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Name: Heather Fearneyhough
Age: 25
Height: 5'6"
Before Weight: 254 pounds
How I Gained It: Two back-to-back pregnancies, postpartum depression and binge eating to cope with my feelings. Every day was a struggle for me. I could barely keep up with my boys. I was always tired, out of breath and absolutely miserable. I was ashamed and embarrassed and dodged as many family photos as I could.
Breaking Point: My son Caleb took off running from me at the mall. I was so big that I could not catch up to him. I will never forget the panic mixed with that burning sensation in my throat. That was it. I made up my mind to do something about my weight because I had let myself get out of control long enough.
How I Lost It: I made small gradual changes because I wanted to keep the weight off for good. To start, I kept a journal of everything that I ate. I started eating small meals throughout the day. I set a timer on my phone so that I could stay on task with eating every three hours. I also started drinking nothing but water.
I was very out of shape at the beginning of my journey. I could barely walk for 10 minute intervals without getting completely winded. My throat burned and my body ached unbelievably during the first few weeks. I paced myself and slowly added five to 10 minutes to my total walking time, until I was able to briskly walk for 45 minutes without being out of breath.
I then progressed to using workout DVDs in my living room that incorporated weight training and continued using DVDs for several months. Once I lost the majority of my weight I wanted more definition and found that my DVDs were not providing me the results I was after. I began researching bodybuilding on the Internet. I started to create my own workout routines following a split training method and could not believe the changes I started to see with my body.
Now, I am such a happier person. I have tons of energy and I am able to be the mother I am supposed to be to my baby boys. Whenever I felt like quitting or caving into eating junk food, I thought about them and I was able to stick with it. Losing the weight was not an easy process, but it is the best thing I could have ever done for myself.
Last year I started a Facebook page called Heather's FITspiration, and I post daily advice to encourage my followers to live a healthy lifestyle. Many people who follow me have told me that I am their role model. Words cannot describe the impact those words have made in my life. It is an incredible feeling knowing that I am helping others regain control of their lives! That makes my entire weight loss journey worth it.
After Weight: 118 pounds
After photo by Nina Roxanne
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