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Evony lost 60 pounds

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Let’s show Evony some love.  She lost 60 pounds.  At 25 years old, she was on high blood pressure meds, now she has lost the weight by changing her eating habits and exercising.  Here is what she shared with us:

I would like to share my weight loss story. I was only 25 years old when I started taking high blood pressure pills while pregnant with my 2nd child. I made no time to exercise or at all. I was very unhappy with my health. Finally at age 27, I did something about it. In January of 2013, I was 286 pounds and currently I am 226 pounds. I was a size 24.  Now, I’m down to a size 18!  I’m glad to say that I lost the weight and I’m off my blood pressure pills by making healthier food choices and exercise.  For exercise, I walked on the track for 3 to 5 miles, 4 times out the week. I also don’t eat fried foods or sweets.  I eat mostly chicken and turkey.

Evony weight loss before and after

Kia lost 155 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss success story: Kia lost 155 pounds.  This 5’4″ mom has been dealing with her weight all of her life and had lap band weight loss surgery but gained the weight back.  She credits Weight Watchers, Zumba, bootcamp, walking and running as a big part of her transformation. Despite personal tragedy, she has pushed to be healthy and happy.  I think her story is moving and heartfelt.   Here is what she shared with us:

I am a married mother to two children, ages 2 and I have a very challenging,demanding career. This background information provides a little insight into what could be considered the chaos of my everyday life. It is challenging, yet can also be rewarding. It also doesn’t leave very much time for incorporating a healthy lifestyle that for 37 years, I did not employ. Change is definitely, in my opinion, one of the hardest thing for any person to accept because I believe you have to rediscover who you are! That is where my journey began!

I have been overweight all of my adult life. I started to gain weight as a pre-teen, around the age of 12. While in high school, my dad allowed me to sign up for NutriSystem. I was able to lose approximately 30 pounds, which put my weight at 168 pounds. I hated the food and the program was not sustainable because eating their food was the only key to success. Standing only 5″4″ tall, by the time I entered college, I weighed a whopping 210 lbs. The weight continued to snowball from there. When I returned home from college I weighed 260 pounds. I immediately joined a gym and hired a personal trainer. This also proved to be futile because I was not ready to change my eating habits. I loss no weight during this time. I quit!

Through the years, I tried and failed many times at all kinds of weight loss plans. Mostly crash dieting and extreme food depravation. I would lose weight for the short term, at times as much as 40 pounds, but I would shortly gain it all back plus a little more.

Kia weight loss story

I haven’t yet shared this part of my story with everyone because it is deeply personal, but I wanted to be totally honest.

By the age of 31, I was completely fed up with myself topping out at 319 pounds. This prompted my decision to go under the knife and have lap-band surgery. This has proven to be one of the worse decisions that I have ever made. Although this surgery probably assisted in me being able to get pregnant. Prior to the surgery, I did not have a consistent menstrual cycle for years. My doctor often told me that this was a side affect of being morbidly obese. After the surgery I immediately dropped 50 lbs and within a month I found out I was pregnant with my first born. I was over the moon with excitement and did not care that I had just invested a ton of money into the surgery. Within another 18 months I was pregnant again, but this time I wasn’t so lucky. I loss the son that I had prayed for after 5 months of pregnancy. This sent me into a tail spin. I had no outlet for stress. Eating was what provided comfort in any uncomfortable situation. I quickly started to put the pounds back on. By the grace of God, I was pregnant again within a year with another son who is now two years old. I never once had the lap band adjusted. I believe that even if I did adjust the band, it would not have sustained weight loss because I was not ready to change my mind about food. ]

During my second pregnancy I developed hypertension. I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me at the age of 36, but I accepted it as my fate. I thought that I was just an overweight woman. I spent many years convincing myself that I had achieve the American dream because I had a husband, two children, four fish and two birds. What more did I need? I was worried about the life threatening effects of hypertension, but not enough to change my lifestyle.

On a random night out with my girlfriends, I was chatting with a stranger who happened to be really into fitness. We started to chat about my fitness journey and I have to admit I was pretty defeated. He encourage me to give it one more try, if not for myself, then for my children. The following Tuesday, January 17, 2012, I walked into Weight Watchers with a friend weighing in at 299.4 pounds. I initially only wanted to join for one month to see what it was all about, but after the first meeting I was hooked. I signed up to do it all. I wanted to work the plan to the fullest to see if I could do it. After the first week I was down 4 pound. The second week, I was down another 4 pounds. I thought that this was impossible. This continued for about a month and then the weight loss started to slow to about a pound per week. I realized then that I need to incorporate exercise into my plan. I have never been very patient, so I knew in order to stick with this I was going to need to see results… FAST!! I started doing Zumba on my WII 5 or 6 days a week with my husband and children. I followed this routine for months, barely missing a day. When the weather started to get warm, i signed up to start walking 5K’s. This changed my life. I started walking along the Chicago lakefront everyday 3 – 4.5 miles. By the end of July I was able to run the entire path, albeit slow, but I still did it. This started my “like” for running (I’m still not in love). Running for me is the time that I have quiet space, with just my thoughts and my breathing. I often cry when I run, but it’s a good cry, a release of emotion. I have found out from talking to other runners that this is a common phenomenon. Running allows me to be FREE of stress!

In September, it started to get cold and I started running on a treadmill! Boring! Yet again I had to be flexible if I wanted to stay on the path to weight loss. I was already down nearly 100 lbs, I couldn’t quit now. I joined a bootcamp with a friend. This is where I developed a love for circuit training. In October, I was referred to Andrea Nichols-Everett, who own D3: Dre’s Diesel Dome. I initially started doing the bootcamp only two days a week and I would run the other three days. After two months I was hooked and changed my program to Monday – Friday, while still running three days a week.

Today, I weighed in at 144 pounds at Weight Watchers. That puts my official weight loss at 155.4 pounds.  Slowly, but surely changing my mind about who I am has led me to change how I think about what i eat!

Angelique lost 50 pounds

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Let’s show some BWLW love to Angelique who lost 50 pounds.  This 5’1″ wife and mom was able to improve her health and weight by changing her eating habits, using MyFitnessPal and exercising with workout DVDs.  Here is what she shared with us about her journey:

My name is Angelique and I am a mother and a wife. Back in February 2011, I looked at myself in the mirror and had an “ah ha” moment. I cried so long and so hard. I decided at the weight of 215 pounds, my heightest ever, that it was time for a change. I am only 5’1 tall and that much weight on my frame was not flattering. I went to see my doctor and she advised me that I was prediabetic, had high cholesterol, and was at risk for other chronic illnesses. I decided enough was enough! I did my research and on July 27,2011, I decided to embark on my journey to wellness. I cut out all sweets, fried foods, minimized my pork and beef intake.  I also stopped eating processed foods, got rid of the sodas, started eating more fruit, increased my water and got moving! I started juicing and drinking smoothies. I am happy to say, as of now, I am down 50 pounds and I have a goal to lose 30 more. My children and my husband are my big motivators. They push me when I feel like I want to stop. I use My fitness pal, C25K, Insanity, Hip Hop Abs, and I love Jillian Michaels DVD’s. I try to get in at least 30 minutes of cardio everyday. I eat as clean as possible. You can do it, I have, never give up! My dream is to be a runner and it’s going to happen!

Angelique weight loss story

6 Reasons You Should Avoid Non-Prescription Diet Pills

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Losing weight is hard work it’s no surprise that people turn to diet pills. Creating menus, counting calories, and exercising all take a great deal of effort and require a lifestyle change – something that’s not easy to accomplish. To make matters worse, the weight comes off very slowly even when you’re doing everything right.

diet drugsIt’s no wonder that most people dream and search for a magic pill that will either require them to do less work or make the weight come off faster. You can’t really blame them for trying, but are over-the-counter diet pills the answer? Hardly! In fact, some non-prescription pills can be quite dangerous. Look at the following 6 reasons to avoid diet pills:

  1. Not Proven Safe – Most over-the-counter diet products have not been tested adequately and are not regulated by the FDA. Basically, you’re taking a gamble each time you ingest a non-prescription diet pill. At best, you will have no adverse reaction to the supplement. However, the worst-case scenarios can be quite devastating; some people have died as the direct result of taking diet pills.
  2. Most Are Not Effective – Diet pill manufacturers always seem to slip under the radar. They make exaggerated claims as to the effectiveness of their products with little or no evidence to back it up. You can liken it to the peddlers that sold elixirs, potions, and magic tonics during the post Civil War era – A lot of diet pills amount to nothing more than a bunch of hocus pocus.
  3. Dangerous Ingredients – Many diet pills contain copious amounts of caffeine and diuretics. While these ingredients are usually safe in small amounts, they can cause dehydration, heart palpitations, and electrolyte imbalances when taken in large amounts. In some cases, people have suffered from heart-related complications due to diet-pill ingredients.
  4. Encourage Unhealthy Weight-Loss Tactics – Most diet pills come with a diet plan. Some encourage unhealthy behaviors such as dramatically cutting calories. For example, I’ve seen directions for some hCG diets that encourage women to drop to a meager 500 calories which is well below the starvation threshold.
  5. Side Effects – Many pills have appetite-suppression properties. These pills have been linked to serious health conditions such as heart attack and stroke, high blood pressure, anxiety, and nervous behavior. Other side effects associated with diet pills include gastrointestinal symptoms, dehydration, and possible addiction.
  6. All-Natural Does Not Mean Safe – A lot of people think that a product is safe if it’s considered all natural. However, there’s no evidence to suggest that all-natural products are any safer than manmade products. Additionally, many pills that are advertised as being all natural contain chemicals in addition to natural ingredients.

In light of the problems and risks associated with over-the-counter weight-loss supplements, they are hardly a healthy option for dieters. When you combine the risks with the fact that most of them do not provide any benefits or enhance weight loss, it becomes clear that the best way to lose weight is through proper diet and exercise.

Jacquelyn lost 76 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss success story: Jacquelyn lost 76 pounds in 7 months by following the Weight Watchers plan and exercising hard.  Here is what she shared with us:

I’ve lost 76 pounds since Jan 1st, 2013.  My motivation is my mom,my son and my best friend. Weight watchers and exercising are the only things I used during my transformation.  I still have 40 more pounds to go.  I walk 4 miles a day and do Zumba 4 times a week.  I lift weights 2 times a week.

My motivation for losing weight was my family.   When I joined Weight Watchers, I loss 8 pounds in the first week and another 6 pounds the next week.My family cheered me on so that I didn’t want to stop. My eating habits were bad because I didnt have portion control.  My husband made me a man sized plate and I ate until it was gone and wanted more. I often went to bed full and miserable. Weight Watchers gave me the control I needed and helped me to not only understand food but underatand how it affected my body and weight loss. My starting weight was 285 on Jan 1st, 2013 and as of July 26th, I weigh 209.  I have loss 76 pounds. My workouts are continuous. At each moment of the day, I think about what I could be doing to help my journey.  I excercise about two and a half hours a day and most of that time is taken up by my daily walk/run regimen. I do zumba 4 times a week and I lift weights 2 times a week for toning purposes. My transformation took 7 months  I still want to loose avout 40 more pounds before I go into maintenance mode and I hope to do that by December of this year. My mom and my best friend are great supporters becauae we work out together everyday.

Jacquelyn weight loss story

Felice lost 60 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss success story: Felice lost 60 pounds after dealing with divorce, finding new love and having her first child.  I think her story is one that a lot of ladies will relate to.  Here is what she shared with us:

My name is Felice and my journey started in 2007. To make a long story short, I was trapped inside a marriage surrounded in jealousy and gaining the weight was my way of warding off some of that jealousy and making it better. So, 5 years into the marriage and I was no closer to any happiness than when I started out. I looked into the mirror at the woman who could go to a mall and shop in any more than 3 stores because my back hurt.  A woman who ordered all take-out thru the drive-thru and played like the 2nd meal was for someone else when in fact it was for me. I didn’t like the woman I had become. Where was the woman who smiled and laughed and loved life? I asked myself if I could go through another 5 years like the last 5 I had gone through. Answer…no.

I bought an elliptical with my Christmas bonus December of 2007. That helped a bit, but I fell off again. February of 2008, I joined a gym. I went 5 days a week without fail. I counted calories and ate 1200-1500 calories a day depending on if it was a gym day or not. I counted fat and sodium as well. It took me until July of 2008 to lose 67 pounds. I was 3 pounds away from the 300 pound mark. I wanted a new life, a new beginning, a new everything. The marriage was over as of Feb. of 2008 when I started working out.  I moved to a new state in July 2008. I lost those 67 pounds and must have kicked my fertility into high gear because November of 2008 – I got pregnant with my first child. My newly found relationship provided me with everything I didn’t get from my marriage and this time I knew my net and total worth. Now my son is almost 4 years old (born in August of 2009). I gained 40 plus of the weight back when I was pregnant and from “happy weight.”

In January of this year (2013) my department at my job decided to do a Fitness Challenge. Since January I have lost those 40 plus pounds again and I’m now almost 7 pounds within that original loss of 67 pounds. I’m going to surpass that and keep going so that I am under 200 pounds. The middle and right photos are my before pics and the one on the left is my now pic. I like to say…”I am not where I want to be, but I’m a long ways from where I’ve been.” Starting weight: 297 pounds, Current weight: 237 pounds, 1st Goal Weight: 199 pounds, Ultimate Goal Weight: 170-175 pounds, Height: 5”3 and ½ – I will definitely be doing an update come December of 2013 to let you all know how much more I have accomplished. BWLW has inspired me to reach for those goals. The women who share their story are inspirational so I wanted to be what they have inspired me to be.

Felice weight loss before and after

Rachelle lost 27 pounds

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Breast Cancer Survivor Rachelle lost 27 pounds and 2 dress sizes by cutting calories, eating fat burning foods, using MyFitnessPal and walking.  Let’s show her some BWLW Love.  Here is what she shared with us:

First, I would like to say that I love your site and you are, in part, the reason I decided to start my weight loss journey. I am a Breast Cancer survivor.  After chemotherapy, I gained a lot of weight. This was mostly due to poor eating habits, but I also struggled with my self image. A week before my 36th birthday, I decided I was going to lose the 30 pounds I had put on once and for all. Everything was starting to fit tight and I refused to buy bigger clothes. I knew that dieting was not going to work.  I would have to make some life style changes if I wanted to shed the pounds and keep them off.  So, I said good bye to fast food, fried foods, sweets and soda. I did some research online and found 15 fat burning foods on Women’s Health Magazine’s site and incorporated them into my diet. I tried to include as many as possible in every meal and snack. I found that preparing my own food worked best for me because I knew exactly what I was eating. I cut my calorie intake to 1200 a day and started drinking 64 oz of water every day. I tracked my progress with the app MyFitnessPal. I did that for the first month and lost on average about 2 lbs. per week! I couldn’t believe it was really this simple. At the beginning of the 2nd month, I started walking twice a day on my 15 minute breaks at work. I walked a little under 2 miles per day. In 3 months I went from 220 lbs. to 193 lbs, down 27 lbs. and 2 pants sizes!

Rachelle weight loss story

Bri lost 73 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss before and after story: Bri lost 73 pounds.  She was able to lose weight in a healthy way, eat right during pregnancy and deal with a diagnosis of Lupus.  Here is what she shared with us:

My weight loss story! I went from 216 pounds to now 143 pounds in less than a year, after giving birth to 3 children!  After getting pregnant with my second child and giving birth in 2010, I found myself weighing 216 pounds and wearing a size 14/16 in clothes. I struggled with my self esteem and my weight for the next 3 years. Was never quite able to lose it, no matter what I tried! Pills, shakes, bars they wouldnt work! Finally in 2012, I said enough is enough!  I changed my diet and started avidly exercising. I went from eating EVERYTHING I wanted and snacks galore to eating smaller meals and less carbs. I did 75 crunches a night and 110 squats. I walked 2 miles a day and drank A LOT of Water and 100% juice.  I also cut down my sugar intake and No snacks! Fruits! After losing 20 lbs in February, I found out that I was 5 months pregnant with my now 1 year old daughter. I still ate right, exercised and everything throughout my pregnancy. Then, I became very ill and bed ridden around May 2012. I still perservered through my eating. I was then diagnosed with Lupus and told that I could no longer exercise. However, I prayed and asked God to get me through it and he did. I gave birth to my daughter July 3rd 2012 and was 180 pounds. I got a personal trainer and kept on my diet.  Here I stand a year later at 143 pounds and healthy! I battle my Lupus like a good soldier and continue to eat right and exercise!

Bri weight loss story

Nikki lost 50 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss success story: Nikki lost 50 pounds, down from 250+.  She lost weight by eating clean, running and she will be doing her first 5k in Sept. 2013.  Here is what she shared with us:

Hi my name is Nikki. I wanted to share my weight loss journey and hopefully encourage someone else deciding to change their life. I started my journey in Dec. 2011. However, before I get to the event that was the last straw, lets back up one month to Nov. 2011. A friend innocently tagged me in a picture on Facebook (picture in purple sweater) and when I saw it I was mortified at what I looked like. Dec. 2011, I took a beach trip with my husband and son and we decided to take a helicopter ride that required I sit in the front because I was to large for the back because I may hinder take off. (last straw). Who was this fat chick I kept seeing and hearing about? I couldn’t believe I’d allowed myself to get out of control to the tune of 250+ pounds. I started exercising and dieting in March of 2012 after I lost my job. After almost a year of exercising and dieting, I lost a disappointing 14lbs (oh yeah, I was on diet pills as well). In January of 2013, I stepped it up, I began to ramp up my exercising to jogging and training for a Black Girls Run 5k event. I began to eat clean; only lean meats, no dairy, no sugar, no carbs, only leafy veggies and protein shakes. I began to eat 4-5 small meals daily. I couldn’t believe this 40 year old body could do what it has done in a course of 5 months. I feel great, look great and I’m not even done yet. I replaced my obsession with fatty foods with jogging and eating well! This girl who could hinder take off will be doing her first 5k in Sept. 2013.  I’m 50 pounds lighter and healthier than ever. Thank God for perfect peace! Follow my progress on Facebook (nikmac).

Nikki weight loss success story

Shaniqua lost 102 pounds

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Let’s show some Black Women Losing Weight love to Shaniqua!  She has lost 102 pounds going from 285 pounds down to 183 pounds.  Check out her before and after photos. Here is what she shared with us:

“This has been the longest journey of my life. Depression had me at my heaviest weight in 2006.  I weighed 285 pounds. By the grace of God, I woke up, got up and started moving. I cut out fried foods and fast food.  I also started taking a step class once a week for exercise. I went from 285 pounds to 206 pounds within two years and I stayed at 206 lbs. from 2008-2011. Then, I had my second child and went back up to 225 lbs. Before depression could sink back in, I joined Weight Watchers.  I went from 225 pounds to my current weight of 183 pounds with the Weight Watchers weight loss plan.”

Shaniqua weight loss story