New Joy After Weight Loss

Hailey before (2009)

Hailey after losing 130 pounds

Hailey is a very happy young woman these days. She has succeeded in losing 130 pounds. She feels so good in her new life and she's offered her story to encourage people who are justing starting out in their journey to get fit. Hope you enjoy.

Three and a half years ago, I was 20 years old and weighed 287 pounds. I had always been the person that everyone turned to, the confident and the support system. I had a really hard time putting myself first and talking about my own pain with friends and family who often felt so comfortable divulging what they were going through to me. I turned to food as means of letting out how I was feeling. I used to hide food from my family, do separate grocery shops and eat in my room It took me a long time to realize how harmful this was and how I really felt about my life and my size. I tried to convince myself that I enjoyed my body. I had boyfriends who liked me but I still found it a challenge to look in the mirror.

In 2010, after a break-up with my long-term boyfriend and after attending my cousins wedding (seeing pictures of myself in a dress) I decided to weigh myself and work on things. I started changing how much food and what type of food I was eating and began slowly working up. Walking, some light weights and eventually started becoming more comfortable with pushing my body.

Today, my life is completely different I have lost over 130 pounds, have an amazing man in my life, have been fortunate to have great jobs in the counselling field and am now preparing to move to Whitehorse YT with my partner to start a new chapter of our life together.

Health and fitness means so much to me. I eat clean, I work out several times a week and I feel great about where I am now.

I would love to have my story posted and have the chance to help others with these struggles as I know how hard it can be to get started but how good it feels once you have.

Best Tips for Losing Stomach Weight

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for my long absence, I'll be adding a fab new weight loss story here later this week. 

Lose the Belly

The news today is that we've updated the free app "Lose the Belly". This is truly a hugely helpful app filled with quick tutorials and tips for losing weight, especially around the stomach. Video tutorials include;

* The best exercises for slimming the abdomen

* Great nutritional advice for losing weight fast

* Five ways celebrities lose weight

* Amazing photos of people before and after

* Top tips for choosing slimming clothes

* The best yoga poses for losing stomach fat

This app is geared for women, but there is a similar excellent app for men here.

If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod, check out this motivational app, you will see great results very quickly if you follow the tips in only a few of the fabulous videos provided here.

Losing 110 Pounds in One Year

Rishi Lost 110 Pounds in One Year

Rishi had been overweight all his life until age 25. Both his parents were also overweight. When he was in his early 20's he watched his father undergo triple bypass surgery. But at this time he was still not worried about his own obesity. He continued to eat lots of junk food and did not exercise. It was only when he turned 25 and got a serious health scare that he decided to change his lifestyle. 

He ended up in the emergency ward of the hospital and was diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He was given medications to lower these readings. At that point he decided to embark on a journey towards better health. He started walking daily and gave up sugar and fried foods. He made vegetables, lentils and fruits the mainstay of his daily meals. Within one year he had lost 110 pounds! 

Rishi has maintained his health for over a decade now! He has written a detailed story about his life before and after losing weight. It's very motivational, check it out at Weight Loss Glory. 

Rishi at 265 pounds

One Year Later, Rishi at 155 pounds

New Year - New Inspiration to Lose Weight!

Mike after extreme weight loss

Hi everyone, I haven't posted any stories for quite a while. But wanted to get back to it and here is a very joyous and inspirational video to help you in your New Year's resolutions and motivation!

Mike lost over 350 pounds. He lost it in a very short time (in his first 17 months of weight loss, he lost 330 pounds). He was obese all his young life but at the age of 20 a big switch went off (after a car accident) and he completely transformed his lifestyle.



Mike didn't follow any specific diet. He just started eating what he knew was healthy (and not processed food) and began walking... Check out this very inspirational two minute video of his before and after pics;

 He provides this FAQ on his youtube video page;

  1) What diet plan did you do?

I didn't follow any "mainstream diet". I just used common sense and consumed things that are widely accepted as healthy like fruits and vegetables, whole grains (oats, not processed whole grains like in cereals), lean sources of protein such as fish and poultry and overall cut out junk food and soda entirely--yes, cold turkey. Eat less calories than you burn and you WILL lose weight and make it a habit to look at the nutritional facts of food that you eat, being educated is over half the battle. 

 2) What kind of training did you do?

I didn't have access to a gym or a trainer so again I did what instinctively came natural and walked everywhere. I skipped going out to eat with my friends to go for a walk and met up with them after and I was that much better off for it. I walked everyday no matter what, adding distance as the walk got easier. After I lost the bulk of the weight I took up lifting weights in hopes to build muscle mass and fill out my skin. 

3) What surgeries did you have done/do you have any problems with loose skin??

I did not have any bypass or gastric surgery or any weight loss surgery at all for that matter. I lost all the weight entirely on my own. Naturally I have loose skin all over my body. After losing the bulk of the weight I had man boobs and a very large skirt of skin which I was fortunate enough to have removed by surgery and that was covered by my medical insurance. Mine was a severe case, this is not typical from what I hear. 

He also has a highly recommended longer video detailing his weight loss journey here. Mike has managed to keep the weight off for years now and only gets happier and fitter each year. Amazing feat and change of life!

Three Key Healthy Foods to Eat More of..

In this quick and to-the-point video the beautiful nutritionist suggests we eat some of these three incredibly healthy foods each day. They are leafy greens, sea vegetables and flaxseeds. Have you had some of at least one of these foods today?

I had some steamed spinach with my scrambled eggs this morning, but this video reminded me that I need to stock up on some dried seaweed (my son loves it and it makes a great school lunch snack).

Going From XXXXL to Medium Size Shirt

Shawn Before Losing 140 pounds

At 205 pounds (after losing 140 pounds)

Shawn used to wear an XXXXL (4XL) shirt but now wears a medium size shirt. He's lost 140 pounds. It took him just six months to lose the first one hundred pounds. Another thirty pounds got pounded away by the end of the first year - in Janurary 2010. He got down to under two hundred pounds at one point soon after but is now wavering at a pretty happy 220 or so..

Shawn lost his weight by counting calories. He allows himself cheat days and junk food on a regular basis but says the key is to keep within your calories for most days. His exercise of choice is basketball and the gym.

He started a blog - 344Pounds.com - when he first set out to lose the weight. He sent the 'before' pic and link to all his friends and relatives. This was embarrassing for him but he felt it would be pivotal in motivating him to stick to his goal.

Check out his site, he has some very inspiring posts including some great before and after pics and his first year weekly weight loss progress chart.

There are a lot of people who like to lose weight by counting calories. I've always thought this weight loss method appeals more to women than men. (Weight Watchers is based on this, and seems to be much more popular with women than men, see some success stories on this site about Weight Watchers...) My personal opinion is that whether this is a successful long-term strategy depends a lot on the type of personality you have. For example, in my case, I'm too much of a rebel type, I could never stick to this kind of detailed regiment of watching my calorie consumption all the time. I also think you'd be much more prone to experience hunger and discomfort if you are keeping to your calorie count, but it is based on foods that are not filling and nutritional. My personal preferred route is just to stick to exceptionally healthy foods most of the time. I believe you can eat a great deal of deliciously cooked vegetables, beans and brown rice, never feel hungry and consistently lose weight. I'm the type who would much rather educate myself on the healthiest foods and focus on eating those rather than on counting calories. (See some great info about healthy food here. )

But different methods work better for different people. Congrats to Shawn! Please visit his site.

Swimming to Lose Weight - 100 Pounds Lighter Now

Matthew at Start of Weight Loss

Matthew after losing 100 pounds

Matthew weighed 469 pounds about five months ago. He's lost an incredible 104 pounds since then. He still wants to lose another 150 pounds but realizes this may take quite a bit longer.

Matthew did this by completely overhauling his diet and exercising almost every day.

His exercise of choice is swimming and his almost daily schedule includes 225 yards easy freestyle, 100 free sprint, 50 easy free, 100 butterfly sprint, 75 easy free, 100 backstroke sprint, 50 easy, 100 sprint free and 200 more yards to cool down.

I'm not sure what this means in terms of mileage and whether it would be something like a one hour workout or much more? (Please let me know in the comments).

He's limited animal products to less than 20% of his daily diet. He also cut out all sodas and now just drinks water. He's got a really good suggestion about adding nutritional yeast to your diet. Nutritional yeast has no sodium or gluten and is loaded with B vitamins. One of his favorite new meals is to use premade wheat crust, throw some tomato sauce and olive oil on it, pile it high with vegetables and then liberally top it with nutritional yeast. Bake it and you have a very nutritious pizza. He also recommends using nutritional yeast as a spaghetti sauce topper.

Congrats to you Matthew! Hope we hear another progress report soon!