Vanessa lost 30 pounds

Weight Loss Story: Vanessa lost 30 pounds by changing her eating habits and exercising. Here is what she shared with us about losing the pounds:

“I’m so inspired by the women I see. I have a 20 yr timeline of 5 pics showing my weight gain and loss, which includes breast reduction surgery this past March. I went from teetering into size 18 down to a size 12!!!”

What was your motivation? 
“My motivation was to be healthy for myself. I did not want to gain any more weight as I was already 220 pounds at 5’3″ (on a good day) I was teetering on a size 18 and for ME, that was my turning point. I bought new sneakers and cute workout gear to match. I figured if I’m going to be doing it, I may as well look and feel good doing it.”

How did you change your eating habits?
“I stopped eating processed foods and ate more raw fruits and veggies and fish. I hadn’t eaten pork in 20+ years. I stopped eating beef 4 years ago, but the next step was chicken and turkey…which I did COLD TURKEY. I then started juicing 4 times a day for 30 days to shock my body into submission. I have since returned to eating chicken, but not on a daily basis.”

What did your workout routines look like? 
“I workout with a personal trainer 4-5 times a week. I get up at 4:50 am to be to the gym at 5:30. Some days we do high intensity cardio and strength training, other days we lift free weights. On the weekends, we go to our local parks or mountains and walk/trot/run …steps, benches, trees to pull up on…doing exercises in between stretches.”

What was your starting weight? 
“My starting weight was 220 pounds.”

What is your current weight? 
“My current weight is 190 pounds and my goal weight is to be 180!!”

How long did your transformation take?
“I started in July 2011, but because I didn’t know what I was doing, the weight wasn’t coming off. I was in a vicious cycle of going to the gym in the evening. I was tired and not working up a good sweat, but I was going!! Once I invested in a personal trainer and he CHALLENGED me all the time (who doesn’t love a good challenge), I began to shed more and more weight. From Nov. 2012 to now is when I shed 25 of the 30 lbs I lost. Even with all of that, I still had to have breast reduction surgery, which only took off 3lbs, but that was a definite change in my physique.”