Vencellia lost 170 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Vencellia lost 170 pounds. The loss of her son led to lots of emotional eating, and her weight balloned from 165 pounds to 345 pounds over the course of a year. Sorrow was consuming her, and her health suffered as a result. She knew that her son would want more for her, so she found the strength to turn her life around and get healthy. Check out what she shared with us about her journey.

I lost my son in 2011 and my weight went from 165 lbs. to 345 lbs in less than a year. My blood pressure was sky high and I was on meds to help lower it. I drowned my sorrows with food, eating everything, and I didn’t care that it was slowly destroying me. I begin to have bad headaches and I felt tired all day so I would just lay around and eat all day, making matters worst. I was gaining more weight day by day.

My son was shaken at the age of 5 months by a relative. He lived to be 7, but he died in 2001. He had a 95% vision loss and had a g-tube in his little belly to be fed through, He could never walk or talk. He died weighing only 18 pounds. He couldn’t gain any weight due to being shaken and it was destroying me. I ate my pain away. Well, years went by and I told myself you can’t love yourself because you are destroying you!

I joined the Local YMACA only to fail again and get off track. The pain was too deep, but it’s almost like I could feel my son telling me to get it together. And so I did. I rejoined the Local YMCA and started doing Zumba everyday. I also started working out everyday and walking the track on days I didn’t make it to the gym. After I lost my first 50 pounds, I added in more classes; Group Fight, Abs class, Boxmaster, Weights and Combo Class.

I cut out all meat and became a vegetarian.  I started journaling all my meals each day. The hardest thing about becoming a vegeatarian was not having my hot wings anymore. I found substitutions for them and made buffalo cauliflower instead. I had to cut out high sugar, high fat, high calorie foods. I do treat myself. I don’t deprive myself, I eat in moderation instead.

More weight came off and I felt so much better. I got off all the medicine I was on, including iron pills, vitamin D, high blood pressure meds and B12 pills. Today, 2 years later, I’m down from my highest weight of 345 pounds to 175 pounds. My height is 5’2″. My pants were a size 28 at 303 pounds and now I wear a size 10. My waist was a 54 inches and now it’s 31 inches. I no longer take blood pressure meds or eat emotionally. Instead, I workout when I’m having a rough day. I’m still losing weight and eating right. I’ve been a vegetarian for 2 years and I love it.

My journey has not been easy, but it has made me realize that I’m worth it. I had to do this to get my life back on track. I miss my son so much, but I know he would want me healthy and happy. So, I did what I had to do for me. Today, I love looking at myself and seeing that I’m physically and mentally back on track.

I opened up a page on Facebook to encourage people, Dropping The Pounds and Walking Away. I also have a FB group page called Getting My Sexy Back Smoothie Challenge. I try to motivate women to gain control of their health and to get back on track.

Instagram: @dreadqueen007