Monthly Member Spotlight {Stephanie}

This month’s Instant Loss Monthly Member Spotlight is Stephanie!

Stephanie is a member of our Instant Loss Community who lost 124 pounds Just Eating Real Food coupled with exercise. She is a mother and fitness enthusiast who believes that maintaining a healthy lifestyle isn’t just about the weight you lose but the life you gain.

Hi Instant Loss Fam!
I’m Stephanie and this is my story! I started putting on weight with my first pregnancy. I was a young mom, about 140 pounds, and I blew up like a balloon. I couldn’t ever seem to shake the weight after that. My oldest is nine now. I wasn’t really able to make a sustainable change until she was 7/8.

I ended up breaking up with my boyfriend when my daughter was 1 1/2. Thats when I began working out and got down to a size 12. Then I met my husband. I went through my second pregnancy and was able to lose the baby weight pretty quickly. I was excited but then I started the Depo shot. I gained a lot of weight fast, 60-70 pounds.

I stayed around 255 pounds for a long time. I possibly weighed more I don’t know because I never weighed myself, I was scared to see what the scale had to say. I was miserable and I thought I was going to feel like that for the rest of my life. I thought the only people that actually lost a huge amount of weight were people on TV. I didn’t believe that I could really do it.

It was then that I got pregnant with my third child. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and I received council on how I needed to change my diet. For the last four months of my pregnancy I could not eat sugar, I cut out pop, bread, and other mainstays of my diet. It was challenging. After I had her I tried to go back to the way I ate before to find that my tastebuds had changed! Things that I used to love like Mountain Dew, tasted HORRIBLE. I decided to take my newfound taste for healthier meals and run with it!

As soon as I recovered from my cesarean I began walking a mile a day at the park with my three kids. I didn’t have the benefit of a babysitter, my nearest family member lives 7 hours away so I found a way to fit exercise into my schedule. At first it was extremely hard, I had to rest 3 to 4 times, but as the days went on I realized how much better it made me feel! Not only physically but mentally it felt great to get out of the house just me and my kids. Eventually it became something I craved, loved, and enjoyed.

About 4 months after I started exercising I got really serious about Just Eating Real Food in modest portion sizes. I didn’t count calories or carbs. As a working mom it took a lot of self discipline, a positive and determined mindset. I feel unstoppable!

I now have energy to run and play with my children. It’s amazing what our body can do when we push ourself every single day. So many of us overthink it and then we don’t get it done at all.

I started at 255 pounds and I got down to 131 pounds in 15 months. I have been on my journey for 2 years. I recently gained 25 pounds back but am working hard at losing them again, this is a lifestyle change, not a diet!

I am now at 151 pounds I lost 5 more pounds in the last couple of weeks . I love the new me and my new lifestyle. At first I thought it was just about losing the weight but it’s really about the life you gain. I have a whole new outlook on life. The best decision I ever made was to make the choice to take care of me. My new focus is to be the best, healthiest, and happiest me I can be.