How This Former College Athlete Got Her Body Back After Having Two Babies  

Before: 186
After: 142

The Lifestyle
In college, I played basketball and was in awesome shape. I weighed about 145 pounds, and frequent practices kept me working out all the time. After I graduated, got married, and had a baby, my weight stayed around 165 pounds. During my first pregnancy, I ate really healthy, exercised however I could, and did all the stuff you're supposed to do when you're pregnant. When the final 20 pounds of baby weight didn't come off, I didn't worry about it. I was more focused on trying to be a good mom than getting back into shape.

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Shortly after reaching 165 pounds, I got pregnant with my second baby and I put on more weight. Then, while I was still pregnant, we moved across the country for my husband's job, and I started using fast food as a crutch when I didn't feel like cooking. Worrying about my diet kind of went out the window.

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When my second baby was born, I started going to Gold's Gym and taking Zumba classes, which I really loved. The weight started coming off slowly, but by my second daughter's first birthday, I weighed 186 pounds. I realized that the weight I'd gained from my pregnancy was no longer baby weight; it was all mine.

Photograph courtesy of Johnelle Burnett

The Change
I was sick of spending so much time (years!) trying to lose weight. I wanted to drop it and then spend years maintaining it instead. When I saw posters for a 12-week body transformation challenge at my gym, I thought, "I want to do this, and I want to win it by losing the most weight." I signed up that day.

When I started the challenge, I met with my trainer and she made a meal and exercise plan for me. It was so nice to have some direction. She taught me things I would have never known, like how to change my diet if I hit a plateau.

Photograph courtesy of Johnelle Burnett

When I first started, I couldn’t even do 20 situps. It was so hard to realize that because I was a college athlete and I knew what my body was capable of. But my trainer cheered me on and kept me motivated.

I started working out six days a week for 90 minutes to two hours a day by taking classes like high intensity interval training, weight lifting, cycling, and Pilates. I also worked out with my trainer.

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On top of that, I completely overhauled my diet. On the first day, we got a handout of what we could and couldn't eat. We had to be done eating for the day by 6 p.m. and had to cut way back on sugar and foods that were high in carbohydrates. We focused on eating non-processed foods, whole grains, and lean protein. Let me tell you—it wasn't easy!

We had a bunch of cool recipes we could make, but they were so time-consuming. The first week, I tried making a cauliflower crust pizza. I spent hours doing it, and when I took the first bite, I started crying because it tasted so bad.

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From that point on, I started going basic. I would steam broccoli and bake my chicken with coconut oil or make a salad with Greek yogurt as dressing. As time went on, my taste buds started changing, and eventually I started to love eating healthy foods. By the end of the first week, I'd lost about four pounds.

12 weeks later, I'd lost 42 pounds, nearly 30 percent of my body weight, and won the Gold's Gym challenge for my age and gender.

Now that I've got my dream body, I maintain it by exercising six days a week—I consider it my "me time"—and eating what I want in moderation. I'm eating carbs all the time and let myself sugar again. I usually eat two super healthy meals a day and one that's not as healthy, like real pizza. I'm also setting new goals to train for a half-marathon and eventually a half Iron Man race. Those events keep me motivated to train and eat right to fuel my workouts.

I'm not scared of gaining weight because I know that I can lose it again. That being said, I weigh myself every so often to make sure that I'm staying somewhere in my healthy range between 140 and 145. If I'm on the low end, I'll be more lenient with what I eat. If I'm on the high end, I'll keep a better eye on what’s going in my mouth.

The Reward
This is beyond what I ever thought I could accomplish. Doing the 12-week challenge has helped me learn to push myself to accomplish new things like the races I plan on doing.

Johnelle's Tips
Set goals. I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't overweight just because I had kids, and my gym's challenge made me work to accomplish that. Whether it's a race, a goal weight, or a family reunion, it's important to find something that motivates you to push yourself. Then, stick with your weight-loss plan.

Invest in a trainer. They probably have more resources than you do. My trainer knew so much more about my capabilities than I did. She really gave me all the tools I needed to transform my body, and I still use her advice now that the challenge is over.

Track your food. This really helped me stay on point with what I was eating and kept me accountable.

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