Mandy
Current Weight: 170 pounds
Total Weight Lost: 227 pounds
At 5'4" and nearly 400 pounds, Mandy says she was mortified every time a chair collapsed beneath her at public events. It wasn't until Mandy saw Dr. Oz examining the internal organs of unhealthy people on The Oprah Show that she was encouraged to do something about her weight. "I thought, 'Oh, my God, I don't want to know what my organs look like on the inside,'" she says. "At that point, I thought, 'I'm not going to drop deadI've got to do something.'"
When Mandy went to her doctor to inquire about gastric bypass surgery, he told her she needed to lose weight before he could perform the surgery. Mandy reduced her sugar intake and switched to a diet low in carbohydrates.
Within just a few weeks, she dropped 25 pounds. Encouraged by her early success, Mandy decided to hold off on surgery to see if she could lose more weight on her own. She started walking on the treadmill at her local YMCA and maintained her low-carb eating habits. Sure enough, in just 18 months, Mandy lost 227 pounds on her own!
Mandy has kept the weight off for nearly two years by eating a healthy and balanced diet, taking part in outdoor activities like hiking, and getting her heart rate up several times a week with a cardio routine. "To start anything, you just have to get up and get going and find a plan that works for you," she says. "You have to make a commitment to yourself, and once you take control of your life and your health, the world around you will open up."
