Jennifer lost 52 pounds

Today’s featured weight loss success story: Jennifer lost 52 pounds on a journey to improve her health after learning that she was facing a number of health concerns.  She learned that nutrition is key to weight loss and had success with exercise as well.  Keeping a food journal (like we are doing for our September Challenge) is also one of the tools she used to lose the pounds.  Here is what she shared with us:

Hi, my name is Jennifer and I am inspired by the encouragement you share and how you are helping Black Women Lose Weight. I want to share my story.

My Journey started last year in February 2012. I was 33 years old and was feeling sluggish, I was in denial about gaining weight and was constantly having lower adominal pains. I knew I had to do something, so I went to see my doctor and they ran all my blood work.  To my surprise, I was bordeline diabetic, my cholesterol was 217 and my vitamin D level was 17. At that moment, I knew I had to make a change. I was turning 34 later that year and didn’t want to bring in my birthday being unhealthy. They suggested that I see a nutritionist and get going on my journey. I signed up at the gym near my job and started to make my change. I went cold turkey with my eating habits by eliminating bread, butter and sugar. I incorporated more vegetables and I also started to journal everything I was eating. I also found a great app on my phone called LoseIt. This is a calorie counter app and it helped me stay on track with my meals. I workout everyday for a half hour on my lunch break and I run on the weekends. When I started, I was 194 lbs and in total disgust with myself. I lost my focus on me. I take yoga, pilates, boot camp, kickboxing and strength training. I have been juicing since Decemeber of 2012 and I don’t miss a day. I recently had foot surgery in June and I was afraid that during my 6 week recovery I would gain weight due to not being able to work out. I realized at the moment that the key is your nutrition plan. I didn’t gain a single pound during my six weeks of recovery. I am now 142 pounds and I have lost a total of 52 pounds.