Black Weight Loss Success

The Official Blog of the Black Women Losing Weight Community. Tips, articles and weight loss resources for African American Women.

Join Our Email List:
We respect your email privacy
You are here: Home / Archives for my fitness pal

my fitness pal

Chiquita lost 51 pounds

by 5 Comments

Today’s featured weight loss success story: Chiquita lost 51 pounds and cites My Fitness Pal as being the thing that most helped her learn what to eat and lose weight.  Here is what she shared about her weight loss journey:

Chiquita weight loss story

“I’ve always wanted to be a success story. So I’m going to share my 51 pound weight loss with you. August 22, 2013 is when I took the picture on the right and at my heaviest (280pds). The picture on the left was taken on November 22, 2013 (229pds). I did that in 90 days!!! I had tried everything to lose the weight & it wasn’t coming off. I was walking 20 & 30 miles a week. I still wasn’t seeing the results that I thought I should. My last alternative was anapp that someone had told me about that I never used. So, when I was about to give up, I tried myfitnesspal. I had nothing to lose. Myfitnesspal was the best thing that happened to me. It told me how many calories I could have. And I logged in everything that I put into my mouth. I realized that just because I was eating healthier & working out that I was still eating too much. Doing myfitnesspal, I wasn’t restricted from eating certain foods. I just had to stay within the calories that I was allotted. Being aware of what I was eating made choose healthier foods. But, it was okay if I slipped from time to time. If I decided to workout, the app gave me more calories to eat. It’s not a diet for me. It’s a lifestyle change. I finally found what works for me. I’m not at my goal yet, but I will get there with myfitnesspal!!!”

Visit our online community for a list of BWLW sistas who are on My Fitness Pal.  We also have a group on the site.

Chiquita weight loss photos

Brooke lost 100 pounds

by 3 Comments

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

Taniqua lost 28 pounds

by Leave a Comment

Taniqua wrote in to share her weight loss story.  She is down 28 pounds with My Fitness Pal, clean eating, working out regularly and using the Weight Watchers weight loss plan.  Here is what she had to say:

Taniqua weight loss photos

“Hey y’all! I’m Taniqua but all my family and friends call me NeNe.  This is me at my heaviest (photo)!!! I was 214 pounds and I am now 186 pounds. I’m sooo proud of my progess over the last year. I have lost a total of 28 lbs so far and I vow that I will never get this big again because I had never been that big before!!! I looked at myself in this picture and was like “Ohh noo girl, you have gotten too big!!!!” It still took me another year to get motivated to lose the weight. Everybody would tell me that I didnt look like I was over 200 lbs but I was! Myfitnesspal.com, clean eating and Weight Watchers helped in addition to working out 3 times a week!!! I still have a ways to go because I still need to get rid of the rest of this belly fat!!!! I hope this story can help motivate somebody to just do it and you have to believe that you can. If all you can do is take a short walk everyday do it because she did it and she’s doin it and I’m proud of myself.
Yayyy Me!!! Lol

I started by eating fish, chicken and ground turkey. I would make protein shakes in the morning and have a nice lunch with veggies and chicken. I also would eat sandwiches with red and yellow peppers, instead of potato chips.  For dinner, I would have more veggies and a starch and chicken or fish. I stopped frying food and baked everything. As for exercise, I joined Planet Fitness for 10.00 a month I would work on legs shoulders and arms and then do like 45-60 minutes worth of cardio (depending on how I was feeling lol). I would rotate my days and on the that days I didn’t lift I would do just a straight hour of cardio on this machine called the Ark.  I love that machine. I’m a work in progress and I’m still trying to lose the rest of my belly fat, so im getting ready to start this challenge for flat abs for 30 days.  We will see how it goes!!! :)”

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #26: Use Free Weight Loss and Fitness Apps

by Leave a Comment

Mobile apps are part of our daily lives.  Today for our Weight Loss on a Budget Tip for day 26, we want to encourage you to try some great, free weight loss and fitness focused apps. Tip #26: Use Free Weight Loss and Fitness Apps.

weight loss apps

My Fitness Pal – This is a calorie counter app, online community and database that contains the nutritional information for million foods. This app can really help you stay on track with your eating. Hundreds of BWLW members are on the site so check out this list of their usernames.  It’s FREE

Nike Training Club – This app from Nike gives you access to over 10o workouts at the click of a button.  It includes some great High Intensity Interval Training routines to help you burn calories.  You can set up goals and you’re rewarded for your progress.  It’s like a personal trainer in your pocket because there is a cool audio feature that talks to your to help you stay motivated during your workout.  Very user friendly.  It’s FREE.

Loseit – Track calories, workouts and your overall weight loss progress with this app.  You can keep track of macronutrients, sleep patterns and even your blood pressure so you see a great snapshot of your health as you work on your overall wellness.  My favorite part of this FREE app is the bar code scanning.  It saves me a lot of time when I’m logging what I’ve eaten (protein powders, dairy, etc).

Fooducate – If you want to really know what’s in your food and get some help with making food decisions based on nutrition, get this FREE app.  It will open your eyes.  Their site says that “Fooducate’s scientific algorithms grade each product and provide simple, concise explanations. Grading system developed by scientists, dietitians and concerned parents.”  They emphasize REAL, unprocessed foods.

 

BrieAunna lost 40 pounds

by 3 Comments

Today’s featured weight loss success story: BrieAunna lost 40 pounds.  She was dealing with a high blood pressure diagnosis since 20 years old and gallbladder issues.  This proud mom of two wrote in to us to share how she lost the weight by working out at home and finding a way of eating that worked for her.

Brie weight loss success story

“Hello BWLW community, My name is BrieAunna. I am 27 yrs. old and I joined this group for daily inspiration to help me along my journey to loose 100 pounds. I love seeing so many of us take our health and happiness into our own hands. So far, I have lost 40 pounds since January by working out six days a week and cleaning up my eating. I hope to loose another 30 lb. by the end of the year. I have stuggled with weight since childhood and developed medical issues related to my weight at an early age. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure at the age of 20 that is only controlled with medication. I selfishly put my two babies at risk by being overweight when I got pregnant. By the grace of God they both made it close to term and were healthy. I have been to the ER countless times thinking I was having a heart attack, but in reality I was suffering from gallbladder attacks all along. I’m bad with medicine and bad with doctors so I knew I had to make a change.

I began by making subtle changes to my diet, I began to drink water only and not waste my calories on sugary drinks. I try to avoid eating out as much as possible, but when I have to due to lack of planning I try to make the best choices possible. I have also began replacing at least one of my meals with a shake, smoothie, or nutriblast.  I work in retail and this works really well when I work night shifts. I make sure to eat 5-6 meals a day, all equally balanced and around the same amount of calories. I use My Fitness Pal to count my calories and to track my exercise.

I prefer to workout from home. With my schedule and two small kids the gym is not worth the hassle. At home, I can wear what I want and not worry about keeping up with others, or about finding a gym with childcare and working around their hours. I get up before everyone else and knock it out so I can start my day. I also plan to turn my garage into a gym space soon. I have been using workout DVD’s to lose the weight. I have done Zumba, Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire, Chalean Extreme, and sometimes throw a youtube workout for kettlebells in the mix. I love weight lifting the most. It helped me break through a plateau and changed the shape of my body. Lifting weights will not make you look you manly. It leans you out and muscle burns fat. My starting weight was 271 pounds and at my heaviest I was 290 pounds. I currently weigh 231 lbs. I hope to get to 200 by January and lose another 30 pounds after that. I still struggle with my blood pressure but I don’t have the constant headaches associated with it any longer.

My advice to anyone looking to lose weight is just get moving. Don’t think to hard about it, just get up. Find things you enjoy to do so it doesn’t seem like a chore. Plan your meals ahead of time to avoid being caught in a tough situation. Don’t drink your calories!!! Most importantly don’t give up until you get where YOU want to be. Thanks for letting me share.

Whitney lost 82 pounds

by 14 Comments

Let’s show some love to Whitney who has lost 82 pounds.  This lady of Zeta Phi Beta wrote to us to share how she pushed past the pounds and the pain of losing loved ones to obesity and began changing her life earlier this month.  Here is her story:

“Hello, my name is Whitney.  I stared my journey on Feb. 1st of this year at 490 pounds. I eat clean and workout everyday some times twice a day.  I want to show the world it doesn’t matter the size, we can all get healthy.

I’m 26 Years old and embracing this new walk of fitness. After losing my grandmother and my mother in their early 40’s from obesity, I feared that I would be next. Dealing with all the hurt and pain, I decided that enough was enough. I got on my scale and almost passed out at the fact that I had eaten myself into a 490 pound body. At that point I thought for sure life was over but after praying and turning it over to God I realized I had power to change. On February 1st, 2013 I got my first gym membership. I had no idea what I was doing and I couldn’t fit into any machines. This depressed me but I wouldn’t give up. So, I found one machine that I could fit and that was the elliptical bike. I rode that bike until I was able to burn 1000 calories a day. Then I worked my way up to the treadmill and the regular elliptical. I wouldn’t leave the gym until I burned 1000 calories. I also changed my eating habits. I would use My Fitness Pal as guidance. I then joined a boot camp class and the weight began to melt away.  I cut out all fried foods, I don’t eat any white carbs. Also, I eat three meals a day and nothing after 7 pm. I have a cheat snack (not meal) but only snack twice a month.

I’ve been on this walk for 8 months and I’ve lost 82 pounds. My current weight is 408. I am determined to walk out of this coffin I use to call my body. One meal, one workout, one day at a time, I’m doing things I never thought possible. Running, jogging, sit-ups, push-ups, squats, leg lifts, frog jumps, weight lifting…The whole works. Now, I’m able to help others who’ve thought they are too big to workout or be healthy. If I did it at 490 pounds I know that you can do it too. Join me in the movement. With God all things are possible. Follow my videos, pictures and food/ workout plans on Instagram @biggirl_workingout

My advice to anyone starting this journey is to remember we all have to start from some where. This is not a race but a lifestyle. We will have good days as well as bad days but we don’t give up and never quit. Working out is hard but day by day it will get easier. We have to push pass the pain and keep the mission close to heart. We can beat this fight of obesity. Remember God will break the chains but we have to break the habits. Be blessed!!!”

Whitney weight loss photosNow she can fit into one leg of her old size 36 pants.  AWESOME!!
Whitney weight loss story

Martina lost 111 pounds

by 4 Comments

Featured weight loss success story: Martina lost 111 pounds.  She no longer suffers from pre-diabetes, sleep apnea, knee issues or high blood pressure.  She wrote to us and shared how making lifestyle changes helped her get healthy:

“Hi. My name is Martina and I am a 33 year old woman, wife and mother of two girls. I’ve lost a total of 111 pounds in 14 months. I used to weigh 253 pounds.  Now I weigh 142 pounds with the help of diet and exercise and the support of my family and friends. On July 14, 2012, I had a breast reduction and weighed 253 lbs at the time of my surgery. After my surgery, I decided to lose weight for various reasons. I decided to lose weight due to my health. I was borderline type 2 diabetic with high cholesterol, back problems and facing other health issues. I was also having heavy menstrual cycles, had trouble walking and sleep apnea. I was at my heaviest, so I decided that enough was enough.

Six weeks after my breast reduction surgery, with the support from my husband, I decided to join the gym.  I changed my eating habits by changing my portion sizes, cutting back on sweets and unhealthy snacks and eating more fruits and veggies.  I stopped eating pork and beef, drinking soda and sweet tea’s. I started drinking more water and green tea, walking and working out at home. I also downloaded an app on to my phone called My Fitness Pal that helped a lot with my weight loss. In the beginning, I worked out 7 days/week with cardio and did strength training for 1 to 2 hours.  I cut back to only eating 1500 calories/day or less. Now, I work out 5 days/week for at least 30 to 60 mins with cardio and strength training.  I eat no more than 1800 calories/day. I feel healthier, younger, and stronger than I ever did when I was in my teens and twenties. Since my weight loss, my cholesterol has gone down dramatically.  I’m not facing type 2 diabetes anymore and I don’t have trouble walking up and down the stairs due to knee issues.  Also, no more sleep apnea, my blood pressure is low and my menstrual cycles are not as heavy anymore.  Since my breast reduction, I went from a size 46DDD to a size 36C. My motivation was my family, my friends and looking at old pics of myself and saw how unhealthy I was. My advice is to keep holding on and believe in yourself and with prayer, determination, dedication, and hard work anything is possible.”

Martina before and after weight loss

Liz lost 70 pounds

by 3 Comments

Let’s show some love to Liz.  She lost 70 pounds and fought off having to take insulin for her diabetes.  She was willing to make life changes to get healthy!  Here is what she shared with us:

“My name is Liz Hayes.  I have lost a total of 70 lbs within a year all on my own.  I needed to make a change in my life.  Being a diabetic and being told that I might have to go on insulin was shocking.  So, I began my journey on September 11, 2012.  I started by using the “My fitness Pal app” which is totally free.  I weighted 298 pounds. I weight 228 pounds now.

First, I cut out all things white, like flour, sugar, and salt, pasta, potatoes, rice, etc. I also cut out starchy veggies, like corn, peas and beans.  I stopped eating bread also, both whole grain and white.  I did away with sodas and began to drink more water. I drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.  I stopped eating red meats completely.  Now I eat only turkey, chicken and  fish.  Most of my days, I start out with a boiled egg, turkey bacon or sausage, Greek yogurt and a cup of coffee.  For lunch, I would eat a large veggie salad and water…then workout at the gym on the treadmill for 1 hour.  I walk 3 miles a day, 7 days a week.  Supper would be a bag of stream broccoli with garlic and “I can’t believe it’s not butter” spray.

I feel much better now than ever and I don’t mind walking.  I am not lazy and tied anymore. Life is great and my blood work is excellent!

 Liz weight loss story

Shae lost 108 pounds

by 4 Comments

Today’s featured weight loss success story: Shae lost 108 pounds.  After battling a number of health issues and weight gain related to the birth control she was taking, this proud mom was able to find a way of eating and working out that worked for her.  Here is what she shared about her weight loss journey:

Shae weight loss photos

I always was active growing up and never had a weight issue until about a year after my first pregnancy. At that point, I decided to go get on birth control. Well, it was my first time getting on birth control and that’s when the weight began to slowly creep up on me. With this increase in weight, I decided to try several different diets over the course of years and would lose the weight gained but as soon as I returned to eating “normal”, I gained all my weight back plus more. This recurring cycle took place for around 4-5 years. I also had a lot of issues going on within my life and would turn to food for comfort. While I thought it helped me at that moment, I would later realize that it only made life worst for me because I kept gaining more and more weight.

In 2010, I got pregnant with my second child while on birth control and stopped once I found out. Early in 2012, I weaned my second child off of breast feeding and decided to go get back on birth control but I wanted something that was more effective. At the doctor’s office I was told that with my weight being so high, a lot of birth control methods would begin to be less effective a well as leave me with a higher risk of side effects. Regardless of what they told me, I still wanted it. My weight in March 2012 at that doctor’s visit was at an all time high of 250 lbs. I don’t know how many days I cried not really understanding how I could go from being so active to carrying around so much weight on me. I also had arthritis which I had as a child and had under control but since I had gained so much weight, caring for it became much more complex. I thought of ways to lose the weight and discovered MyFitnessPal in which I begin to count calories. For the first couple of days before beginning a new diet, I wrote down what I ate to determine how many calories I was consuming each day. It was between 3000-5000 calories. So I then decided that I was only going to eat between 1800-2000. After counting calories for a week or so, I started to drop a little weight (16 lbs). In early April, I started having issues again in my marriage and started to revert back to old habits. On April 26th , I quit my job and said I’m not going to let this weight control me (I was 234 on this date). I started doing Zumba everyday and would still count my calories but was consuming around 2500 calories. I cut out soda, some sweets, fried foods and whenever I would eat out I would box up some of my food and save it for another day.

From the end of April to August, I was following this same routine but I started having real bad migraines, dizziness, severe pains in my stomach, and a whole lot of health issues. At the end of August, I had only lost 22 lbs which I was happy with but started stressing because my health issues were getting worst. In September 2012, I was rushed to the hospital in severe pain and was told that I had several blood clots in my stomach, liver, and right leg. There also was evidence of a stroke. All this time I was in pain and having these issues, I never went to the ER. The culprit to these health issues was the birth control I was on, so the doctors told me they had to remove it. They had to go in and try to break up the clots but was unsuccessful and I was advised that I would have to be on blood thinners and have to go through so much more therapy. I was so upset with myself because I was told earlier this year about my weight and the birth control. I spent three weeks in the hospital and that was the worst time of my life at that point. The last day there, the doctor advised me of what my daily routine should be and how I really should watch my diet and exercise routine because I’m so young and don’t want to be on this medication long term.

Well, this was it. I was not going to let anything take me from my kids. If I didn’t start taking care of myself, there was no way I was going to be able to take care of my kids effectively. Since the time of release from the hospital, I drunk nothing but unsweet tea and water. I started eating healthier (cutting my portion size in half) and exercising two hours a day doing Zumba and other high intense cardio. What was different about this time was I started to drop weight much easier. I attribute that to not being on birth control. I have not been back on and have no plans to ever get back on it. My life has been so much easier as I don’t have the health issues I had before while on it. By the end of the year, I had dropped around 60 lbs. I kept this routine up and lost an additional 18 lbs earlier this year but have been maintaining my current weight of 142 lbs (+/- 2 or 3 lbs) for three or four months now. I now know that this is a lifestyle change and I know the steps to take to lose weight and keep it off. I am so glad I’m starting to get my happiness back. The advice that I have for others is to stop living for others and start living for you. There’s no way you can be there for someone else, if you’re not in your healthiest state.

Sonya lost 100 pounds

by 4 Comments

Featured weight loss success story of the day: Sonya lost 100 pounds.  Her son was her motivation, as well as fighting diabetes.  She started her health journey on the day she woke up with the revelation that it was time to lose weight and get healthy.  She ate right, worked out consistently and shed the pounds in 8 months.  Read her story:

On December 29, 2012 I started my weight loss journey that I NEVER imagined would bring me as far as I am today. If someone would have said Sonya you’re going to lose all that weight and your going to tell anybody that will listen about it. Let alone be anybodies inspiration. Let’s just say I would be a little skeptical.  Here I am today currently, at 100 pounds weight lost. When I first started my journey, I was afraid to tell anyone what I weighed. Now I am happy to say I started out at 305 pounds! I am now down to 205 pounds and my goal is to get down to 165 pounds. My first initial goal was to lose 100 pounds in a year and I was able to do that in 8 months! I am still in a state of shock but I am far from done.

Sonya weight loss
What was your motivation?

I would say my motivation is my Son and beating diabetes. My father passed away at the very young age of 42 due to heart complications bought on by having diabetes. I’m 27 and I want to live past that age and some. I want to see my son, who is 10 by the way, have kids when he’s 50 (LOL I’m kidding). I know I am being unreasonable, but that’s my baby I don’t want him having babies to soon like mommy. It’s hard out here.

How did you change your eating habits?

Funny you mentioned this. I woke up on Saturday December 29, 2013 at 6:37am and said God I can’t be this way anymore! I am not happy with my self. Yes, I smile but I am not happy inside. My own mother says I need lose weight. I can barley breath walking up stairs. This is not where I want to be in life. At that point, I gave up drinking my calories, started drinking water, eating lean meats, fresh veggies, and fruit. Don’t get me wrong I have my indulge meal not a cheat day but a meal. This is actually important to keep you on the right track and not deprive yourself moderation is key.

What did your workout routines look like?

I walk to and from work. I park farther away now just so I get an extra walk in. I live on the 3rd floor I sprint up the stairs and down at least 4-5 times a day. I try to take Zumba classes 4 times week and weights 3 times a week. If I can’t take a Zumba class I do intervals on the elliptical and weights after.

What advice would you give others who want to lose weight?

1. Have a partner – I was lucky enough that my fiancée comes with me to the gym. He is my biggest cheerleader! Having someone with you will keep you going.

2. Have accountability – Mine is myfitnesspal. I see what goes into my body. I always take pictures and when I feel like my eating is going too far I revert back to those horrible pictures of myself. It reminds me of where I started and why I don’t want to go back.

3. Understanding that you didn’t gain the weight over night so it will not fall off over night, so keep on pushing even through the dreadful plateau stage. It’s all apart of weight loss, so just don’t give up.