Tia lost over 100 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Tia lost over 100 pounds. She’d been overweight since childhood and fought to lose pounds many times over the years. One day, she truly saw herself and the pain she was in. It was time to take her life back, once and for all. She took action, didn’t give up and got great results. Check out her inspiring story.

I’ve been overweight my whole life. I was a nine-pound baby girl, and I was always bigger than my big brother, who is five years older than me. I was larger than my older cousins and even my classmates. All I knew is being “the fat girl.”

I tried losing weight once before in middle school. We had to get weighed in front of the whole class. I saw that 247 pounds on the scale in the eighth grade. At that point, I was determined to lose weight before high school. That summer, I lost 40 pounds, I was super excited. I did it! At the time, I didn’t know I that had to sustain the same habits to maintain the weight loss. The weight came back on, plus 50 more pounds. By my high school graduation, I weighed about 260 pounds.

At my heaviest, I weighed between 290-300 pounds (height 5’7). I didn’t weigh myself when I first started this journey because I didn’t want to discourage myself. November 18, 2014, was the day I decided to lose the weight. It took about a year and a half to get to where I am today: 182 pounds. This journey took me took me in directions that I would never have even imagined if I’d stayed stuck in my 300-pound body.

One day, I finally saw it [my situation] for myself. My thighs were huge, and for the first time ever I really saw the weight when I was sitting on a chair that I could barely fit on. I had just finished a ten-piece box of pepperoni cheese sticks, and I wept. The tears came without warning. Something just hit me. I knew it was time. I said, “No, not like this.” I couldn’t go out like that, not this time. Two months earlier, I had ended a “relationship” which brought me down. I had to change, I couldn’t go on like that anymore. Enough was definitely enough.

My motivation had to be me. I was the one carrying the weight, shedding the tears, and eating the foods that didn’t sit well with me. It was all me, I wanted it so bad that I could hold it in my hands. My determination was all me. I didn’t have a specific plan. Eating more veggies, more fruit and working out was my plan.

In the beginning, I just wanted to be skinny. I hated hearing the name “Big Tia.” I hated it, and I wanted the weight off, which  I started off slowly by doing sit-ups that first night. The next day, I woke up early that morning to go walking. I could only do ten minutes before I was tired. Five weeks later, I finally stepped on the scale, and it read 282 pounds.

I started eating more vegetables and baked my boneless, skinless chicken breast. I baked all the meat I ate. Portion control was very important, and I measured and weighed everything I ate. I also drank only water. Two months into my journey, I decided to cut meat out altogether. First, I was strictly vegetarian, and eventually, I went vegan. Smoothies, beans, rice and lots of vegetables, etc. The internet was my best friend searching for meals and different ways to workout.

I started going to the gym. For the most part, I used the treadmill, did climbing hills and did 10 minutes on the stair master. Weight training, and hitting different weight machines was also part of my routine. I stopped for a while, but I was eating mostly vegan, so the weight continued to fall off.

My advice would be not ever to give up. Remember why you started. Remember that day you knew you felt it in your heart and knew it was time to change. If you cried, remember that pain you felt. Know that you don’t want that feeling again. You have to be consistent, persistent and know that you want this worse than anything in this world. Don’t stop, even when it hurts…but be smart. Take a break if you need to and don’t strain yourself, but get back up and do it again. Keep getting up, because slips do happen. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Just get back on track and don’t stop until you get to where you are going, no matter how long it takes.

I’m still working on myself, I have 30 more pounds to lose before hitting my goal weight, I have fallen off track, from time to time, but I’m not giving up.

Instagram: @oxumiam