I was an overweight child. Probably around age 8 was when now notice in old pictures that I was a bit chubby. I grew up in a home with a family of Chef. Everybody loved to cook I was always that taste tester. And I love to eat.
But as an adult I went away to college and definitely put on that Freshman 15 and then some. After having all three of my kids I realized that I had gained over 140 lb.
NAME : Shantoyia
BEFORE WEIGHT : 382
AFTER WEIGHT : 205
POUNDS LOST : 177
HOW DID YOUR WEIGHT AFFECT ANY ASPECT(S) OF YOUR LIFE? I would say that my weight affected me once I got to my highest weight and couldn’t find many clothes in my size. Not many stores that I shop at had a size 24-26 jean. I had to order special clothes online sometimes. And the fact that I’m tall made it harder for me to find especially pants.
WHAT WAS THE “TURNING POINT” THAT GOT YOU STARTED ON YOUR WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY? Not being able to fit into my favorite pair of jeans
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED? The first step that I took was reaching out to my healthcare provider and asking them to refer me to a weight loss surgeon. I then had my appointment a few weeks later with the surgeon. And I took a weight loss surgery class. I immediately took action and change my diet and started walking. I was able to lose weight naturally before surgery.
HOW LONG AFTER YOU STARTED DID YOU BEGIN TO SEE RESULTS OF YOUR WEIGHT LOSS EFFORTS?
I noticed a difference about 6 weeks after surgery the change in my face was the first thing I noticed.
WHAT WAS THE HARDEST PART? Definitely not getting the support from certain family members. Sometimes I felt like they were trying to sabotage my diets. Not everyone has to eat like me but if you know that I’m on a journey I feel like they should do what they can to support it.
DID YOU EVER WANT TO GIVE UP? WHAT KEPT YOU GOING? I have never given up fully I’ve always just stop and reset.
DID YOU HIT ANY WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAUS? HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THEM? I actually did hit a very long plateau. It lasted about 8 months I was in between 235lbs and 240lbs for the longest. I was having a hard time losing more weight. Until I decided to switch things up, put away the scale and just live my life. I picked up on my water and stay active. one day I pulled that scale back out and realized I had lost 15lbs. And i bern dropping ever since.
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO LOSE MOST OF THE WEIGHT? It took me about three and a half years.
DID YOU HAVE ANY NON-SCALE VICTORIES? Going to the store and try on size 16 jeand and size large top.
WHAT DOES YOUR DAILY DIET LOOK LIKE COMPARED TO WHEN YOU WERE HEAVIER? I was an emotional eater. And not the way most people think. I was a happy eater. We celebrated a lot in our house. Between holidays ,birthdays ,good report cards ect. I always seem to celebrate with unhealthy food. I didn’t even realize that I was an emotional eater happy eater until my surgeon’s team member brought it to my attention. But I knew nothing about portion control and ate a lot of processed food.
HOW DOES YOUR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY COMPARE TO WHEN YOU WERE HEAVIER? Before I was at my heaviest I could just walk for Fitness maybe 15-20 minutes before I was tired. Now before this pandemic I was in the gym for almost 2 hours. I can jogging on a treadmill and hit the weights. I noticed that I have built myself up even with my homework out.
MY WEIGHT LOSS TIPS & TRICKS
- Make your own meals. Cook more at home.
- Make a vision board of your weight loss Journey. So when you’re having a bad day you can look at it and remind yourself why you’re doing this.
- Change up your routine every other week to keep the body guessing
- Drink water. Add sugar-free Pax to your water to help you drink more
- Take lots of pictures in the beginning so you have something to compare and remind yourself how far you’ve come.
