Terri lost 175 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Terri lost 175 pounds. She knew that her weight and health could potentially put her life at risk. After years of yo-yo dieting, she learned a lot about her body. However, while doing research on the Ketogenic diet she found the answers that she’d been looking for. Check out her journey.

What was your motivation? What inspired you to keep going when you wanted to give up?
Initially, my motivation was my son. I am a single mother, and I was majorly overweight when I became pregnant with him (380lbs or more). My doctor told me that I could not gain any weight while I was pregnant. It was a high-risk pregnancy because I had fibroid tumors that were growing while he was growing.

I was placed on bed rest twice during the pregnancy and hospitalized once. I had morning sickness the entire time and could not keep anything on my stomach. The hospitalization was due to me being dehydrated.

When my son was born, my tumor had grown a lot. It caused my labor to last several days. My son was in distress and starving due to my sickness and dehydration. I had to have an emergency C section. My son was a little over 6 pounds, my tumor weighed 5 pounds. I also had to consent to a hysterectomy right on the operating table. I have always viewed my son as my miracle because with so many factors (many related to my weight and unhealthy state) it could have very well turned out differently.

My major motivating factor came when my son was about 3 years old. I had the overwhelming thought that I did not want him to come into the room and find that I had passed away. I wanted to do all that I could to prevent that from being his reality. At the time, I was wearing a size 26/28 and 30 in bottoms. I currently wear a 12 in tops and dresses and L (14) in bottoms. I remember getting on my scale and seeing the number go past the 350 lbs and back around to the 35-40 lbs range. CLEARLY, I did NOT weigh 40 lbs, so that meant I really weighed 390 pounds.

How did you change your eating habits?
I started doing the Weight Watchers diet in 2001. As we all know, it is mainly a calorie restriction diet. It allowed me to continue to eat what I wanted, but within guidelines. I still ate fast foods, desserts, and fried foods. The plan worked for me initially, and I lost 80-90 lbs. I plateaued and actually comfortably settled at 280 pounds for about 15 years. Over that 15 year period of time, I tried the HCG diet, Cabbage Soup Diet and a diet given to me by my trainer (where I eliminated most carbs). However, I would lose weight and gain it back. I told myself that wearing size 18-20 was such a HUGE accomplishment for me. Ironically, was ok with stopping right there.

In 2018, I stumbled across the Keto diet. I heard about it before, but I thought it was too complicated, with all the macros and ketones, so I never delved any further. While browsing Instagram one night, one of my favorite Plus-Sized fashion bloggers posted that she started Keto in December 2017 (it was April 2018 when I saw the post). She had lost about 50 lbs. I was like “Whoa!”. I had given myself a year to lose 50 pounds multiple times, and I was struggling with that!

I started researching, listening to podcasts, reading books by Dr. Jason Fung, watching videos of Dr. Eric Berg, Dr. Ken Berry, Thomas DeLauer and following others who had been successful with Keto. I started reading and learned that there is no ONE SIZE FITS ALL eating plan. The other diets I tried in the past may not have been the best choices for MY body. I determined that I was very sensitive to bread (and other carbs). I learned that I also have insulin resistance/metabolic syndrome. I decided to try the Keto diet for one month. If it worked, great. If not, no harm no foul. I lost about 16 lbs during the first month and a total of 30 pounds in two months. I was sold. Now, I’m 7.5 months in, and I have lost about 75 lbs on Keto.

What did your workout routine consist of?
Initially, I used workout videotapes. I would join the gym, but never go, so I decided to work out at home while my son watched his videos. When I started, I would say to myself, “Exercise for 10 minutes and then you can stop if you want to” At first, I would stop at ten minutes. Later, I would challenge myself to get to a certain point in the video before stopping. Eventually, I would do the entire tape… adding additional time in the morning as well. Later on, when I would take my son to the park, I would walk around the area where he was playing. Fast forward to about 5 years ago, I started working with a personal trainer and taking cardio classes. I currently do resistance training 3 days a week and cardio 2-3 days a week.

What was your starting weight? What is your current weight?
My starting weight was 380 pounds, and my current weight is 205 pounds. My goal weight is 180-190 lbs. My height is 5 ft, 3.5 inches.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
I learned that weight is just a symptom of the things that happen in my body. If I heal my body, the weight will drop off. For the first time in my life, instead of just reducing my calories or eliminating this or that, I have actually learned about how insulin, glucose, sugar, carbs, etc. affect the body. I discovered that it was not the lack of willpower but the fact that the things I was feeding body triggered a specific type of response.

I finally learned what my body wanted, and I am still learning about various ingredients, sweeteners and what I need to consume or avoid to heal my body. I learned that, contrary to popular belief, Keto is about eating REAL food. It’s not limited to bacon, butter, and burgers. I eat those things, but I also eat cabbage, asparagus, kale, spinach, avocados, seafood, chicken, eggs, coconut, almonds, macadamia nuts, healthy fats and low glycemic sweeteners (pretty much the perimeter of the store). I really only venture into the aisles to get my coffee, Monkfruit sweetener and almond flour when I want to bake something. I also learned that fasting has tremendous benefits for the body, and I follow a fasting protocol regularly.

What advice do you have for people who want to lose weight?
I recommend that everyone eliminate processed carbohydrates from their diet. Even if they do not decide to implement the ketogenic protocol, processed foods are not good for us. If they are interested in trying out Keto, I suggest they read, research, listen to podcasts or even join Facebook groups. Try it out. You have nothing to lose. Also…

• Track what you eat, regardless of eating plan you choose
• Stay hydrated
• Fast often
• Exercise for overall health

Is weight loss surgery part of your journey?
I am proud to say that I have never had any surgery other than a C-section to deliver my son. I struggled and struggled for nearly 2 decades, winning and failing, but I refused to give up. I have considered having plastic surgery to eliminate my loose skin. It is not overwhelmingly saggy, and I think that is because my journey has been so long. I am not ready to go under the knife just yet. I am currently using intermittent fasting and the science of autophagy along with resistance training and cardio to help reduce the loose skin that I have.

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