Shallethia lost 95 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Shallethia lost 95 pounds. This amazing Army wife and cancer survivor found out that she had a mass in her brain and lost a dear friend to brain cancer the following week. She decided that she would transform her life and her health with healthy eating habits and exercise. Here is what she shared with us…

Hello, I’m Shallethia and I’ve been a plus size gal for as long as I can remember. I started gaining weight right after I got married, when the military started doing 15 month tours. My husband is an the US Army. At my heaviest, I weighed a total of 270 pounds. I remember trying every diet known to man and that process just being a pain in the butt.

In 2012, I was was diagnosed with cancer and in March 2013 the military doctors found a mass on my brain. Then, a week later, I lost my best friend to brain cancer. I knew then that I wouldn’t let cancer kill me, so the gym became my new love. I also decided to change my eating habits, so for about 3 months I replaced 2 meals with a protein shake and ate a lean meal for dinner. Typically, the weekends were my cheat days.

I stopped drinking sodas, stopped eating out and I limited my sweet intake. No crown and cokes. I have cheat days on weekends only. My meal plan consisted of 2 meal replacement protein shakes, but I drank my shakes throughout the day, I would make a total of 4 shakes and freeze them. For dinner, I ate only a portion of lean protein the size of the palm of my hand and lots and lots of Greens.

I workout 4 times a week. Every other day, I take a Body Pump class with weight training for an hour and do cardio the other 2 days for at least 45 minutes. I LOVE Zumba. My husband and I also workout together after hours. He gets on my nerves, but it helps having a buddy.

I lost 12 lbs durning my first week of changing my eating habits and adding exercise. I lost 70 pounds in the first 3 months and have lost a total of 95 pounds to date. My height is 5’7″. Through blood, sweat and tears, I was determined to be a better me. It is definitely not easy, but its a journey that I refuse to give up on. I’m hoping that my story will help motivate someone to live a healthier lifestyle, because life is too short to be fat forever.

My brain mass is located in the center of my brain on a blood vessel so we have decided against surgery because the risk that I won’t survive is to strong. My best friend had the same brain mass and died without fully getting a chance to enjoy life. Cancer feeds off sugar and fatty cells and its very common in black women, so we have to maintain our weight and stay healthy. Make sure your getting checked regularly.

Advice for others who want to lose weight: The first 3 days are the hardest to get over if you are a foodie like myself, but trust and believe that it can be done. If you are feeling unmotivated, find a workout buddy. That definitely helps. Meal planning in a must. Do it at night so that way you will have no excuses for stopping at that burger joint!

Instagram: @shallmoore21