5 Real Women Share Their Biggest Weight-Loss Game Changers  

If you've tried losing weight in the past but were held up by frustrating AF weight-loss plateaus, intense diets, or workouts that you actually dreaded, it might be time to change your weight-loss game.

These five women successfully lost and kept off extra pounds by figuring out what was coming between them and getting healthy.

Check out their tips that'll make you ask, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Photograph by Brittney Malina

"I Realized I Didn't Need a Gym Membership"
Brittney Malina was determined to drop the baby weight after having two kids, but she didn't need to step into a gym to do it.

RELATED: 5 Hopeful Tips for Shedding ALL of Your Pregnancy Weight

Instead, Malina popped in her Jillian Michaels workout videos and was able to fit into her pre-baby jeans in six months. "It’s been almost two years since I decided to commit to a healthy, active lifestyle, and I’ve lost 70 pounds of fat and gained eight pounds of muscle," she says.

Photograph by Megan Wade

"I Held Myself Accountable"
After deciding to lose weight, Megan Wade spent four months on the Paleo diet and sweating to workout DVDs. But when she didn't see changes right away, Wade gave up and went back to fast food, soda, and skipping workouts.

It wasn't until she started journaling about fitness, nutrition, and how she felt that Wade renewed her drive to get healthy. By jotting down her habits, Wade felt more responsible for her actions and was pumped to stay on top of her healthy lifestyle.

Photograph by Rachael Plummer

"I Focused on Strength"
Cutting out processed foods and watching her portion sizes helped Rachael Plummer lose 45 pounds in less than a year. But after trying to become "as small as possible," she decided she needed a change of pace.

RELATED: Why Getting Bigger Can Be a Better Fitness Goal Than Getting Smaller

Plummer discovered that lifting weights and increasing her muscle mass made her appreciate her body and love her muscles more than trying to shrink herself. Since then, she's lost 25 more pounds and loves her "super-muscular legs." (And so do we.)

Photograph by Grace Borst

"I Took It Day by Day"
Grace Borst turned to laxatives and crash diets to lose weight fast, but when it didn't work, she got discouraged. Eventually, she decided that if she wanted to drop pounds for good, she needed to do it in a sustainable, safe way. That's when she started making lighter, nutritious versions of the meals she loved, like turkey tacos with whole-wheat tortillas.

"If I went from eating McDonald's to a strict clean diet overnight, I'd quit. I learned to be patient with the process," she says.

Photograph by Benjamin Gay

"I Found a Trainer"
When Johnelle Burnett set out to lose weight, she enlisted the help of a trainer to put her on the right track. Besides kicking Burnett's butt in workouts six days a week, her trainer also explained how her diet had to change if she wanted to fuel her workouts and lose weight.

Without those tools, Burnett says she wouldn't have realized what she needed to do to transform her body.

1. Prev:Eating One Serving of This Food a Day Could Help You Lose Weight  
2. Next:The Beyond Diet Is Blowing Up on Social Media—But Is It Legit?