Charmaine lost over 170 pounds

Update: – Shout out to Charmaine! Check her out on the Dr. Oz show today sharing her story. She’s lost over 220 pounds.

@blackweightloss Thank you again for featuring me last July. As a result, I will be sharing my journey on @DrOz tmw. Hope you watch 🙂

— Charmaine Langford (@NubianReddHead) July 13, 2016

I promised I wasn’t going to cry @DrOz but friends are already seeing the commercials for our Wed episode. This is about to happen. Thank u♡

— Charmaine Langford (@NubianReddHead) July 11, 2016

July 2015 – Weight Loss Story of the Day: Charmaine lost over 170 pounds. Her wakeup call was not being able to fit into any clothing in plus-sized stores at over 470 lbs. Walking for miles each day and changing her eating habits have been key to her amazing transformation. Here is what she shared with us about how she did it.

I am not yet at my goal weight, but I have lost well over 170 or more pounds. I plan to reach my goal weight by the end of the year. I am doing it the old fashioned way: LOTS of exercise, mainly walking, smaller portions..basically watching everything I eat. It takes a LOT of determination, but I am worth it. I have lost anywhere from 170 lbs to 185 lbs. I don’t know for sure, because I could not find a scale to calculate my weight, when I was my heaviest. I do know that when I first found a scale that captured my weight, it said 473 pounds. That was AFTER I had been dieting for around three months.

My motivation:
I had outgrown all the clothes in the stores. Even a size 32 would not fit. In the before photo below, I had actually lost around 40 or so pounds. Those jeans were a size 32 and when I brought them, I could not fit them. That was the straw that broke the camels back. I am 5’10” tall and can now squeeze into some size 18 jeans if they have a little stretch to them.  Mostly, I am wearing size 20 jeans now and some XL tops. Size 1X fits ok too, depending on how it is cut. No more 4x and 5x for me. Goal wise, I am aiming for a size 12 or 14.

What made me change my eating habits:
Health was my main reason for changing in my eating habits. I had and still have high blood pressure and diabetes. Both of these conditions have improved dramatically since the weight loss. Secondly, I felt trapped inside my body. I was about to hit 500 pounds. I was afraid I would die and never get to see what I looked like beneath all the blubber. Thirdly, I had outgrown all of the clothes in the plus sized stores. The day when I brought a size 32-34 jeans and they only came halfway up my thighs, I knew it was time to take action! Otherwise, I would have had to sew sheets together to wear!

How did I change my eating habits?
I have always had a sweet tooth and I was addicted to carbs. I began to cut WAY back on carbs and sweets. I found other alternatives such as yogurt covered raisins, graham crackers, sugar free candy, etc. Cakes, pies, ice cream..those were the norm for me on a DAILY basis. Now, I am almost petrified of that junk, but I do allow myself a cheat day every now and then. On those days, I have something sweet or salty and then I jump right back on track.

I stopped frying food and started broiling, stewing and baking my food. I cut salt almost completely out of my diet. A box of salt lasts me 2 years at home. If I eat bread, it’s one slice or two slices of 40 calorie bread. I don’t eat late. I used to eat a double quarter pounder with cheese at midnight along with a large order of fries and a shake and then go to sleep. I stopped eating pork in 1989 and all but stopped eating red meat as well. The ONLY pork I will have maybe once or twice a year, is pepperoni if I have pizza. I love tuna, egg whites, lots of vegetables and fruit occasionally because I am diabetic. Portion control is the main thing. I only eat a little bit of this and that. It is hard, because the “old me” still loves macaroni and cheese, but if I do indulge, believe me, it’s just a bite or two. I am strict about that.

What did you have to stop eating?
I stopped eating white bread also and cut back drastically on carbs. I used to eat French fries EVERY day. Now it’s once every three or four months, and I only have a few. I poach my fish now, instead of frying it. I have all but cut out fast food places and carry outs. I try to cook at home as much as possible. Ice cream has been replaced with yogurt or low fat frozen yogurt. With cakes and pies, if I splurge I buy a single slice, instead of bringing the whole thing home. If I buy chips, they are no-salt or baked and I count out ten or so. I eat vegetables ever day or my life now and love making vegetable and fruit smoothies at home.

My workout routine:
WALKING! I walk at LEAST 2-3 miles per day. At one time, I was walking 4 miles per day. It does the trick. I keep my sneakers on. I also do aerobics sometimes. A show that came on years ago called the 20 Minute Workout, is my favorite. The transmission on m car died 2 years ago and that was the best thing that ever happened to me.

My weight:
Right now, I am right at the 300 pound mark and headed for 220 pounds. For my height, that will look like 140 pounds. At my heaviest, I was between 473 lbs and 500 lbs. My transformation has been gradual, with the most weight loss happening in the past two years.

My advice for others:
NO piece of cake or slab of ribs is worth dying over. No entire pack of oreos is worth losing your eyesight or limbs to diabetes or being ridiculed when you go in public. I could not use turnstyles in stores or fit on amusement park rides. I had to take taxis everywhere before I brought my first car, because I took up almost two seats on the metro. You simply have to make your mind up. You don’t NEED surgery or weight loss clubs, but they do help. Once you make you make your mind up, you can do ANYTHING. If I can do it, you can do it

Facebook: Charmaine.Dieng
Podcast: Keeping it real with Charmaine