Lakeshea lost 38 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Lakeshea lost 38 pounds and several dress sizes. She was dealing with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hypothyroidism, and anxiety. After being diagnosed with hypertensive retinopathy, she knew it was time to make a change. Check out her journey.

Age: 41
Height: 5’6″
Starting weight: 231.8 pounds
Current weight: 193.8 pounds
Total weight loss: 38 pounds
Starting Dress Size: 18
Current Dress Size: 10

What was your motivation?
My motivation was wanting to see myself as I was before I started having children. I also wanted to come off of the medications that I was taking. However, my biggest motivation was my kids.

What inspired you to start your weight loss journey?
Being morbidly obese and having social anxiety with 0% confidence, it was really hard for me to get out, enjoy life and be around others. I had so many doctor’s appointments due to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hypothyroidism, and anxiety. My doctors were continually reminding me that I must do better if I want to live. It seemed that during every doctor’s visit I had within the course of 2 years or more, my body was always threatening a stroke. My blood pressure and cholesterol seemed to be getting even more out of control.

In January 2019, I had a spot on my eye. It was on my retina, and it wasn’t visible to the naked eye. My primary doctor referred me to a specialist who told me that I had hypertensive retinopathy as a result of my blood pressure being uncontrolled for so long. The condition is a warning sign for stroke risk or something worse!

The doctor highly recommended that I start a diet and begin to exercise, along with low sodium intake, if I wanted to be here to see my children graduate, succeed in life, and have children of their own. At that moment, I knew it was time for me to take my health seriously and make some changes.

How did you change your eating habits?
I stopped eating high fat, high sugar, high sodium foods. I stopped eating late at night and lying down afterward. l also changed my habit of eating three large unhealthy meals each day. I replaced them with 5-6 small healthy balanced meals per day, including 3 healthy balanced meals with 2-3 healthy snacks per day. The most challenging part of this change was drinking more water…lots of water. I started drinking 100oz or more of water every day.

I followed the meal structure that the Nutritionist for Fitness on Fire, NutritionistGuru, recommended. I cut pork, beef, all red meat, fried foods, nuts, sodas, all high sugar juices, candy, chips, white bread, and white pasta out of my diet. I replaced those healthy foods, like boiled, baked or grilled chicken, fish, and turkey. I also started eating more vegetables and fruit.

What did your workouts consist of?
My workouts consisted of resistance training provided by my online trainer, King of the Fire. I would go to the gym 5-6 days a week (sometimes seven depending on what my days were like).

Starting weight/Current weight
My starting weight with Fitness on Fire Online Training was 231.8 pounds, but I had gotten up to 300 pounds before my sister introduced me to the program. Yes, I lost 72 pounds before the program, and it was fat and muscle. I was not as knowledgeable about nutrition and exercise as I am today. Now I weigh 193.8 pounds with muscle growth and fat loss (huge difference).

How long did your transformation take?
It took seven months for my transformation. I started seeing results within my first two weeks on the program, and I felt so much better. My energy began to increase, and my skin was glowing. It all made me want to continue on my journey and work even harder, so I could keep seeing even more results. Seeing those results made me want to stay focused and on track so that I can see the end result. I’m not done yet.

What advice do you have for women that want to lose weight?
Think about how you want to look and feel and the things that you want to be able to do. Imagine yourself that way and think about all the things you’ll do and the places you’ll go. Think about all the compliments you’ll get. Think of how your life, your health, and your strength would change if you were that way.

Lock that vision in your mind, set goals for yourself and commit to reaching for the good health that you desire. Make those positive thoughts your reality. Commit to making your life, mind, and your body healthy.

In the past, I listened to people who didn’t know much about nutrition and excercise. I was taking advice from people that seemed to be doing pretty good with their weight loss. I did get results. I lost loss a lot of weight, but it was never the results that I really wanted nor the results I needed. So, my advice to all is to obtain the proper knowledge that you need for YOUR needs and YOUR goals because everyone’s situation and bodies are different. If you get that knowledge and you use it gracefully, you’ll get results.

Fitness on Fire worked for me because I obtained the knowledge that I need to live a happy, fit and healthy lifestyle. I learned how to substitute unhealthy ingredients for healthy ingredients and still get some good tasting food. The constant communication with the nutritionist and the trainer is what kept me motivated. Being held accountable each and every day was even more motivational for me. If I got off track that support helped me get back to where I needed to be (and trust me I had more than a few of those days lol). I’m not going to say every day was a good day because it wasn’t. We are all human, and my nutritionist and my trainer fully understand that.

I’ve never joined any other weight loss program. I’ve always worked out on my own, doing lots of walking because that was my thing. I used the diets I read about or heard about, and that wasn’t working for me because the came back and then some. Fitness on Fire has changed that for me forever because now I have the tools I need to keep going and maintain what I’ve worked so hard to build. Thanks again to Fitness on Fire for saving my life.

Disclaimer: Reference or link to any specific product, diet plan, exercise plan or service mentioned in the weight loss stories we share is for the information of our readers, and does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Black Women Losing Weight.