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Taneka lost 60 pounds

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Taneka lost 60 pounds. This mom of two found victory after years of struggling with her weight. An emotionally painful family interaction served as a catalyst for her weight loss journey. Check out her story.

taneka before and after

My name is Taneka D. I have struggled with weight loss for about 18 years. I have two children, ages 11 years and 8 years old. In my before picture, I weighed 250 pounds and I am 5’3″ tall. My kids and husband motivated me during my mission to lose weight.

I am literally the only overweight person in my family. My mother’s side of the family, my aunts, uncle, grandma, and mom were large, but with age I suppose they have all slimmed down. My mom got the gastric bypass procedure. Last year, I attended a family wedding on my dad’s side of the family and was actually cropped out of a family photo! My feelings were so hurt, but with the pain I knew I had to make this change.

I went to my doctor and told him about my goals. He started me on a prescription medication called Phentermine 37.5 and advised me to make small changes in my diet. I followed up with him monthly. I took Phentermine from November 2015 through January 2016. During that time, I lost 25lbs just by making the changes in my diet. I stopped taking it in January and started walking. From February and March with my healthy diet and walking, I lost 20lbs. In April, I started back on Phentermine and with my diet, exercise, and the medicine I have lost another 15lbs.

In the beginning, I slowly stopped eating beef, pork and bread. Next, I stopped drinking soda and cut out sugar completely. I eat lean turkey and chicken breast. Instead of eating side dishes, like mac and cheese or potatoes, now I have a side salad or fruit. I also drink lots of water.

For exercise, I walked daily for about 30 minutes. I am currently doing a 30 day challenge that includes squats, lunges, crunches, and push ups. I’m trying to incorporate more exercises into my routine that will help me to tone up.

When I started my journey in November of 2015, I weighed 250 pounds. As of today (April, 23, 2016), I weigh 190 pounds! I haven’t been in the 100’s in years!

The best advice I can give about weight loss is to set a lot of smaller goals instead of working towards one large goal. For example, set a 5 or 10lb goal instead of setting a goal to lose 100lbs. Because with the smaller goals you are getting your reward sooner and it gives you motivation for the next 5 or 10lbs. That has really helped me stay on track.

Instagram: @Booney25

Pros and Cons of Liquid Diets

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liquid dietsIt can be hard to tell what to think about liquid diets. They are both promoted as one of the best ways to rapidly lose weight and criticized for the very same reason. There are two basic types of liquid diets available; store bought and medically supervised. Each of them has their pros and cons. Deciding which will be best for you requires that you understand why a liquid diet works, and how it can backfire as well.

What is a liquid diet?

A liquid diet is a way of radically reducing caloric intake by only consuming foods in a liquid form. This can take the appearance of using powdered or pre-mixed shakes, pureeing foods or restricting your food intake to soups and store bought/prescribed drinks. Due to the lack of solid shape foods, liquid diets mostly reduce calories through eliminating processed carbohydrates, meat and fiber sources.

How well do they work?

The results for a liquid diet are nearly the same whether you are choosing a store bought, over the counter system or using a medically supervised program. With both, there is rapid weight loss due to the sudden caloric restriction. Major weight loss occurs within the first 3 months of a liquid weight loss diet program and then will reach a plateau where the loss is not as great. This is why doctors often prescribed a medically supervised liquid weight loss diet before surgery or to help those who are morbidly obese quickly leave dangerous levels of obesity before assuming a more controlled regular program of diet and exercise. The problem with all liquid diets, store bought or medically supervised, is that there can be a rebound effect. Liquid diets can place the body into a starvation mode which forces the body to transform stored fat into ketones which it can then use as fuel to provide glucose for metabolic activity. If your body experiences starvation mode for too long, it slows the metabolism down. This means that you can stop losing weight even while on a liquid diet. Many people also rapidly regain the lost weight when they go off the diet because it is too restrictive and the body will generate cravings and appetite to promote consumption of food to avoid starvation again.

Pros and cons of medically supervised liquid diets

A medically supervised liquid diet means that you are working with your doctor and nutritionist to make sure that you are getting the right amount of nutrients to sustain your health. Your doctor will also monitor any associated conditions you may have and keep a close watch on your blood sugar levels. Even with a medically supervised liquid diet there is a high risk of malnutrition. In the long term, liquid diets of any kind cannot provide the body with all the carbohydrates, fats and proteins it needs to function well. The main bonus of a medically supervised liquid diet is you have professionals making sure you are getting what you need and who can let you know when it is time to stop. The major drawback of a medically supervised diet is the cost. You can expect to pay quite a bit for the visits and diet supplies. Not all insurances will cover these programs.

Pros and cons of store bought liquid diets

Store bought liquid diets can often provide as much vitamin, mineral and nutritional content as any liquid provided in a medically supervised program. By carefully reading the nutrition information on the package, you can make sure that you are getting the best value for your money. These diets are significantly cheaper than a medically supervised one. The major drawback of a store bought diet is that they may also contain high levels of sugar and other preservatives that are not healthy for you. Some of these drinks are just sugar, synthetic vitamins and protein powder. You also lack the behavioral, one on one support that you would get in a medically supervised program, as well as any monitoring of any associated medical conditions.

Which should you choose?

Due to the cons of liquid diets, I would not recommend them for most people unless they were doing is for a medical reason.  The incidence of gaining the weight back once you start eating solids again is too great for me to suggest it for the average person wanting to lose weight long term.  I would instead suggest a juice fast or smoothie fast for 7-28 days with the understanding that you are detoxing the body and that you’d have to have go on from there to clean eating, low carb eating, low fat vegan eating or make some other substantial change in your lifestyle when it comes to eating to see long term weight loss.

The only way to know which liquid diet is right for you is to talk to your doctor. This form of rapid weight loss dieting may not be beneficial for everyone. Your doctor can help monitor your health if you choose to go on a store bought liquid diet, or they can provide recommendations to a nutritionist for a medically supervised program.

Do black women have a problem with the concept of being “thin”?

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Do black women have a problem with the concept of being “thin”? I ask this question because of the reaction that always comes out when I post success stories where the before photo doesn’t show a woman who is “classically” overweight.

I understand that one woman’s before photo could be another woman’s after photo. For example, The 180 lbs that you want to decrease to 140 could be the goal weight of someone else who is 100 pounds heavier than you. I get that. What I’m trying to understand is the undertone of negativity that I hear when we comment on people who have “lost too much weight”. Can’t we just be positive and celebrate someone’s weight loss without finding fault?

I haven’t posted any photos of women who from a health standpoint are too skinny for good health. In fact, the traditional American standards of beauty may even say that many of the successful women I post are still quite heavy…but we don’t go by those standards for a number of reasons.

I’m rambling on. I’d just like to know your thoughts.

Weight Loss Haters may be in Pain Themselves

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Today’s Inspiration | Your weight loss may make other people uncomfortable because it reminds them of how they feel about the pounds the they want to lose but haven’t. It may make people uncomfortable because they have been told that they are “Less Than” because they are overweight. It may make people uncomfortable because they will compare their beauty, health, and desirableness to yours and feel they come up short.

However, you are not responsible for their emotions or opinions. You may wish them the best, but you don’t have to be made to feel bad because of your weight loss victories. WE each have to deal with our issues and be self aware of the real source of our pain. When people attack you or second guess your choice to lose weight, look beyond their words and hear where the negativity is really coming from. If you do, you will be able to respond with compassion. – Ajima

Put Negative Thoughts on a Diet

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Today’s Inspiration | Put negative thoughts on a “diet”. Each of us is responsible for the content of our own minds. You have a choice as to the content of what you program your mind with. I like the saying “Garbage in,garbage out.” It reminds me to become more conscious of what I put into my mind, especially when it comes to food and weight loss. If I want to feel good, create positive actions and results in my life, I need to feed my mind a steady diet of positive thoughts.