Weight Loss Stories – Melissa Prevost Lost 130 Pounds

Name: Melissa
Age: 31
Family Status: Married
Occupation: Stay at home mom
Location: Texas
Height: 5’1.5″
Waist: 29″
Starting Weight: 250 pounds
Current Weight: 120 pounds
Pounds or Inches Lost: I lost 130 pounds and a total of 66.5 inches!

Melissa’s Weight Loss Story!

When did you become unhappy with your weight?
After I had my daughter when she was a few months old. I had lost 70 pounds during my pregnancy and gained 25.5 pounds back and felt disgusted with myself. I could lose weight during my pregnancy but couldn’t keep going after my pregnancy? It made me mad at myself.

What made you decide to lose weight?
When I looked in the mirror in disgust and screamed “I HATE YOU”. Then I broke down in tears, sitting on my bed and feeling sorry for myself. It hit me that no one can fix this but myself. I had to find something, anything to love about myself so I could focus on that and work hard to fix the things I didn’t love about myself.

What were the most important changes you made to lose weight?
Drinking a lot of water. I drink 10 glasses a day and I actually went from hating water to craving it. I removed fried foods out of my daily diet and stopped drinking sodas. I learned that willpower is just a muscle and every time I flex it, the stronger it will get. I also learned that anything worth having in life won’t come easy and anything that comes easy, most likely isn’t worth having. So I push through my workouts and push myself hard. I went from hating to workout to making it a daily habit.

What was most challenging about losing weight?
To determine the difference between true hunger and boredom. To learn to eat to live, not live to eat. Being someone who loves to cook, loves food, lived for food, it’s been hard to relearn how to cook. When I first started this journey, I didn’t give up on my favorite things. I monitored my intake and still ate what I wanted. Now after 2 years I am eating healthier but my goals are different.

How long did it take you to start to see results?
I was a big girl and noticed results after a month of starting. I didn’t see them in the mirror but I did see them when I put on clothing and noticed how loose things were fitting.

How long did it take for you to reach your current weight?
Close to 2 years. 3 years on and off but 2 years steady.

How long have you maintained your weight loss and how do you do it?
I’ve been in my 120’s for a few months now. I count my calories and know the limit my body needs to stay in a maintenance mode. I am not really trying to maintain, but it doesn’t hurt my feelings that I’m maintaining. I wouldn’t mind losing another 5 pounds.

What keeps you motivated to continue your weight loss success?
It isn’t about motivation to me anymore. If I relied on motivation all the time I would never get anywhere. I feel motivated for a little bit and then have to rely on habit. I have goals in my mind. I see my body how I want to look and I just have to fight for it. My motivation has turned into a force of habit. I’ve trained my brain to learn what it needs on a daily basis. When I hit certain spots in my journey, I have to readjust things or else my body won’t change. It will get used to the same old things. Planning out my meals ahead of time and knowing exactly what I’m eating for the day is important. Working out in the way I’ve scheduled things is also important. It isn’t motivation, it’s just habit. Motivation is what got me started, habit is what keeps me going!

How has your life changed now that you’ve lost weight?
To even talk about this makes me tear up. I’m smaller right now then I’ve ever been. In high school I was 150 pounds and now I’m 120 pounds. When people I went to high school with or grew up with see me now, they don’t even recognize me unless they’ve followed me on Facebook.

I’ve always been told I couldn’t or wouldn’t do things that I have done and I feel proud to say I did it. To hear my mom say that I’ve never stuck to anything like I stuck to this besides my marriage and my kids, and knowing she understands I’m very serious about this journey, means so much to me. I’ve learned the difference between what I want in the moment and what I want for a lifetime. What I want for a lifetime trumps anything I want in a moment. I’ve learned that when I crave a candy bar, to really ask myself, “Will this get me closer to my goals and do I want it now or is this something that I want that will help me along the way?” Thinking about it usually causes me to put it down and walk away. Not all the time, I am still human.

I also have people coming to me all the time, asking me “what is your secret?” It amazes me how so many people are inspired and motivated but when I tell them the big secret of counting calories and working out, I get told “I can’t do that.” Why not? I did! But I think the most amazing part of all this is my mom seeing me change while she was also 100 pounds over her ideal weight. She asked me what I was doing and I told her my regimen and she started doing it. We both now weigh the same and we can wear each other’s clothes! She’s 55 years old and she did it. She did it because I did it and that helps me keep pushing to stay fit and stick to my goals.

I really hope that this can be the start of something between her and I so my kids don’t carry on the obese gene in our family. It’s actually not a gene. Yes, we have a tendency to be obese if we don’t take control but that is the issue with most people. I’ve learned that I have to be in control over what I put in my body and I’ve seen my 2-year-old daughter watch me. She works out with me, she eats food off my plate and I welcome it because I know she’s eating healthy. If I ask her to do her squats, she does them. She’ll even try to do push ups. My life has changed because our time together is spent working out, playing around and I can keep up with both my kids. My son has told me that I was obese and fat when he was only 4 years old and it hurt me so bad to hear my kid say that. Now he tells me how proud he is of me and he wraps his arms around me and says, “I like that I can wrap my arms all the way around you.” That is what makes everything worth it for me.

During my last pregnancy I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I actually showed signs of diabetes before I was pregnant and I’m pretty sure I had diabetes before my pregnancy but never got tested. After I had my baby girl and dropped 70 pounds in my pregnancy I was diabetes free. I no longer have any signs of diabetes. I was told by my diabetic doctor that most women who have diabetes during pregnancy still have it after pregnancy, but I worked hard and did what I was told and no longer do I fight with insulin or have to see a doctor. I’m 100% healthy!

Do you have any advice for others who are trying to lose weight?
The best piece of advice that was given to me and I still stand by it today would be that there is a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses and expect only results. I’ve always been interested in losing weight but I had never committed myself to doing it. When I did finally commit, nothing stood in my way. To me, I looked at it like a job and I had to do it because it needed to be done. Just like a job, you have to work to make it through life and to support your family. Well, this was a job and I had to better myself so I could be around for my family. You are worth it and you need to find something about yourself that you love. Focus on that and fight for what you want the most in life. No one can do it but you. Tell your mind to shut up and prove it wrong!

How did ShapeFit help you reach your weight loss goals?
Reading through ShapeFit’s weight loss success stories has always motivated me to try, but seeing one story similar to mine really gave me the push I needed.

Melissa’s Weight Loss Tips!

Weight loss tip #1:
Make small goals along with big ones. By the time you hit the small goals, you’ll realize how close you are to your big goals.

Weight loss tip #2:
When your mind tells you that you can’t, tell it to shut up, step it up a notch and prove it wrong!

Weight loss tip #3:
Commit to being a better, healthier you. Stop being interested and make this a habit.

Weight loss tip #4:
Motivation can only bring you so far. When you aren’t feeling motivated, get up and do it anyway. Changes only happen when you force it.

Weight loss tip #5:
When the scale stops moving, pull out your measuring tape. Always take all of your before and after measurements so you know that you’re losing something. Also, make sure to take before and after photos no matter who sees them. Nobody has to view them but when you can’t see a change in the mirror those photos won’t lie!

Melissa’s Weight Loss Eating Plan!

Breakfast:
Coffee, oatmeal with pecans and honey, 2 strawberries, 2 scrambled egg whites and 1 slice of bacon.

Lunch:
Cranberry and turkey salad on a honey whole wheat thin round roll. A small side salad with a little almonds and 1 tbsp of fat-free raspberry pecan dressing.

Dinner:
Baked Greek yogurt battered chicken, steamed asparagus and brown rice.

Snacks or Mini Meals:
Luna protein bar, Greek yogurt, strawberries, apples, oranges, celery sticks, cucumbers dipped in hummus, fat-free frozen yogurt, handful of almonds.

Melissa’s Weight Loss Workouts!

Weight Training:
I use a program called 30 Day Shred.

Cardiovascular:
I like doing Insanity, jogging, 30 Day Shred, and bike riding.

1. Prev:Weight Loss Stories – Michael Kaminski Lost 53 Pounds
2. Next:Weight Loss Stories – Melanie Lost 35 Pounds in 6 Months