Dee lost 48 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Dee lost 48 pounds. Her wakeup call came when she realized that she’d gained back 48 lbs. of the 108 lbs. she lost in 2008. She was fighting anxiety and stress due to her work life, which led to out of control eating habits. However, once she made up her mind, she found the determination to make it happen. Check out her journey.

I’ve always been a self-motivated, perseverant and determined person. All I have to do is make the decision that I will accomplish something and I make it happen. My motivation on this journey came from realizing that I had gained back 48 pounds of the 108 pounds I had lost back in 2008.

Just so you know, at my heaviest I weighed 258 pounds. One day in March 2015, I stepped on my scale and was disappointed to see that I weighed 198 pounds! Right then and there, I told myself that I wouldn’t let that scale hit the 200 lbs. mark. At the same time, I was fighting chronic anxiety due to me not being happy at my workplace. I’m a preschool teacher and my job is demanding and stressful at times. Being unhappy with the work environment there made me start using food as a way to cope with the stress and my unhappiness. I wasn’t necessarily eating badly all the time, but my portions were way out of control! I realized that I was losing myself and needed to get back on track.

The first thing I did was to cut my portion sizes in half and completely remove all processed foods. I added vegetables, healthy carbs like whole wheat bread, oatmeal and fresh fruits. I ate proteins like eggs, chicken, salmon and whey protein to my diet. I mostly drank water and lots of it! Every now and then, I would allow myself a cheat meal or snack (usually thin crust pizza or ice cream) depending on the amount of exercise I had that day or week.

I never owned a gym membership. I’ve always worked out at home. I have set up a corner in my living room where I stack my weights, workout DVDs and do my exercises. My workout routine consists of mostly full body, bodyweight exercises for strength and some weight training as well. For cardio, its kickboxing and lots of plyometric/HIIT training and walking. Then, I’m stretching on my rest day for recovery and to increase my flexibility. I usually work out 5-6 days a week for 30 minutes to an hour. My starting weight was 198 pounds and my current weight is 150 pounds. It took me 8 months to lose 48 lbs. I’m 5’5” tall.

My advice to other sistas would be to first find your Whys. Why do you want/need to lose weight? And then go for it! My why was my mental health. What’s yours? Realize that your health is very important and affects every part of your life. I had to re-evaluate my life and realize it what needed to be done for myself, which eventually led me to quit that job that was harming my overall health.

There’s no magic pill or special diet. Only hard work, lots of sweat, determination, consistency and patience will get you there. Diet is also very important and at least 80% of the equation in determining if you will succeed or fail. Never try to compensate your bad eating with exercise! It will only lead you to overtrain and make you stop all together.

Stay positive! Find ways to stay motivated. To keep me going when it gets tough during my workouts, I use motivational self-talk and tell myself encouraging words to help me get to the end. Last but not least, believe that you CAN and you WILL lose the weight. Patience is key! The body can be very resistant to change and persistence is the key when it comes to changing your body. It won’t be easy but keep pushing! Your health and well-being depends on it. Peace!