“I’ve dropped 7 points off my BMI,” was a recent tweet posted by Jennifer S. That’s quite an accomplishment, considering in February this year, she, standing at just over five-feet tall, weighed 301 pounds. As of last week, she’s down to 265 pounds!
We introduced Jennifer last month as she took her weight loss plans from just-getting-started to hitting-it-hard. We armed her with Jillian Michaels’ BodyMedia arm band and her new Body Revolution 12-DVD series, as well as plenty of her own determination. We’re pleased to hear she’s doing so well.
“I’m trying to keep it positive most of the time,” she told us about her journey so far. It can be a struggle when you have more than 100 pounds to lose, but with the right kind of attitude it can be a healthy adventure.
She’s still using Jillian Michaels’ Body Revolution at levels one and two. She says you’re supposed to go up a level every two weeks, but she’s just not comfortable making that transition yet.
“It’s not geared toward someone in the obese category or with my knee problems,” Jennifer said of the DVD. She likes the workouts, tweets about how intense they are, but is also smart enough to listen to her body and not push herself to the danger zone (she had a partial knee replacement in June and has been cleared to workout by her doctor). She laughs telling us that she uses the Jillian DVDs for her “light days” on Wednesday and Sunday. “If you can imagine!”
Jennifer wasn’t seeing too much weight loss sticking exclusively with the Body Revolution DVDs, so she amended her routine and has introduced some gym classes that she not only enjoys but is seeing great results from. She has integrated Zumba and Muscle Pump classes and usually takes them back-to-back for a super sweaty, super intense, super calorie-burning couple of hours.
“Working out has helped my mental attitude,” she said. “I get discouraged, but I’m not ready to quit.” She admitted that one of her biggest fears is quitting because that’s what she’s always done. “But I don’t want to quit,” she asserts.
This mental clarity and new-found determination has her having what she calls some pretty crazy thoughts.
“I think, I could get up and jog around the block!,” she told us laughing. “I have biceps now, I can make them dance!”
Jennifer admits that she’s got a long way to go, but her attitude and even small successes are keeping her focused on a very attainable goal. Between a shrinking BMI and buttoning pants that didn’t fit three weeks ago, she’s had some motivating milestones in just a short amount of time.
In addition to her scheduled workouts six days a week, she also walks about 13,000 steps per day (10,000 is recommended) thanks to her job at a juvenile group home.
And her diet has been a main point of focus since her early start in February. She logs everything she eats, and uses both the LiveStrong app and the BodyMedia arm band (which is finally fitting better) to keep track of all of her food intake. She’s eating out much less and drinking way less beer. When she does go out to eat, Subway, Panera, and Pita Pit are her favorite spots. And when it comes time to wind down with a drink, she likes the Michelob Ultra 19th Hole, a tall boy with 140 calories that tastes like the “Arnold Palmer” iced tea and lemonade blend.
At the end of September, Jennifer tweeted, “My next goal is to make it to my drivers license weight, 3.5 pounds to go.” We have no doubt that she’ll mark that one off very soon and will quickly move on to the next big milestone on her weight loss journey.
Also Read:
The Beginning of Jennifer’s True Weight Loss Story