My mom's death sparked my weight loss of 110 lbs.

Amy_B

Today would've been my mom's 53rd birthday. She died at the age of 47 from a massive heart attack. She didn't eat well at all, ate out most days of the week usually twice, and she smoked about 3 packs of cigs a day. All of that, as you can imagine, led her to have a heart attack. She died when my oldest was only 8 months old and just three days before her second grandchild, my nephew, was to be born. She has missed so much in our lives, BUT I took her death on as my motivation to lose my weight. I didn't want my kids to go through the loss like we had. She died way too young, and I WILL NOT do that to my kids!

Here are some pictures followed by my "how I did it"...

260 pounds


245 pounds


180 pounds


150 pounds


Check out my profile pic for another B&A.


And because some might ask how I lost my weight, I will just go ahead and post it now.

First of all, while I didn't count calories in the beginning, I did look at other numbers...fruits/veggies servings, water ounces, minutes of exercise, "cheats," etc. I journaled everything I put in my mouth and eventually did post it online. I didn't want others to see me eating poorly, so I tried not to eat that "bad" stuff often (which is why I think having a public food journal on here is kind of important). I upped my water ounces to an average of 96/day, I aimed for at least 5 servings of fruits/veggies daily, I limited carbs (empty carbs, that is, and went for whole grains, not just eliminating all carbs), I choose lean meats, lowfat dairies, and add more healthful options to my menus. I added in more beans, different whole grains, veggies and fruits I hadn't really ever tried, and I LOVE taking a recipe and making it healthier/more beneficial.

Basically, I eat pretty "cleanly," and I try to think about how the food I put into my body is going to affect my body. If I have too many "off days" or cheats, I can definitely tell. I crave healthy foods. This took me about 30 months to do with 2 pregnancies in there. It may have taken less time if I had counted calories.

As far as exercise, I started out walking and doing Walk Away the Pounds dvds along with the first Biggest Loser dvd. I eventually added in Turbo Jam and other dvds. Over time I started running, doing Turbo Fire, and doing ChaLean Extreme along with other videos. I crave exercise also!

Hope this helps someone!


(By the way, if you do try to look at my food dairy, and it's blank right now, I am recovering from sinus surgery, and I can't eat much now or exercise, hence a journal not being posted right now.)

ETA: Before my sinus surgery this past Friday, my resting heart rate was only 54. The nurse was a bit baffled until I told him I exercise a lot. I try to pay special attention to my heart because of my mom (and my dad's constant health problems as well).

mejustmichael

AWESOME!

Shannibal

Sorry to hear about your mother.

You look amazing. Thank you for posting this inspirational story

janbottorf

Ohhhhh, Amy! Congratulations!!!!! I literally got goosebumps when I got to your last picture, it is SUCH a difference. So proud of you! How wonderful to learn from a tragedy and do something good about it. Now you will be around for your own kids and grandchildren for a long, long time. Happy Birthday to your mom, I'm sure you miss her greatly. Keep her in your heart, and keep honoring her with your own good health!

Lisas30th

WOW! WTG! You are an inspiration and you have done very very well for yourself. I hope you recover soon from your surgery. :flowerforyou:

nomorefatbitch

Wow!!!! Yeah you!!!

sc1572

AMAZING!!!!!

Saruman_w

Amazing! It's great to see somebody taking the initiative to get fit and successfully doing it. Sorry about your mom though. :frown:

fultzjaf

That is SO awesome! I need to keep losing and I'm just so stuck right now. I think you are such a wonderful example! Thanks for posting this. And you look GREAT by the way!

schninie82

bloody hell! you look like a completely different person!!!!

Newkell

well done! Sorry for the loss of you mother but I am glad that you took what was bad and used it for good. Congratulations

mlemonroe2

amazing job! i would love to get to 100 pounds lost. my original goal was 72 pounds lost becasue i thought it was going to be so hard and i didn't want to do it for very long. i wanted to lose 70 or so pounds and go back to eating "normal" i now know that how i was eating wasnt normal and it isn't so hard or horrible to live this way. i can't imagine going back to my old ways! i am sticking to my original goal but am going to keep going once i reach it. thanks for the motivation. you look so much younger!!!!

Sumijain

That is really an amazing achievement! Congratulations!

dlaplume2

Contgrats. I am sorry for your loss. I am glad that you took such a sad negative and made a positive change from it. Thanks for sharing.

Best wishes.

You look fabulous. I hope you feel as good as you look.

AshinAms

Well done!

manorexicmarshmallow

great job, congratulations!

traceysturn

You look fantastic!!! I am sure your Mom would be proud! Sorry you lost her so early!

penny39

Thank you for sharing your story! You are amazing!

nldsmiley

Great job and congrats on the weight loss!

TheMrsBee

Sorry to hear about you mum's death - Happy Birthday to her though! hope you are celebrating! Your pictures are inspirational! Well done you look amazing!! Keep up with your hard work. And hope you feel better from you sinus illness.

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

barbara1982

Amazing job! You look great now!
Thanks for sharing your story!