Stella lost 81 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Stella lost 81 pounds. Several years of self-neglect and low self-esteem led to comfort eating, weight gain and swelling in her legs. This year, she figured out what worked for her budget, made healthy lifestyle choices and got results. Check out her journey.

In December 2016, I reached my highest weight of 253 pounds/115 kgs at 5’4″. I hated how I looked. My legs would swell often and I just felt tired all the time. Several years of self-neglect and low self-esteem led to comfort eating, which made me severely obese. In January 2017, I decided that this was my year to lose weight and get healthy by changing my lifestyle.

I started eating more fruit, vegetables and protein. I cut out lots of carbs as well. I discovered that my body has a slow metabolism, so I started eating carbs only before noon so that my body has enough time during the day to burn them off.

Initially, my workouts were made up of walking and jogging around my neighborhood for 15 minutes at a time. Gradually, I increased it to 1 hour a day, 5 or 6 times a week.

Nine months later, I have lost 81 pounds/37kgs. The greatest lesson I’ve learned on this journey is that sustainable weight loss requires commitment, consistency and sacrifice. You must hang in there, no matter how demotivated you feel, because with persistence victory will be yours one day.

My advice to those who want to lose weight: Just start. Also, do not make excuses. When I realised the cost of gym the ($90 pm) was beyond my budget, I opted to buy $5 walking shoes and just started walking. It worked! Use the resources you have to make a change and stop making excuses. If your mind is made up and your body is fed up, any goal is reachable.

Thanks for the opportunity to share my story. I hope it inspires even one person to lose weight naturally. I am now a curvy model, something I never imagined I would do when I was
obese. Anything is possible if you work for it.

Instagram: @stella_the_winner