Weight Loss Stories – Donesha Lost 75 Pounds in 20 Months

Name: Donesha
Age: 33
Family Status: Single
Occupation: Educator
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Height: 5’3″
Waist: 32″
Starting Weight: 215 pounds
Current Weight: 140 pounds
Pounds or Inches Lost: I have lost 75 pounds!

Donesha’s Weight Loss Story!

When did you become unhappy with your weight?
I have always been a confident woman and I was starting to lose that confidence. I wasn’t able to run and play with my 9-year-old nephew without getting very tired.

What made you decide to lose weight?
I relocated to North Carolina and started my first teaching job. I was very comfortable living in North Carolina until my mother was diagnosed with cancer and was given a time frame to live. At the time, I was attending North Carolina Central University working on my Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction so I would travel over 600 miles back and forth to help my family care for my mother. Life was hard but I was making the best of a bad situation. I had joined the local YMCA and started taking part in Zumba and high impact aerobics classes. I started gradually losing weight. I weighed 220 pounds and I had gotten down to 190 pounds.

My plans were to finish school and move to Atlanta so that I could be closer to my mother but she didn’t live long enough for that to happen. A year after my mother passed, I made the move to Atlanta without a job or any prospects. I was living with my aunt in Alabama and spending nights with my best friend in Atlanta when I was able to search for a job. I was away from the gym all summer and didn’t take notice to the fact that I was gaining all of the weight I had worked so hard to get rid of. School had started and I still didn’t have a job but that didn’t stop me. I had a nephew to care for so there was no such thing as quitting! I had been raising Nehemiah since he was 5 years old.

A week after school started I was asked to interview for a job in Bankhead and I was hired. At that point I weighed 215 pounds and so much into fashion that I didn’t see my weight climbing out of control. At the age of 37 my cousin was found dead in her bed one morning by her 3 children and two days later my grandfather lost his battle with prostate cancer. It was a year later that my aunt found out that her daughter had died from hypertension. When I was working on my undergraduate degree, my uncle fell dead in church of a heart attack. Last year my cousin age 36 started her battle with breast cancer and WON but my aunt lost her battle to lung cancer. Several of my aunts have diabetes and high blood pressure as well as my younger sister and at that point I decided that enough was enough!

What were the most important changes you made to lose weight?
Diet and cardio! It was important for me to change my way of eating in order to drop the weight and stay consistent with my weight loss.

What was most challenging about losing weight?
Keeping focused when you aren’t seeing the results you want is the hardest thing to endure when losing weight but I had to learn that the results would come if I put the work in. It takes time.

How long did it take you to start to see results?
I started to see my body change in inches within weeks and within a month the scale started to change as well.

How long did it take for you to reach your current weight?
I have been working non-stop for a year and 8 months.

How long have you maintained your weight loss and how do you do it?
I’m still toning and losing daily! My newfound love is running and I hope to run my first race this summer. I workout every morning (Monday – Friday at 5:30 am) and after work on Monday, Wednesday and Friday on my own. I train with Tiss’s Show Ready Group (my trainer) on Tuesday and Thursday. I am trying new healthy dishes every day and working to eat clean 90% of the time.

What keeps you motivated to continue your weight loss success?
Just the fact that it’s possible to be around to enjoy watching my nephew grow up longer while living a healthy life is good enough! I am happier and I feel GREAT!

 

How has your life changed now that you’ve lost weight?
I have so much energy and I am able to function at a high level at work daily. I am running, jumping and playing with my nephew daily and not having a difficult time doing it. I am constantly trying to help others make the choice to live healthy and get fit!

Do you have any advice for others who are trying to lose weight?
Stay consistent and don’t give up! Always remember why you started and stay focused!

How did ShapeFit help you reach your weight loss goals?
All of the weight loss success stories, suggestions and keeping track of everything!

Donesha’s Weight Loss Tips!

Weight loss tip #1:
Stay focused.

Weight loss tip #2:
Keep going.

Weight loss tip #3:
Eat clean.

Weight loss tip #4:
Train mean.

Weight loss tip #5:
Remember why you started!

Donesha’s Weight Loss Eating Plan!

Breakfast:
Oatmeal and fish.

Lunch:
Fish and veggies.

Dinner:
Chicken and veggie stir fry.

Snacks or Mini Meals:
Apples, oranges, strawberries, water.

Nutritional Supplements:
CLA (conjugated linoleic acids) and fish oil.

Donesha’s Weight Loss Workouts!

Weight Training:
On my leg day I do leg press, lunges, hamstring curls, leg extensions, squats and jump squats.

Cardiovascular:
Treadmill, StairMaster, trail running and jumping rope.

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