Tiana took control of her life and lost 28 pounds* on Jillian's program. Now this mother of two weighs 117 pounds and is a healthy role model for her friends and family!
Growing up, I was a thin and confident child who wasn’t concerned with weight issues. When I hit my mid- to late-teen years, however, I began to struggle with my body image and self-confidence — which contributed to me developing an eating disorder. It wasn’t until years later when I met my husband that things in my life began to change for the better. He helped me find the beautiful person I was inside and become more comfortable with the skin that I was in.
I knew that I gained weight after the birth of my two children, but it wasn’t until I weaned my second child from breastfeeding that I really began to notice just how much weight I’d put on. When I was pregnant or nursing, I ate whatever I wanted and brushed off the notion of exercising. When that time period ended, all of my unhealthy habits remained and they started to catch up with me. Within a year, I had gained nearly 30 pounds! At 145 pounds, I could no longer fit into any of my clothes. I looked at pictures of myself and was shocked by how much my body had changed. Needless to say, my confidence and self-image began to plummet again.
I had originally heard of Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser and when some friends of mine started doing her 30 Day Shred DVD, I decided to see what her program was all about. I joined her online site and, right off the bat, I was really excited about this new journey I was on. I felt like I was gaining so much knowledge from her, as well as from the people in the online community. Once I bought Making the Cut, I was completely hooked! I was able to change my way of eating, and I began to feel like I was on top of the world every time I completed a workout.
When I started my healthy weight-loss journey, I had planned to do 30 Day Shred every day. Then the holidays came around and, before I knew it, I’d put ten pounds back on — that’s when I made up my mind to make the 30-day commitment to the Making the Cut program. Sticking to my guns, I cleaned up my eating, stopped drinking any alcohol, and followed the workouts in the book to the letter. My consistency paid off — I was down to 124 pounds.
After completing my 30-day commitment, I realized that it had become very easy, almost second nature, to eat clean and exercise as part of my daily routine. I had made it through the toughest part — making the decision and actually sticking with it. Looking back, it is really amazing what I was able to accomplish once I realized that this decision was mine to make — no one was going to do this for me.
These days, my workouts consist of circuit training four days a week along with some classes that I occasionally take at the gym. One of the biggest differences I notice is that I definitely have a lot more endurance. Before I started my journey, I couldn’t even complete one set of push-ups — now I can go straight through several sets of push-ups! I also never really thought about running for exercise, never mind running long distances — now I’m thinking about running a 5K!
Activities Now: Making the decision to be a healthier me has not only changed my life, but my whole family’s life as well. We have fun, fitness-oriented family time together, and we also eat clean, whole, natural organic meals. Bye-bye, processed foods! I also run an in-home day care and have implemented all of these new healthy changes for my day-care classes. I have become very passionate about health and fitness in all aspects of my life.
Best Compliment: I am constantly receiving compliments from people whom I haven’t seen in a few months. It seems that everyone is asking me how I did it and what can they do to get a body like mine. And I’m completely honest — I tell them all about Jillian’s program and her no-nonsense approach to weight loss. I love that and am a great role model for others — especially for my children. I also love that I can look in the mirror and smile — and feel sexy! It’s very empowering.
Advice for Others: One of the most important things that I can say to anyone that’s on this journey is that it’s up to YOU to make the commitment. You CAN be healthy, you CAN love yourself and your body — you just need to take charge and make a plan. When you are having a hard day, pick up one of Jillian’s books or go on the Message Boards. I know that doing those things motivated me to regroup and stick with the program. Also, find something that you like to do at the gym, and, if you get bored, change it up! Finally, definitely give the Web site circuits a try if you haven’t — you’ll get ripped!
*Weight loss varies by individual. You may not achieve similar results.