staying inspired. Sharing your story can help you to complete your goals for yourself and your audience. There are some added benefits of blogging however.

It allows you to create a dialog with other people as you write blog posts about health, your discoveries and your struggles. Writing is also therapeutic way of expressing yourself as you overcome the obstacles of weight loss. Finally, a successful blog can actually become a monetary asset. You can sell ad space, create e-books, review products, become partnered with companies as an affiliate and earn money from ad networks like Google Adsense.  Check out our post on how to create your own blog for more info on how to get started.

If you’re striving to lose weight consider using one of these 4 tracking methods rather than relying solely on a scale. Tracking is extremely important in goal setting and it can give you the motivation to continue your success.  However, my favorite thing about documenting weight loss journeys is that someday your story could serve as a wakeup call and your struggles could inspire countless others to change their lifestyle and reach their goals.

Shalik lost 71 pounds

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Update:

It’s Throwback Thursday and I want to tell you a little story. For the longest time, I hated the girl on the left. She was insecure, self-conscious, and had no self esteem. She didn’t take care of herself. She was lazy, had terrible eating habits, and had no drive or motivation to change. She hid behind layers of clothing and jackets because she was ashamed of her body. She settled for what was and didn’t fight for her happiness. I look at that girl on the left now and have no idea who she is. That girl didn’t love herself at all. The girl on the right though, she’s a fighter. She is as able to dig deep and find the spark of hope to fight for the girl on the left. The girl on the right loves herself and sees the potential her future holds. She knows self love and knows how to fight for her happiness. She uses the previous insecurities that once were to make positive and long lasting changes each and every day. To quote Hogarth from The Iron Giant “You are who you choose to be”. Are you a quitter or are you a fighter? Will you let self-doubt rule you or will you fight for self-love? Choose the best version of you, even if she’s unimaginable, choose her, because she’s there. Remember, it’s you vs. you, so fight for the you that you love. 💕

A post shared by ⠀⠀⠀ｓｈａｌｉｋ 💕ｗｉｌｋｉｎｓ-ｔａｔｅ (@ohsnapitsli) on

Feb 2015 – Weight Loss Transformation Story of the Day: Shalik lost 71 pounds. After a few wakeup calls and a bad breakup, she took action to create a lifestyle that let her release the pounds.  Here is what she shared with us…

Shalik before and after

I started this journey many years ago when I got on the scale at weight watchers and saw 266.6 pounds. Yes, I will always remember that .6 pounds. It was in that moment I realized that I’d “let myself go” and something needed to change. I started doing Weight Watchers and Zumba, dropped about 30 pounds and then my motivation stopped.

I was still teaching Zumba but my diet… that’s a story for another time. In the before photo, I weighed 238 pounds. I was teaching Zumba and thinking I was doing something. It wasn’t until the end of 2013 after a terrible breakup that I realized that in order for anyone to respect me, I need to respect myself. I started working out in my apartment and tracking my foods in myfitnesspal and dropped 8 pounds. It wasn’t until I started TurboFire and really developing a healthy relationship with food (eating 80% clean and fueling my body with the right amounts of the right foods) that I started to see a difference.

How did I change my eating habits and what did I stop or start eating?: I stopped eating so much junk. I also started tracking EVERYTHING I ate in Myfitnesspal. I stopped eating processed foods, artificial flavors and colors, most dairy, and soda. I also started drinking a gallon of water per day to ensure my body was being hydrated properly.

What was my starting weight and current weight?: My heaviest weight was 266.6 pounds, when I started this fitness journey. I didn’t get serious about the journey until I weighed 238. Currently, I weigh 195 pounds and feeling fantastic! Am I at my goal weight? No, but I’m proud of my accomplishment thus far.  I’m 5’7″ tall.

How long has my transformation taken?: From the beginning, 4 years. Since I started getting serious, it’s been a little over a year (13 months).

What advice do I have for others who want to lose weight?: This journey isn’t about losing weight for others, it’s about you. Deciding to take a step forward in your fitness journey is one of the most rewarding decisions you will make. Not only will you lose weight on this journey, you will regain so much confidence and self-worth. Those two things are priceless but I promise you, they will be worth the pain, sweat, and tears.

IG: @Ohsnapitsli
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thebridalbestie

Consha lost 150 pounds

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Weight Loss Transformation of the Day: Consha lost 150 pounds.  After battling with being overweight most of her life, this young lady made the changes necessary to see lose the pounds and get fit. Here is what she shared with us…

Consha before and after

Hi! I’m Consha and I’m 25 years old. I’ve pretty much been obese all my life but it got out of hand during my 9th grade year in High School. That’s when I found out I was 300 pounds. From there I decided to lose weight but emotional eating took control during that time.

My Mom was my inspiration.  Also, studying to become a Nurse and interacting with people at work explaining the risks of their overall health is was my motivation and STILL is.

Changing my eating habits took some time. I put myself on a 4/3 ratio where I’d eat what I wanted for 4 days and healthy the other 3 days.  Now, I’m down to one cheat day.  I gave up rice, bread, beef  and  pork.  I have 5 small meals per day and protein shakes after workouts. I trained with a personal trainer 3 days a week and ran on the 4th day.

I started my weight loss journey at 350 pounds. I am now 200 pounds at 5″6″ tall.  It has taken me about a year and 4 months to get this far.

To others I say, you’re the FIRST example of how the world is supposed to love you, so be the BEST example ever. Pray, Be Consistent, Eyes Forward, and Believe in yourself is my advice to others. I don’t have a fancy story, JESUS simply keeps me.

Instagram: @IamConshay inactive

Consha lost 150 pounds

Update: Heather lost 50 pounds

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Update Aug 2018: We’ve been following Heather‘s story since 2012 and she has worked hard to keep the weight off.

heather before and after

I shared my story 5 years ago, I wanted to let BWLW know that I’m still going strong. I’m now a Zumba instructor and love encouraging others to meet their weight loss goals.

I was able to get the weight off back in 2012. It took me a year to lose the weight. I worked out 5 days a week and monitored my caloric intake by putting everything into the MyFitnessPal app.

I am always looking for ways to challenge my fitness goals. Now, I’m really focusing on weight lifting and toning. My goal is to be fit and healthy for the rest of my life. @rae_of_light16

We shared Heather’s story back in 2012 when she was down 45 pounds.  She recently sent us an update to let us know that she’s not only maintained her weight loss, but she’s lost 5 more pounds. 50 pounds gone!  Here is what she shared with us… (Read the original post here for more info)

Heather before and after

I started gaining weight while in a bad marriage. I became very depressed and turned to food for comfort. Between 2006-2012, I had put on over 40 pounds! In January 2012, during my separation, I woke up one morning and decided I wanted to change. I needed to get my body back. So, I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app and began logging everything I ate. I also got a YMCA membership. Both of these tools have been invaluable to me in my journey. I went from 168 lbs to 118 lbs. I weigh less now than I did in my early 20s!

I had to change my entire mindset about eating. I needed to learn portion control. I learned that it’s okay to have the occasional snack like a cookie, just don’t eat the whole bag. Whereas, at one point I would have several slices of cake at a party, now I just enjoy one slice and savor every bite! However, I’ve found that now I much prefer healthy, clean foods.

As far as exercise, I try different things so as not to get bored. I love group exercise classes like Zumba and Les Mills Body Pump. Group exercise allows you to meet others with similar goals and mindsets. In one of my Body Pump classes I met an 80 year old woman that inspires me! She is dedicated to her class and she is absolutely beautiful. In one of my Zumba classes, I met an 85 year old man that has been a member of the Y for over 60 years! I’ve met so many amazing people on my fitness journey and I’m so glad I took that step three years ago to get fit! I will become a licensed Zumba instructor on February 19, 2015.

My advice to anyone starting out is to just do it. Take that step. The best investment you will make is in yourself. Take care of your body. You’ll thank yourself decades from now.

Instagram: @heather_lovingme15

heather weight loss