Black Weight Loss Success

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Vikki lost 38 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss before and after story: Vikki lost 38 pounds in 5 months with exercise and healthy changes to her eating habits. Here is what she shared with us:

I just wanted to share my story with the page. I have a VERY long way to go, but you never know who it may help motivate if they’re having trouble getting started.  The picture on the left was taken on January 19th, and the one on the right was taken 2 weeks agao…5 months and 38 pounds later. My goal is to lose a total of 125 pounds.

I workout 5 days a week for a minimum of 20 minutes of cardio, and a maximum of 1 hour during the day. After work, I strength train for 1/2 hours, 3 days a week. I’m doing it all on my own, without a personal trainer or classes.

I don’t diet. I merely changed my eating habits by eliminating soda completely, sweets, and I incorporate whole wheat whenever I can. I also drink 8-10 glasses of water a day, and eat oatmeal for breakfast 5 days a week.  I’m a HUGE snacker, so I always make sure to have fresh fruit, pistachios, and trail mix on hand.

Thank you for your time, and as I said before I just hope it helps someone by getting the idea of “fast” out of their head.

Vikki weight loss before and after

Lanea lost 54 pounds

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Let’s show some BWLW love to Lanea.  She lost 54 pounds going from 299 to 245 pounds by changing her eating habits and exercise.  She has a supportive spouse and wants to live a long life with her loved ones.  Here is what she shared with us:

I knew it was time for me start changing my life when I weighed myself and the scale read 299 lbs. I’ve never been small, but 299 pounds was unacceptable. I decided that my New Years resolution would be to lose weight and to stick with it. I wanted to be around to watch my son grow up, have more children and enjoy my life with my loved ones. Once the new year came, I cleaned out the fridge and started replacing foods with fresh fruit and vegetables. I started bringing my lunch to work, packing it with yogurt and eating fruit or Healthy Choice microwaveable meals-instead of processed lunch meat sandwiches and chips. I started replacing my snacks with 100 calorie snacks like granola bars and a lot of Special K products. Being that my job requires me to sit and take incoming calls, I started to incorporate walking more, and exercise videos available on on demand. Just recently, I started the apple cider vinegar detox regime, and honestly I’m feeling really good. At my largest size, I was wearing anywhere between a size 22-24 on pants. The first thing that I’ve purchased since I started my weight loss journey was the dress I’m wearing in my after shot and its a size 16! That last time I was in a size 16, I was in high school! So needless to say I’m very excited and even more motivated now to continue on this journey. My husband Nick has been my biggest supporter. He keeps me going on the days when I want to give in to bad food decisions. Even though he loved me when I was bigger. He has been my biggest fan and he makes me feel so good about my progress thus far. I’m weighing in at 245 pounds now and my ultimate goal is to get down to 160 lbs. I celebrate my 10 lbs milestones. Celebrating my 10lb milestones and keeping my overall goal in sight is what keeps my going!

Lanea weight loss before and after

Rachel lost 103 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss before and after story:  Rachel lost 103 pounds going from 300 to 197 by changing her eating habits and exercising regularly.  Here is what she shared with us:

Hello, my name is Rachel and I started my weight loss journey/lifestyle change in March of 2010. My starting weight was 300 LBS. It just seemed like when I looked at food, I would gain a pound. The bigger I got, the worst I felt physically and mentally.  I realized it was me and I had an obsession with eating. One day, I decided that if I didn’t change my way of eating, that I would start to have serious health issues.  The thought was just uncomfortable since I had, at the time, a 4 year old daughter. I started out with eliminating pastries and other sweets, which was my biggest downfall. I focused on eating more fruits, vegetables, and smaller portions. It was too painful & exhausting for me at the beginning to workout. In 2011, after I had lost 50lbs, I started walking at work on my break and lunch time. Over time, my energy level had risen and in Jan. 2013 I started doing cardio daily and weights for body toning. I am still consistently exercising at least 5 days a week. As of June 2013, I am now at 197 pounds and still will forever continue living a healthy lifestyle, because this is my life. My family and friends give me the most encouragement & support which is very important and motivates me to keep going.

weight loss before and after photo

Renee lost 28 pounds

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Zumba Instructor Renee lost 28 pounds and has kept the weight off for 2 1/2 years.  Here is what she shared with us:

I’m Renee and married with 3 girls. I’m a Zumba instructor and took a look back at my photos from a decade ago and couldn’t believe the size I was. I lost 28 pounds and been maintaining for 2.5 years. It was important to be at a healthy weight because of the current diseases that are actively on the rise such as Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Cancer due to the type of foods we eat. Diabetes also runs in my family with age. I had to take a stand to break that cycle.

McDonalds was banned from our household for over 8 years. I teach my children to incorporate vegetables with every meal (including breakfast – except cold/hot cereals…lol).

A little more detail about me: rallen.zumba.com/

Renee weight loss before and after

Tenisha lost 50 pounds

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Let’s show some love to Tenisha who lost 50 pounds by cutting out carbs.  Here is what she shared with us:

I lost 50 pounds cutting back on carbs.  I have tried everything in the world to lose weight and I finally found something that works. I have been counting carbs and I really haven’t had time to exercise because of school, work and maintaining a family! I just wanted to share my story with other busy women who want to be healthier but do not have time to exercise. My motivation: My health and my self esteem.  My weight loss journey has taken about six months.

Tenisha weight loss before and after

Ashley lost 40 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss before and after story:  Blogger Ashley lost 40 pounds with MyFitnessPal, clean eating, exercise and the Couch to 5K running program.  She says that she decided that if she made healthy choices for her body the weight loss would come naturally.  Here are the details of her weight loss journey that she shared with us:

I began my most recent weight loss attempt last September when the scale hit 184.6 pounds, but I have been trying to lose weight since I was little girl. My highest weight ever was 216.4 pounds when I was in middle school. I was obese and miserable.  the summer before high school I started going to Weight Watchers and got down to the 160s. My weight started to yo-yo after that. I would let my weight get up into the 180’s then decide I needed to go on a diet again and get back somewhere between 150 and 160. I never managed to make it to my goal weight, but I also never let myself leave Onederland again (the 100s).

Fast forward to my first year of law school. I was stressed out and eating badly but I let myself believe I hadn’t gained that much weight. I kept telling myself that fiction right up until I was too big for all my favorite dresses and I had to buy size 18 jeans because none of my old ones fit anymore. In late August I decided to find out how much damage I had done during my first year of law school so I ordered a bathroom scale for my apartment. When I stepped on it for the first time I was horrified. I was dangerously close to 190 pounds. I decided it was time to get to work and reach a healthy weight once and for all.

What was your motivation?
The first time I lost a large amount of weight, I did it because I wanted to be thin like the other girls in my school. This time when I decided to lose the weight, I did it for myself. I decided that I wanted to be healthy and fit. I wanted to live a better life than I had been living. I wanted to be happy.

How did you change your eating habits?
I started by counting calories and tracking what I ate in MyFitnessPal. At first I ate a lot of Lean Cuisine and other diet foods, but as I started doing more research about weight loss and eating healthy.  I realized that eating primarily frozen and processed meals wasn’t a healthy way to lose weight even if I was staying within my calorie budget. I slowly started to ease into clean eating. First, I gave up soda and learned to like water. I started trying new fruits and vegetables. I started cooking more. Eventually, I found clean replacements for the processed foods I loved. I started eating Peanut Butter Cookie Larabars instead of the peanut butter cookies I used to get at Subway as a treat. I started making my own pizzas with healthy ingredients instead of buying Lean Cuisine ones. I started doing most of my grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s where I could find healthier, less processed foods than I could get at a regular store. As I made these changes, I started to feel better. I started focusing more on getting healthy than losing weight. Somewhere along the way I decided that if I made healthy choices for my body the weight loss would come naturally. So far, that approach has worked fairly well.

What did your workout routines look like?
When I started losing weight, I was really out of shape. My first forays into the gym involved setting the treadmill at an incline and walking for an hour at a time five or six times per week. I would see the other gym-goers running on the treadmills next to me and wish I could be like them, but at that point I didn’t think I would ever be able to run. Sometime in October, I came across the Couch to 5k program online. It was supposed to help you ease into running with interval training where you run for a minute or so then recover by walking for a couple of minutes. Eventually the running intervals get longer and the walking intervals get shorter until you are either running thirty minutes at a time or 5k (3.1 miles). I didn’t follow the program exactly, but I was able to run for twenty to thirty minutes at a time by the end of December and was running 3 miles several times a week by the end of January. The more active I became, the more active I wanted to be.  I started venturing to local parks and greenways and found that I love hiking.

What is your current weight? How long did your transformation take?
At my last weigh-in my weight was 145.4, but I’m not done losing weight. My current goal is to weigh between 130 and 135, but I mainly want to get toned up. My transformation up to this point has taken 10 months. I am still a work in progress, so you will have to read the rest of my journey on my blog: downsizingashley.blogspot.com/.

ashley weight loss before and after

Nikia lost 150 pounds

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Today’s weight loss before and after story: Nikia lost 150 pounds.  She started at 389 pounds and lost the weight by working out religiously and changing her eating habits.  After being told she had a 10% chance of having a child, she is a proud mom.  Here is what she shared with us:

nikia weight loss storyHello! My name is Nikia Dejoie and I wanted to share my journey with you all. In 2003, at only 22 I finally got on a scale…and to my surprise it read 389 pounds. I was blown away. Already boarderline diabetic, I was taking high blood pressure medicine and was in the worst physical shape possible. I was also informed that due to my weight, I had a hormone malfunction which put me in the 90% chance of never conceiving a child category. I took control of my life and decided that I wanted better. I then began to workout religiously, I completely changed my eating habits, and in about 1 year and a half I was down to 178 pounds in 2005. Over the years I celebrated this new found person i had become, I lived life like I had never lived before, met the man of my dreams, I fell in love, I got married, i started a new career, and in 2011 (shortly after I got married)…I became PREGNANT. (Yippee) With everything happening so fast and life being so good, of course I gained about 80 pounds back. After celebrating a good friend’s birthday in January 2013 she posted pictures on Facebook. I almost screamed when I saw myself. I was becoming that person AGAIN that I had buried in 2003. I started my change immediately. I worked out 5 days a week for 1 and 1/2 hours, I eliminated all fried foods, soda, pork, starch, and beef. On June 2 2013, I was down 52 pounds! I am still on this new lifestyle change and I still have a long road ahead of me to maintain this. I plan to stick with it and provide support to any and everyone on this road to a healthier life… Here are a few photos. Anyone can follow my journey on Nikki’s Makeup Lounge on Facebook or missmakeup_artist on instagram.

Nikia weight loss before and after

Jada lost 135 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss before and after: Jada lost 135 pounds with hard work and determination after a major health crisis.  This proud mom of 4 credits her weight loss to her trainer, working out consistently and clean eating.  Here is what she shared with us:

I stare into my 1 year old daughter’s eyes and recall how I almost had a total breakdown when she was just 7 days old.  At 324 pounds, I was hospitalized for three days.  I was suffering with hypertension, an enlarged and weakened heart, palpitations, sleep apnea and fluid in my lungs. I was told that I’d be able to do no more than a 15 minute brisk walk because of my conditions, and when I asked would I get better if I lost weight I was told “not really.” My OB/Gyn told me he hadn’t seen that much fat in one person before and suggested I have weight loss surgery. They had a hard time getting my baby out (I had a C-Section) and an even harder time closing me up. I knew my life depended on my losing weight, but I wanted to do it naturally. So, I walked into Body By Denise when my baby girl was eight weeks and a day.  I was convinced that if I just got my weight down, things would get better despite what the doctors said. With a whole lot of hard work (working out five days each week), an equal amount of dedication, and a constant size 9 foot up my backside (my awesome trainer Denise Warren), I dropped the weight.  I no longer suffer with ANY of the aforementioned ailments. Exactly 1 year later, I am now 189 pounds.  I’m enjoying being a mom and have all the energy I need to run behind my tribe of energizer bunnies (I have 4 children, three boys ages 11, 8 and 5 and my 1 year old baby girl). I love Body By Denise (BBD) something serious. Eat Clean + Train Dirty = Great Results!!

To be more specific about eating clean, I do not eat processed foods at all and no white starches whatsoever. I drink only water and unsweetened tea. I have no more than 2 servings of fresh fruit daily and 2 to 3 servings of green leafy vegetables. I eat only lean protein like tilapia, salmon fillet or chicken breast. My protein is either steamed, baked or grilled. I consume about a gallon of water daily and I do not eat after 8pm, 5pm on days that I work out. I snack on unsalted almonds and pistachios and limit my sodium intake to no more than 1500mg daily. My sugar intake is 25g or less per day. I add lemon to my water whenever I can and make sure that warm lemon water is the first thing I consume in the morning…Then I have  fruit.

Jada weight loss before and after

Lameka lost 106 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss before and after story: Lameka lost 106 pounds going from 349 pounds to 243 pounds.  She was motivated by finding out she had stroke level high blood pressure.  She did it by counting calories, changing her diet, taking a prescription appetite suppressant and working out hard.  Here is what she shared with us:

Hello! My motivation began when I went to the doctor for consistent headaches. Stepping on the scale weighing in at 349 pounds, crushed me; only to hear seconds later that it was a miracle I had not “strocked out” with a blood pressure of 180/120 (give or take a few). From that day forward, I have been grinding. I have been counting calories, doing excessive exercising and drinking a case of water every 1 1/2 days.  Eating wise, I cut out fast foods, fried food, or sugar. After losing my first 40 pounds, I chose to consult with my doctor about a appetite suppressant. Two years later I’m weighing in at 243! I met my initial goal of losing the first 100 pounds, now my new goal is to get to 200 pounds! Great LIFE change! One day at a time!

Lameka before and after photos
Updated photo: July 2014

Lameka weight loss before and after

Updated Photo:  Posted 9/20/13

lameka weight loss

Chante’ lost 60 pounds

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Chante’ lost 60 pounds with a low card/high protein diet and exercise.  She was able to stop taking medication for diabetes and high blood pressure after losing weight.  Here is what she shared with us:

My name is Chante’, better known to all as Tay. I have been struggling with my weight since the age of 19, when I had my one and only child. Before my pregnancy, I was at 145 pounds and after I gave birth, I was at 250 pounds. Through out my adult life, I lived with the weight and yo-yo’d from 250 pounds to 219 pounds (being the lowest I’ve ever gone, then right back up to 248 lbs). I finally settled at 240 lbs and stayed there for so long. In October of 2006, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. When I found the best doctor, she explained to me what I needed to do in order to come off meds. LOSE WEIGHT…I wasn’t trying to hear that. I already knew about diabetes because my mother had type 1 diabetes. In February of 2009, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. So now, I was taken meds for the diabetes and for high blood pressure. Geeze, I didn’t want to meds, but I had to since I wasn’t even trying to do anything else. I continued to not listen and kept it moving. Last year, I lost my mother in August of 2012. This hit me real hard and to be honest, I still have not really accepted it. Over the next couple of months I was lost and confused. I didn’t want to die with a lot of health aliments, like my mother did.

In January, I decided to start my new healthy lifestyle. January, 4, 2013 changed my life. My starting weight was 240 pounds. I am currently at 180 pounds. I started using healthy apps on my iPhone: Myfitnesspal, Runtastic, Nike+Running, Runkeeper, BodyMedia Armband, and just recently purchased a Garmin Watch. I had to build myself to up to running. Walked then jog, and kept the process up that way. Now, I can run 3 miles and I’m good. No feelings of passing out or throwing up. Also, I started on a Low Carb/High Protein Diet. This has really helped me because I am currently not on any medication for diabetes and high blood pressure. Both are currently stable. Thank You God!!! My mom would have been so proud.  I know she watching me. I now have a personal trainer that is helping me drop 30 pounds more that I am trying to lose as well as getting my body tighter. I lift weights, run, and enjoy being overall healthier and stronger. My daughter is so proud of me. Just to think, I thought about having the surgery but I am so happy that I did not. Doing it on my own gave me more confidence.  I’m also glad God kept that drive alive in me to be successful in my heart, mind and soul. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Chante weight loss story