Today’s featured weight loss success story: Aziza went from 300 pounds to 150 pounds with weight reduction surgery. She says that she had to change her mind, habits, and lifestyle to lose the weight, because surgery is not magic. Here is what she shared with us about her journey:
My weight loss story: Where do I start, it seems like I became overweight overnight. With one pregnancy, I went from 155 lbs and a size 9/10 to 215 lbs and a size 18. What a shock it was for me. All my clothes were a size 10 except maternity clothes. I thought even though I gained almost 100 lbs, that after delivery I would go right back to my normal weight, but that was not true at all. My son weighed only 7lbs, so all that weight belonged to ME. Instantly I was faced with the shame of being overweight, not knowing how to dress as a full figured woman, not to mention I was fresh out of high school and only 19 years old. All I knew is that I wanted to be normal again, look and feel normal again. So, I looked to instant weight loss gimmicks, for instance DIET PILLS. Not having any example around me of anyone eating right and exercising, I looked to a fast and not so healthy quick fix. By the time my son turned 2 yrs. old, and after trying several different diet pills, I did lose weight and went down from an 18/20 to 170 lbs and a size 12. That actually felt good! However, if anyone knows anything about diet pill and weight loss, it’s not permanent. Shortly after, I met the man of my dreams, got married, had 3 more babies, and ate myself up to my heaviest 300lbs a size 4x/ 24.
In my opinion, there are many different avenues to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle. With anything you do, you must discipline yourself and stick to it, whether it be Weight Watchers, P90X, Jenny Craig, Slim Fast, Gastric Bypass, Fit for Life, The Atkins Diet, Gastric Sleeve, Tae Bo , The Cabbage Diet, LAP-BAND or Bow flex. These are just a few ways that can become a chosen tool to help defeat obesity. After about 5 years of prayer and research, the tool I chose was to undergo Gastric Bypass Laparoscopic Surgery on June 9, 2009. I AM NOT PROMOTING SURGERY, NOR AM I A SPOKES PERSON, OR ADVOCATE GETTING OTHERS TO HAVE GASTRIC WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY. This was a personal choice that I used as a tool, to kick start me in the direction of healthy living. Though I have been very successful, I did have to change my mind, habits, and lifestyle. Surgery is not magic; again it is just a tool that I chose. I have maintained a size 7/8 by working out 4 times a week, eating a low to no carb diet and staying focused and motivated to never let obesity be a part of my life ever again.
Hi all! I am Aiesha and currently a college student who was tired of being tired, so I decided to take on the challenge and better my health! My transformation is never ending and I’m still a work in progress. However, I am very happy with the results that I come to know thus far. My my motivation to take on a healthier lifestyle was my mother. She too lost weight and reversed her type two diabetes. I figured that if she can do it, still tackle a heavy work load and never give into excuses, well I can too! Another motivator for me was the fact that I did not like what I saw so I decided to stop complaining and really make the change. My starting weight was 211 pounds and my current weight is 188 pounds. My goal weight is 170 pounds, so I still have some work to do! Nonetheless, I am very pleased with myself because I committed to something and stuck with it no matter hard it was or how much harder it was to give up! I first tackled my diet because, for myself, the workout was the easier part. The eating was the challenge, so I cut out ALL fast food, cut out bread and all things white. I detoxed everyday, I ate vegetables with every meal, drank lots of water, and I really tried to understand what is bad for you and what is good for you. One thing that really pushes me to this day is the encouragement and inspiration I get from others. I inspires me when people make a simple gesture saying to me “You really motivated me to lose weight!” Those words really make this journey worth while. Though I didn’t do this for anybody but myself, it still is rewarding to knows that all the sweat, tears, countless hours in the gym and sun, and sacrifice is really paying off! I hope that I can touch someone to want to change for the better!
I was a fast food junkie and always on the go. My motivation came from a bet with my boyfriend. Whoever got to their goal the fastest won. I jumped on the bet right away because he and I are very competitive. I had to learn how to cook healthy foods and make them suitable to substitute fast food. I began to see change and so did my peers. I learned to love to eat healthy, especially on the go. I work out 5 days a week. I do 3 days of jogging and 2 days at the gym. My starting weight was 236 pounds and I am now 177 pounds. I’ve began my lifestyle change in November 2012. It’s been 8 months. I realized that dieting alone will not give me my permanent results, a lifestyle change was what I needed. I love working out now. The key to weightloss in my opinion is acknowledging your bad habits and knowing it will take time to adjust them. After I acknowledged my bad habits, I slowly learned to live without them. To this day, I fail and get back up, but I am successful with weight loss because I continue to get back up. I use weight training, whey protein, and cardio. I love my figure, so I focus on squats and abdominal exercises, and jogging. It works! Eating habits: no fried foods, just baked and raw fruits and veggies. I suffer from acne and once I changed my diet, it has significantly decreased my acne.
