Staci lost 56 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Staci lost 56 pounds by going Paleo. She wanted to be fit and fabulous on her 40th birthday. She also wanted to be the healthiest mom she could be for her Autistic son. She put in the work and it shows. Check out her awesome story.

My name is Staci and this is my story. My motivation was losing weight for my 40th birthday (April 2016). I did not want to be “Fat at 40”. What inspired me when I wanted to give up was my 9 year old son who has Autism. I wanted to be healthier for him as well as myself. He inspires me everyday.

I changed my eating habits by embracing the Paleo lifestyle. I started by eliminating white sugar from my diet. I then started eating Paleo acceptable foods only. It wasn’t easy but I found a way to make the process easier… I substituted everything!  If I wanted chocolate chip cookies, I googled Paleo chocolate chip cookies and made those instead. For example, I cook with coconut oil only and I bake with almond flour, coconut flour and coconut milk/almond milk. When I have a salty craving, I eat Terra Sweet Potato Chips. Making substitutions makes me feel like I’m not giving up the foods that I used to love. I only drink water, protein shakes, lemon water, lime water and homemade Paleo real fruit juice. I eat Kelp noodles and make my own homemade Paleo Naan Bread. I use great e-book of recipes called “Paleo Grubs.” Paleo changed my life completely!

My workouts have varied in the past 7 months. I started doing Turbo Fire DVDs for about 14 weeks and then switched to 22 minute Hard Corps DVDs for about 4 weeks.  Right now, I am doing ChaLEAN Extreme DVDs and I am almost finished the 3 month program. I’ve seen amazing results! I am also doing HIIT workouts 3 times a week, training my abdominals 3 times a week and I do 30 day Squat Challenges every other month. I never thought I would love working out everyday, but I do. I workout 6 days a week. My rest day is always on Sunday and I allow myself only 1 cheat meal a week.

My starting weight in 2015 was 200 pounds.  My current weight is 144 pounds. My height is 5 foot 5 inches. I officially started my journey in January 2016 and it’s taken me 7 months to go from XL to a S.

The advice I would give to others is that it takes a lot of HARD WORK to lose weight. You have to give 100 percent every day. You have to be consistent. You may not be able to complete a workout or have the energy to do that last rep but it is important that you do not give up. If you keep trying and doing your best every day, you will eventually see results. When I put that blue dress on, I was shocked! I had no idea how far I had come. I inspire myself to keep going.

That brings me to another important point: You have to be strong mentally. Believe that you can do it, even when others try to put you down or doubt you. If you think you can, you can and you will!

Instagram: @simplepaleolady