LaNita lost 67 pounds

Weight Loss Success Story: LaNita lost 67 pounds by working out regularly, seeking the advice of a personal trainer and changing her eating habits.  Now, she leads weight loss challenges at work and gives advice to others.  Here is her weight loss story:

The picture on the left is from Oct 2012. The picture on the right is from Jan, 1 2014.

I can remember the day I decided to change. It was June 30th 2012. My little brother was having a show on a hot and humid South Carolina summer. I was dancing, drinking, and having a ball with my friends. I walked passed a full mirror and I did not recognize myself. I was unhappy with the way I looked. I knew I was beautiful, intelligent, street savvy, a good mother, an excellent girlfriend, had a great career; but these things were not enough for me. “Why can’t I stay with a diet?” “Why can’t I stick with exercising?” I don’t want to die over something I had ultimate control over.

That night as we sat in a bar and I ate on hot wings and drank a beer, I looked to my friends and told them that this was the last day I was going to live like this. “I need motivation!” All they kept saying was you just got to push yourself and stay with it. Honestly I wanted to say, but you guys don’t! I didn’t, thank god, because maybe they are happy where they are. At that moment I realized that this was not going to be a team effort. If I wanted change, I had to do this on my own. I could not expect anyone to make this change with me. When I got home, I lay in bed with my beautiful daughter and started to think back on my pregnancy. I had gestational diabetes and ended up with pre-clampsia. I ate the healthiest while pregnant then any other time in my life. That’s when it hit me. Life was my motivation, living life and inspiring a balanced life. I thank my baby girl for reminding me of that.

The next day I got on the scale at 270 pounds. I wanted to cry and fallout, but I took it as the start and that next time, it will be less. I started working out on my own around the house and outside. I started jogging and did work out videos two to three times a week. I notice about 2 months in that I was starting to get bored. The following month, I barely exercised at all. I told myself that I was going to go to the gym and get a trainer. That’s exactly what I did. I started working out at Gold’s 4 days a week and meeting my trainer once every two weeks. He taught me how to eat. Eating is always the hard part, but I felt full all day as long as I followed the plan. I eat a low carb diet with lean meats of roughly 1250 calories. I have three full meals and two snacks. My exercises include two days of strength training, two days of RPM, and in between I do fun activities with my baby girl to keep her healthy. She loves jump roping and racing! December 14 2013, was the last day with my trainer. I slowly stepped on the scale and it read 203 lbs! I was very happy. It took a year and a half to get there. It was not easy at all but losing 67 lbs felt awesome. My work is not done. I want to lose another 30. I feel great and my baby girl lets mommy know all the time that she is proud of me. I do a lot of research on foods and health now. I even give people advice and do weight loss challenges with co-workers and friends all the time. Last year, my job lost 77 lbs all together due to a challenge I started. My greatest challenge is that with this lifestyle change, I could no longer be the party girl. It took people a long time to adjust; some people even stopped hanging out with me. In the end, all I got is this one body and this one life. The party aspect can change. The best advice someone gave me when for weight loss was, “take your time and have fun with it.” That was the best advice and I give people this advice all the time.”