00:00 At my heaviest, I was over 320 pounds.
00:05 I was watching TV all the time because I was lazy.
00:09 I could be watching it from 8 to midnight.
00:12 I would cook deep fried foods, corn dogs, french fries, chicken strips.
00:16 All of it, I would fry it.
00:18 After watching two months of TV straight, I was sick of it.
00:23 I wanted to stop that and start my own journey.
00:26 I've lost over 170 pounds.
00:29 [Music]
00:33 When I found out I had cancer, that was a big thought in my head.
00:38 How am I going to stay working out?
00:41 [Music]
00:46 Growing up, I was definitely overweight.
00:48 I was more on the heavier side through elementary, middle, high school.
00:52 I was always into sport, but I was just always heavier.
00:56 Just overeating.
00:58 [Music]
01:00 We'd have a pot of oil or a deep fryer filled with vegetable oil.
01:05 Just like at a fast food restaurant, but we would just do it at home.
01:10 Corn dogs, french fries, chicken strips, chicken nuggets, Montrella sticks.
01:15 All of it, I would fry it.
01:18 I ate that. It was good. It was tasty.
01:21 I didn't think anything of it.
01:23 I didn't feel any type of way because that's what I grew up eating.
01:27 I just was watching TV all the time because I was lazy.
01:30 I just didn't want to do anything.
01:32 If I didn't want to talk to anybody, I was just drawn into the show.
01:36 I could be watching it from 8 to midnight sometimes.
01:40 Four to five hours a day, just doing nothing.
01:43 [Music]
01:47 After watching two months of TV straight, back to back, going to work, coming home, eating and watching shows,
01:55 I was just sick of it.
01:57 I was just sick of being overweight.
02:00 I was sick of feeling gloomy all the time.
02:03 So I finally took the initiative after seeing people on Instagram do it.
02:09 I knew that I could do it.
02:11 So I kind of just put a stop to the whole binge watching TV all the time.
02:18 I wanted to stop that and start my own journey.
02:21 [Music]
02:25 I finally got a gym membership and it took a lot of courage just because I was scared and not knowing what I was supposed to do.
02:33 I had a trainer help me a lot with exercises and that really kicked my butt into gear.
02:41 I lost this 170 pounds.
02:44 I lost that probably within 17 months.
02:47 With losing weight, I feel like the workouts that helped me most were high intensity.
02:53 So I did a lot of cardio mixed with weight training.
02:57 Like I said, getting your heart rate up, getting it down is really effective for me.
03:03 [Music]
03:05 I would say my journey inspired me to become a trainer.
03:10 [Music]
03:12 Just because I know what it's like to be over 300 pounds.
03:18 And when somebody walks into the gym not knowing, feeling uncomfortable, I've been there.
03:22 Hit the line.
03:23 Been through the experience.
03:25 You know what that means.
03:27 You gotta speed it up.
03:28 Fast.
03:30 Having her as a personal trainer to be there to motivate us is really inspiring.
03:34 And knowing that she could do it means that we could do it too.
03:37 Woo!
03:38 Go speed!
03:41 [Laughter]
03:44 The end of 2018, I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
03:50 I would have already lost all my weight.
03:52 It affected more of my maintenance of trying to stay fit while going through chemo
03:59 and going through the thoughts and the process of it all.
04:02 And it affected my strength.
04:05 That was a big thought in my head.
04:08 Oh, how am I going to stay working out?
04:11 How am I going to have the energy?
04:12 Because you hear chemo and you see people going through it.
04:16 I was determined to not let my weight loss go to waste.
04:20 So I had a lot of reassurance through Instagram.
04:24 People would reach out.
04:26 So I looked at that as motivation.
04:29 Right now, I would say I feel the best.
04:32 With weight-wise, looking in the mirror, I feel the most confident right here, right now.
04:37 Today, yeah.
04:39 [Music]
04:51 Things happen.
04:53 Cancer happened.
04:55 It was a little setback, but cancer-free now.
04:58 And now I'm just doing the things that I've been wanting to do.
05:02 I want to help other people.
05:04 I want to show them what's you and how to do it and help them reach their goals.
05:10 I would say if you are thinking about losing weight, just go for it.
05:15 Don't overthink it.
05:17 Cut out the excuses and just don't give up.
05:22 That's a wrap.
05:24 [Music]
05:28 [End of Audio]
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