BrieAunna lost 40 pounds

Today’s featured weight loss success story: BrieAunna lost 40 pounds.  She was dealing with a high blood pressure diagnosis since 20 years old and gallbladder issues.  This proud mom of two wrote in to us to share how she lost the weight by working out at home and finding a way of eating that worked for her.

“Hello BWLW community, My name is BrieAunna. I am 27 yrs. old and I joined this group for daily inspiration to help me along my journey to loose 100 pounds. I love seeing so many of us take our health and happiness into our own hands. So far, I have lost 40 pounds since January by working out six days a week and cleaning up my eating. I hope to loose another 30 lb. by the end of the year. I have stuggled with weight since childhood and developed medical issues related to my weight at an early age. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure at the age of 20 that is only controlled with medication. I selfishly put my two babies at risk by being overweight when I got pregnant. By the grace of God they both made it close to term and were healthy. I have been to the ER countless times thinking I was having a heart attack, but in reality I was suffering from gallbladder attacks all along. I’m bad with medicine and bad with doctors so I knew I had to make a change.

I began by making subtle changes to my diet, I began to drink water only and not waste my calories on sugary drinks. I try to avoid eating out as much as possible, but when I have to due to lack of planning I try to make the best choices possible. I have also began replacing at least one of my meals with a shake, smoothie, or nutriblast.  I work in retail and this works really well when I work night shifts. I make sure to eat 5-6 meals a day, all equally balanced and around the same amount of calories. I use My Fitness Pal to count my calories and to track my exercise.

I prefer to workout from home. With my schedule and two small kids the gym is not worth the hassle. At home, I can wear what I want and not worry about keeping up with others, or about finding a gym with childcare and working around their hours. I get up before everyone else and knock it out so I can start my day. I also plan to turn my garage into a gym space soon. I have been using workout DVD’s to lose the weight. I have done Zumba, Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire, Chalean Extreme, and sometimes throw a youtube workout for kettlebells in the mix. I love weight lifting the most. It helped me break through a plateau and changed the shape of my body. Lifting weights will not make you look you manly. It leans you out and muscle burns fat. My starting weight was 271 pounds and at my heaviest I was 290 pounds. I currently weigh 231 lbs. I hope to get to 200 by January and lose another 30 pounds after that. I still struggle with my blood pressure but I don’t have the constant headaches associated with it any longer.

My advice to anyone looking to lose weight is just get moving. Don’t think to hard about it, just get up. Find things you enjoy to do so it doesn’t seem like a chore. Plan your meals ahead of time to avoid being caught in a tough situation. Don’t drink your calories!!! Most importantly don’t give up until you get where YOU want to be. Thanks for letting me share.