Shaneika lost 70 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Shaneika lost 70 pounds. This petite young lady’s biggest motivation was her father’s stroke and realizing that she was at risk for heart disease. She’s gone from being depressed and unhappy about her weight to motivated, meal prepping and working out regularly. Check out her story.

I’ve lost about 70 pounds year to date. I was depressed and didnt want to go anywhere, because that meant putting on clothes. I hated the way I looked in clothes. I isolated myself from my family and avoided taking photos because I was huge. I wasn’t happy at my weight, but being fat was just easier.

I was eating late at night, because my part time job had me out until 10/11pm. It was easy to get something quick, like Taco Bell or Mcdonalds, get full and go to sleep. During the day, I’m at a desk and the vending machine was my best friend.

My biggest motivation was my father having a stroke. We found out he may be at risk for heart disease as well. This condition is hereditary, so my doctor urged me to make better eating choices.

One day, I literally had to talk with myself and say, “You can’t stay like this.” I started to change my eating habits. I looked into meal planning and prepping. Now, I prep my meals for the week on Sundays. I looked into better choices for lunch, dinner and breakfast. It was definitely trial and error, because there were days I was still hungry. I cut out sodas and juice and now, all I drink is water, coffee and tea. Every now and then I’ll grab a crystal light packet and put it in my water as a treat.

Meal prepping the biggest effort I make to get through the week. I can eat the same thing all week.

• Breakfast options: 2 boiled eggs, 3 pieces of turkey sausage links and fruit.
  1 thin raisin bagel with 1 tbsp of cream cheese and 2 turkey sausage links. A Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich: something under 300 calories. (They even have a spinach and cheese breakfast sandwich.) A green smoothie. (Safeway has 4 already packed veggie and fruit smoothie packs. All I have to do is add water and put it in my blender)
• Lunch options: Meat (mostly chicken breast), a vegetable and fruit. A salad with meat, fruit and nuts with a fruit vinegarette dressing. Tuna packs with brown rice and broccoli or cooked salmon.
• Dinner: I usually will eat oatmeal and add fruit, because it feels me up when I’m working late. I may switch up and have cereal that is high in fiber and not too heavy (Special K), or I’ll have a nice salad.
• Snacks: Apples (Pink Crisp), bananas, yogurt and either a Fiber One bar or Nutrigrain bar.

Exercising was a challenge for me. I’m not a morning person, so I started going to the gym once a week in the evening and now I’m up to three times a week. I started out with mostly cardio on the treadmill, but now im seeing the benefits of weights, little by little. I exercise 2-3 times a week. I don’t really know what I’m doing in the gym, I just keep moving.

My starting weight as of January 2016 was 280 pounds. Today, I weigh 210 pounds. I’ve been maintaing my weight, but I bounce between 210 lbs. and 205 lbs. I’m 5’3″. I still have 30 pounds to go before I reach my goal weight but I want to inspire someone else and to let them know its possible. The change starts with you!

This process was mental. Nothing happens overnight and sometimes I would feel defeated. When I wanted to give up, my best friends were a great support system. I’m a visual person, so we did things like make a goal weight poster (2 jars showing how much weight I’ve loss and how much I wanted to lose). Weekly weigh-ins helped as well. It either pushed me to go harder or made me feel like I accomplished something that week. My co-workers even helped me make better eating choices. Instead of cake to celebrate a birthday, we did Edible Errangements or a sugar-free desert. When I wanted to give up, I would look at a progress picture and remember to keep going.

Advice: It takes time, so don’t focus on the now. Just get started today. It’s hard, it takes discipline and it’s not easy, but its worth it. Know that baby steps are still good steps.

Find somebody to partner with. Start with your diet and then add in exercise when you are ready. If you slip up, dont beat yourself over it, just keep going. Don’t think that you have to wait until Monday to re-start. If you mess up during lunch, make up for it during dinner and know that tomorrow is a new day.

Instagram: @i.dreamncolor