Delores lost 181 pounds

Weight Loss Success Story of the Day: Delores lost 181 pounds. She made the decision to take all the knowledge she’d gathered from years of yo-yo dieting and create REAL, lasting lifestyle change.  Her Weight Loss Journey was featured in Women’s Health Magazine & Closer Weekly.  Here is what she shared with us…

How I Gained It: Whelp! I gained the weight by eating what I wanted, as much as I wanted, and having no desire to exercise. I didn’t have a strong desire to exercise until 2004 when my weight hit an all-time high of 350 pounds. I hated receiving invitations to go out, missed out on family vacations and on life’s precious events. My overall health wasn’t good either. I was diagnosed with acid reflux, diabetes, and high blood pressure. I knew I needed to make a change, but did I? No.

I experimented with programs such as Weight Watchers and Medifast. I tried a lot of things, including the cabbage soup and rice diet, Atkins and slim fast, “Within six months to a year of starting a diet, my weight would creep back up to my heaviest. I was Constantly yo-yoing between highs and lows.

Now, lets talk about the dreaded clothes SHOPPING. Shopping was pure hell for me. I ate myself up to a size 5x, size 30/32 blouses, 28-32 pants and 50 bra. Oh wait..It doesn’t stop there. I didn’t have a lap so I couldn’t even hold my beautiful grandkids on my lap.

The Moment I Knew I Needed To Lose Weight: The turning point was July 2013.

1. We had to fly for my husband’s business training trip to Dallas. The seat belt barely fit around me. I had to reach down and pull up my stomach in order to get the seatbelt around me. I was so embarrassed and wanted to cry. We decided to stay an extra day after the training to tour the new Dallas stadium. Need I say more…I couldn’t walk the Dallas stadium tour with my husband.

2. I was so sick and tired of all meds; types of blood pressure medicine, two types of diabetes medicine, acid reflux medicine, and water pills. Only you know when enough is enough. And I had enough.

3. We went to dinner to celebrate family July birthdays and all gathered on the pier to take pictures. Later that evening, as I sat on the couch looking at the pictures, I noticed that my husband could barely put his arm around me. I looked at that woman in the picture and asked, “Who are you?”. I didn’t know the woman looking back at me.

How I Lost It: The initial start was to remove sugar from my diet, stop late night eating and start using the gym membership that I had been paying on for two years. I knew I had to do something different this time. I had to find a way to make long term lifestyle changes. I knew giving up too much and feeling deprived wasn’t going to work this time.

I looked at every diet plan I’d ever been on and came up with a lifestyle plan that would that fit my daily routine and give me long term results. What had I learned from these diets? Eliminating sugar, cutting down on carbs and eating everything in moderation. The first 30 days, I didn’t eat any potatoes, pasta, white rice, flour, soda, sugar and I drank no less than a gallon of water a day. I’ve learned to read labels – even if it’s an organic, condiments, and seasonings. My plate consisted baked chicken, fish and salmon. I also filled my plate with vegetables and a small side of carbs. As much as possible, I try to stay away from processed foods, however “in some cases, you can’t avoid it,” and we know moderation is the key.

I make my own portable energy snacks; like roasted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, pistachios, cashews and roasted chickpeas. I lost 20 pounds in 30 days and started going to the gym. I was sore for three months but I kept going every day. Even after losing 20 pounds, I could only walk on the treadmill at the lowest speed but I kept going as if my life depended on it. I would be on it for an hour, take a break, and get right back on. I stuck with the treadmill for the first nine months.

How My Life Is Different Now: The world has opened up to me! I love going to the gym and my energy level is off the charts! I’m off the chain and everybody that knows me is cheering me on! I want to do everything; spin class, dance, run, horseback riding and travel the world. Now, I can walk on the treadmill on its highest level for 45-50 minutes.

Milestone: I’ve gone from someone who could barley walk up a fight of stairs without being winded, to now lifting weights, using strength-training machines, elliptical machines and I started spin classes. I got my life back! My current weight is 169 pounds and I’m no longer on any of the medications! I’m going to need a mommy makeover (“That’s another story”). One year later, My husband said “Baby, I bet you can run that stadium now! I going to take you back to Dallas baby!”

Please feel free to follow my journey;
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