Fabiola lost 30 pounds

Fabiola lost 30 pounds. Her mother had a heart attack and that served as the catalyst for her lifestyle change. For this busy mom of 2, health was the priority. She cut out the junk, ate healthier food and worked out on a regular basis. Check out her story.

What was your motivation?
What really made me want to start living a healthy lifestyle was my mom. She had a heart attack back in July 2016. My family is from the Caribbean, so we eat a lot of white rice and fried foods. It was hard cutting those foods out, but in order to live longer and feel good we have to scarifice. From that moment on, I decided that it was time to change my eating habits before I ended up with high blood pressure and all the other stuff that comes with being overweight.

How did you change your eating habits?
I incorporated more fruit into my diet, because I’m a chocolate fiend and needed something to replace that. I also ate more veggies. Eating more protein, like fish, chicken, salmon and turkey meat, helped as well. I completely cut out fast food, soda and all types of juice out my diet. I strictly drink water instead.

Starting weight/Current weight
I started my journey in April 2016 and at the time I weighed 188 pounds. Now, at 23 years old, I weigh 158 pounds. The reason why it took me a year to lose the weight is because I wasn’t being consistent. When I looked at my before picture and compared to what I looked like at the time, I told myself that I must keep going and not give up.

What did you do in terms of exercise?
My workout plan consists of working out 5 days a week. I have a full time job, so on the days that I’m off I go walking/jogging for at least 3-4 miles. On the days I work, I use Fitness Blender workout videos on YouTube. I’ll do 30 minutes of ab exercises one day, and the next day I’ll do 30 minutes of butt and thigh HIIT workouts.

What advice do you have for other people who want to lose weight?
The advice I have for every one is that no matter what’s going on in your life, you come first. I’m a mother of 2 small kids, and I made the time to meal prep and incorporate 30 minutes to 1 hour of exercise into my daily routine. You can do it to with no excuses. Also it’s very important not skip meals, especially breakfast. You must drink lots and lots of water as well.