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weight loss story

Elisa lost 80 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss success story:  BWLW Online Community member Elisa lost 80 pounds by eliminating junk food, portion control, and working out.  Here is what she shared with us:

Hello BWLW Community, I am so happy to be a part of a community where there is so much positive support. Thank you for this opportunity.

My Motivation

My motivation came from the desire and need to see my son grow up.  I was tired of being tired and wanted a change.  I knew in order for me to be healthy I needed to start somewhere. I began my journey the summer of 2011.  I was going to the gym but wasn’t seeing any results, so I decided cancel my membership and focus on me.  I knew that going to the gym and eating the same foods was counterproductive.  I always knew that I needed to lose weight but it wasn’t until I was emotionally ready that I was able to be committed to this journey.

My Eating Habits

I realized my weakness was rice and junk food candy, ice cream and soda. When I started my journey, I began eliminating junk food especially soda. I started drinking water with lemon and hot tea in the mornings and eating fruits, vegetables. Portion control helped me lose the weight. Over the course of 2 years I managed to lose 80 pounds now weighing 245 pounds. I had to come to terms, and be honest with myself about what I was putting in my body.  I found that denial is real, especially when battling weight loss.  Once I got over the denial part I let it go. Food for me now is not for comfort.  I eat when I’m hungry and if I want a sweet snack I will get a small piece. I have tried going cold turkey in the past and I would end up eating more than I needed. I eat 3 meals a day with lunch being my heaviest. Dinner is usually fruit or something light depending on what I ate earlier in the day.

Workout Routine

I began walking a few blocks in my neighborhood and increased my duration it each time I went. I began walking 3 blocks and later began walking around the park.  In the past I would take the short cut around, but as I continued I was able to complete the entire walk around the park. I also workout at home using some of the routines I learned while going to the gym.  When I was going to class I would get off the train stop furthest from my school and walk back.  I am looking forward to getting back in the gym now that I have control over what goes in my body.

I feel confident that I will reach my goal weight one day at a time!!

ElisaJune13

Simone lost 110 pounds

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Today’s weight loss before & after story:  Simone lost 110 pounds.  This 5’3″ diva embraced eating right, monitoring her calorie intake and exercising 6 days a week.  Here is what she shared with us:

I would love to share my before and after pictures.  I lost  110lbs and I’m truly loving my life and my sleep since.   My doctor never told me that it could be my weight that was the issue causing me not to get any sleep.  I just want the world to know that it’s never to let to take your life back. My journey started with a picture that I took and posted to Facebook.  When I went back to my folder of pictures I could not believe what I saw.  That person was not me…but sad to say it was.  After wiping the tears away and putting the “beat myself up bat” away, I started a new way of life.  It was hard, I won’t lie.  My life with this weight had me in a situation where I could not sleep.  My knees and back would hurt nonstop.  I couldn’t even walk around the block without being out of breath.  Trying to do what I love to do, which was dancing, was hopeless.  I could not even get through a 4 minute song.

Each day, I got up and looked at that picture.  I started eating right.  I was eating food that would only last seven days and when I did not want to cook I ate lean cuisine, which was the next best thing.  I stopped drinking sweet tea and opted for water.  My fitness pal and calories counters are my best friend.  I have them on my phone, my laptop and my iPad so I have no excuse.  When I go out to eat, I ask for the calorie sheets because it is important to know what I am putting in my body.

Also, I work out six days a week.  No excuse!  I walk my dogs  for a 1/2 a mile and started dancing again.  I now can dance to not just a song, but a whole album.  Lol.  My top weight, when I went to by doctor in the beginning, was 232 pounds (my height is 5’3).   Yes, I was carrying around another person, so no wonder my knees and back were hurting.  Today I am proud to say I have been maintaing my weight at 125lbs for over a year now.  Guess what!  My doctor is even jealous of the weight I have lost and he calls me his roll model.   Also, I must give a shout out to Black Women Losing Weight.  Your stories keep me inspired to be the best I can be.  I am proud to say that I am 47 years old and in better shape know than I was in my twenties.   It’s never to late to take your life back.  I did and I’m loving it.

Simone weight loss before and after

Jasmin lost 35 pounds

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Today’s weight loss before & after featured story: Jasmin lost 35 pounds.  This mom of six changed her eating habits and focused on burning calories to lose the weight.  Here is what she shared with us:

I’ve lost a total of 35 pounds. After having 6 children, I wanted to challenge myself to get back to my original size before having children. My target weight is 179 pounds.  I’m 195 pounds now. Almost there!. First, I changed my eating habits. I ate all my heaviest meals in the morning.  This means I ate my dinner in the morning. After 12 noon I started to slow down and eat very light, like crackers, boiled eggs, fruits, etc.  Anything lite.  I was in the gym everyday, except Sundays, for 1 hour.  I ran on Elliptical for 30 minutes to tone and the other 30 minutes in another  area of the gym. When you first start out on your weight loss journey,  just burn calories don’t worry about toning until you have lost your desired weight or close to, then tone and burn.

jasmin weight loss before & after

Monique lost 30 pounds

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Let’s show some love to Monique.  She has lost 30 pounds in about 3 months with a 1600 calorie plan.  She had lap band weight loss surgery the past, but it didn’t work for her.  Eating right and regular exercise brought her results.  Here is what she shared with us:

This is my story: I started my journey in March 2013 (starting out at 260 pounds). A few years ago I had lap band surgery and did lose weight but eventually gained most of it back! I was disgusted with myself so I decided to lose the weight naturally. I started out by substituting two meals with protein shakes and then eating a healthy dinner. My excercise started out with walking 2 miles a day. I eventually got rid of the shakes and started to eat meals three times a day with snacks in between. I am on a 1600 calorie a day plan. Also I up’d my excercise to 6 miles a day of walking, 20 minutes of aerobics and light weights! I also drink a gallon of water a day if possible. Since March 2013, I have lost 30 lbs and counting, not to mentions many inches!!! I feel great and am excited to continue my weight loss the natural way!  I pray about it and once I started seeing results it made me even more determined to continue!! I hope you share my story so others may be inspired to live a healthier lifestyle as I have.

monique before and after weight loss

Cee lost 36 pounds

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Let’s show some BWLW love to Cee who lost 36 pounds.  This proud mom embraced vegetarianism, juicing and regular exercise to lose the pounds and change to a more healthy lifestyle.  Here is what she shared with us:

On Oct 18 2012, I decided I had enough of the weight issues and decided to lose it. I was at 194 pounds, However, I am 5’1 and I knew that I was not at my ideal weight for my height. I was carrying a lot of weight that I didn’t need or want. I suffered from headaches, chest-pain and I was always tired. It was very hard for me to put on socks and tie my shoes. Just from doing that I would perspire really bad.  One of my best friends gave me a pair of jeans (size 33 in men’s) in Oct. and I could not even pull them up over my thighs. I wore a size 40 men’s at the time.  The reason why I put the jeans on was because I wanted to see “how they would fit”.  I used tacks to hang the pair of jeans he gave me on my bedroom wall and vowed to leave them up there until I could fit them.  I even put it on as a screen saver on my phone. I started my journey right before Halloween.  I thought, “Why should I wait if I am serious about losing weight.”.

I started the Atkins Diet and joined Facebook groups on weight loss. Around this time I could not run or even jog, so I walked, did pushups, sit-ups, jumping jacks and crunches.  In the meantime, lost 36 pounds in 5 months.  I never went to a gym.  Every Friday I would weigh myself and write my weight down on my calendar. I drank some water, but I didn’t drink enough of it (I was drinking a lot of juices and tea).  After a while I started to get a little groggy and felt my stomach become greasy and heavy. I started to look into what I was putting in my body the foods/drinks.  So later on, I became a vegetarian (my son as well) and started drinking 95% more water (straight water or with lime or lemons).  I really wanted to be healthy and I did a lot of research about food.  I changed my thinking and started to look at my health more than my weight.  Thanks to “Fat Sick and Nearly Dead” I juiced for 10 days (fruits and vegetables) while eating them also.  I lost a number of inches and I understood that if I wanted to drink some juice I could not only do so, because I had a juicer that made fresh juice, but I would be getting more nutrients!! I had to learn that (I COULD NOT LET FOOD CONTROL ME I HAD TO CONTROL IT).  I can now run/jog. I do cardio at least 30 minutes to 45 minutes Monday thru Friday and sometimes on weekends. I’m on my way to becoming the best I can be.  I have 10 more pounds to lose.  I’m now at 158 pounds and I can wear a size 32 men’s jeans.  My weight loss was not easy. Books, YouTube videos, Netflix and the internet were my research tools that helped educate myself.  I do have a “cheat day” to eat sweets but at one point when I first started I did not have them at all.  Thankfully, I had a support system.  If you don’t have people supporting you, you have to make up your mind to get healthy no matter what people say. You control you own destiny.

I took the jeans off my wall and I wear them proudly!!! Never going back!!

cee weight loss success story

Kaylea lost 69 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss success story.  Kaylea lost 69 pounds. She is a plus sized model, grad of Institute for Interegrative Nutrition (the program I just graduated from this month.  Yay!) and a health coach.  Here is what she shared with us.

After gainging almost 70 pounds after the birth of my son I was so depressed. I couldn’t believe that I had allowed myself to gain so much weight. I didn’t want to leave the house, I just wanted to keep eating. One day, I looked at my son and I said, “He needs you. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.  Get up and change your life.”, so I did. I had already been a vegetarian for 5 years. I knew what I needed to do, so I enrolled in the Institute for Interegrative Nutrition. My whole life changed. I cut out all white and processed foods and added more water to my diet. I started eating my live foods, more greens. My favorite thing to do is Juicing. I did a 30 Juice fast to clean me out and boost my metabolism. I became pyhsically active. I started walking which quickly turned into running. Before I knew it the weight started melting off. My depression was nonexsistent and I was a new and improved women. My Plus Size modeling career started picking back up and I was on top of the world.  I’ve lost 69 pounds and I still have about 15 more pounds until I reach my goal. Life couldn’t be better. Now that I have finished IIN my goal is to empower women to get healthy and that health comes in all shaped and sizes. I call myself The Curvy Health Coach.  It brings me joy that I can now take what I have learned and empower other women to get healthy.

Website: http://kalyea-moss.healthcoach1.integrativenutrition.com/
https://www.facebook.com/#!/LiveBeautifullyHealthCoaching
http://instagram.com/#thecurvyhealthcoach

Kaylea weight loss success story

Yetta lost 100 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss before and after story: Yetta lost 100 pounds by becoming a raw vegan, juicing, and walking.  Here is what she shared with us:

I started my weight loss journey in mid May 2012. High blood pressure, fatigue, dark spots on my cheeks, swollen legs, and the way I looked finally made me realize that I had to make a change. I became a high vegetable and fruit raw vegan juicing daily, and walking an hour or 2 each day.  After a few days, I lost about 15 pounds and my right leg was no longer swollen.  I realized that this was the way to go.  The first 40 pounds lost were emotionally overwhelming and it took a lot of “Help me Lord!” not to go back to my old way of eating.  For the last few months, I went to the gym with my sister before going to work, about 4:30 am Mon-Fr.  I do “sweat dripping cardio” for 1 hour and weight lifting for 20-30 minutes.  I change my routine every 4 weeks.  Currently, I’m doing 30 minutes on the glider (20 incline and 85 resistance), weights, then return to the glider for another 30 minutes.  I also walk my dog few miles a week.  I’m no longer a vegan but eat very little meat, sweets, sugar, flour or pasta.  I eat clean 95% of the time.  My goal was to lose 100 pounds by my 44th birthday and I did it.  Now, I will lose another 80 or 100 pounds BEFORE MY 45TH birthday. Getting fit is one of the hardest things I’ve done, but I live by “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”…And through prayer all the time.  I hope this helps others with way over 150 pounds to lose.

Yetta lost 100 pounds

Jenn lost 46 pounds

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Today’s featured weight loss success story: BWLW Online Community member Jenn lost 46 pounds by changing her eating habits and exercising.  Here is what she shared with us:

One year ago, I fell into a depression and food became my best friend. I was eating all of the wrong things. I wasn’t active. I am only 5 ft 4 inches tall and to carry around 252 pounds was causing me pain. My back, knees, feet, and ankles would begin to hurt after only 5 minutes of walking. My clothes were getting bigger. One day, I looked at myself in the mirror and all I could do was cry. It didn’t matter that others saw me without flaws. I was unhappy and tired of feeling that way. The next day, I ate and drank all of my favorite things (Doritos, Reeses, Pepsi, french fries). At the end of the day, I threw away everything I didn’t eat and decided at that very moment to start living healthy. I decreased my carbohydrate intake to a minimum of 50 grams daily.  I eliminated sugar, sodas and juices and increased my water to a gallon a day. I also incorporated more vegetables into my meals. I joined a gym and began to do Zumba classes. Today I am 46 pounds lighter! I have never been so proud of myself in my life.

Everyday is a struggle but it’s so worth it. The camera is now my best friend and all of my loved ones can see my confidence. I am still working toward my goal, which I’ll share as soon as I am there. That dark and dismal place of my past won’t EVER see me again. You can believe that!  For all of you that chose healthy living, I applaud you. It’s not easy…But it’s SO worth it!

Jenn before and after weight loss

Rashaun went from 511 pounds to 295 pounds with surgery

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Let’s show some Black Women Losing Weight love to Rashaun who lost 216 pounds with gastric sleeve weight loss surgery.  Her starting weight was 511 pounds and working out was a significant part of her transformation.  Here is what she shared with us:

I wanted to share my pictures with this group/page.  I started my weight loss journey on April 9, 2012 at 511 pounds.  To date, I’m 295 pounds.  I did have the gastric bypass surgery, which is the sleeve surgery.  I was tired of not being able to walk up 2 or 3 steps without being outta breath.  I couldn’t go to my daughter school events cause I couldn’t fit in the chairs, so my daughter was my motivation.  I changed my eating habits to protein drinks, oatmeal and only veggies.  I also drank 3 liters of water a day.  I started going to the gym.  I would work out in the pool, run 2 miles and then do a hour of water aerobics.  I did that 6 days out the week, equaling up to 3 hours per workout session.

Rashaun before and after weight loss surgery

Tyreea lost over 30 pounds

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Update 2017: Tyreea lost 50 pounds. Her husband has joined her on this journey and both have seen their blood pressure improve. Exercise, green smoothies and healthy eating habits have helped her continue to lose weight.

Tyreea and husband

The picture on the left is from March 2012 and the picture on the right is from March 2017. My husband and I decided to join the Green Smoothie Cleanse LIFE. Our blood pressure has changed for the better. We have more energy and we are working together as a team! This has truly been a blessing. I’ve lost 50 pounds. My weight stays regulated with exercise, green smoothies and watching what I eat. I will find out on March 24th if I will completely free from high blood pressure pills. I currently take half of a pill. However, my husband’s blood pressure has been more consistent.

tyreea before and after

Nov 2016: I have maintained my weight loss through Green Smoothies. I am also continually working out with Shaun T’s CIZE program 3 days a week. I have stopped eating sweets, I crave more fruits and I drink 64 oz or more of water a day. I’ve learned that I can be more disciplined about my health. To benefit my kids, I want to feel better and not be so tired. I’m hoping that in January 2017 my doctor say I no long have to take high blood pressure pills. I’m currently down to just half a pill. Advice for others: If you start, keep going and don’t give up. It might look dark but keep going!

 

May 2013 – Let’s celebrate with Tyreea who has lost 22 pounds.  Her motivation was to get of high blood pressure medication and be there long term for her kids.

I would like to share my weight lost.  I started July of 2012 and the after pic is this month, May 2013.  I’m still going.  I feel so much better!!  Before I started, I was 258 pounds and now I’m down to 236 pounds. My motivation was losing weight so that I could get off of high blood pressure medication.  I also wanted to stick around longer for my children. I stayed away from carbs, sweets and I began eating more fruits and vegetables. I workout to “Sweating in the Spirit”, a Donna Richardson workout DVD, 3 times per week. Thank u so much!!

Tyreea weight loss before and after