YouTube Challenges Helped Kristine Lose 161 Pounds

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Name: Kristine Sindt
Age: 23
Height: 5'7"
Before Weight: 314 pounds

How I gained it: For as long as I can remember, I was always overweight. I even got picked on in kindergarten for my size. It was no help that I refused to eat vegetables or anything that would actually be healthy. I loved the taste of food and would try to get as much of it as I could. I was no stranger to extra servings. Once I reached high school and was able to buy my own food, I rarely made good decisions. This continued into my first two years of college. Being overweight was beginning to consume my entire life. I was worried on a daily basis about the situations that might arise that would be difficult for me to complete due to my size. My highest recorded weight is 314 pounds (I have a hunch it was once more than that) and there is no one to blame but myself for the unhealthy choices I made.

Breaking point: I was two years out of high school and I was still overweight and unhappy. I had never been in a relationship. I had the most miserable time shopping for clothing. I was depressed and sad all the time. It was a challenge for me to do anything I wanted to do in almost every aspect of my life, and I didn't see myself getting any happier anytime soon if I continued with that lifestyle. I had been trying to lose weight for a year with little success when a friend of mine introduced me to L.A. Weight Loss. She had lost about 40 pounds herself at that point and she seemed happier than ever. She brought me to an open house and I knew this is what I needed to do. On April 10, 2008 I Joined L.A. Weight Loss and it changed my life forever.

How I lost it: The first six months or so I went to the center two times a week for a weigh in. I also had the opportunity to speak with a counselor about my progress. I really loved having the counselors because they had lost weight too and I really felt like they understood what I was going through. I learned how to eat a healthy, balanced diet while being able to eat many different foods I enjoyed and also how to shop for my own foods. Six months in, the center that was nearest to me closed down. I was able to contact a center in another state. At the time I was nervous about continuing alone, but I realized that I already knew what I needed to know to continue to be successful.

After that I then found a weight loss community on YouTube which helped me reach the rest of my weight loss goals. I had wonderful support and a great way to document my weight loss journey that could help others at the same time. I even won a contest put together by a fellow YouTuber that promoted a healthy lifestyle and diet. That contest really jumpstarted my exploration of exercise in my weight loss. In the first year I lost 98 pounds. I felt like I was becoming the person I was truly meant to be. As of today I have lost more than 150 pounds and continue to keep it off. I have never been happier.

After weight: 160 pounds

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Comments

[shekkydog]

05:33 PM on 12/05/2011

Keep up the great work. I don't think that there is anything harder than losing weight, except for keeping it off. While so many around the world are going hungry, we North Americans are overwhelmed by food choices. A great deal of it is cheap and calorie laden. The less fattening the food, the more costly it is. Unfortunately, people in the lower economic classes often have the most weight to lose. I know that I am not telling anybody anything new. We have to control our portions and keep our bodies moving. You have managed to achieve both.

[wilkesgm]

05:22 PM on 12/05/2011

Maury wouldn't have gotten any face time over the "before". Her new look means she'll probably be less likely to know who the father of the baby is. More males will want to mate with her now that she is more attractive. Keeps the DNA test labs in rent money. Good for her.

[Janice Alvarez Herberger]

02:57 PM on 12/05/2011

Kristine, you are beautiful & should be very proud of yourself. Good job!!

[rltballer]

02:06 PM on 12/05/2011

Congrats Kristine!! You are an inspiration for everyone to change our lifestyle. I have lost about 20 lbs, want to lose about 20 more. Keep up the good work!!!!

[MORAL SOLUTION]

01:51 PM on 12/05/2011

American takes the prize on weight

[jbhg1990]

01:51 PM on 12/05/2011

Elizabeth AFTER = :D

[Barb DB]

01:45 PM on 12/05/2011

Loosing weight isn't the real Biggie as we all know - it is in keeping it off over the long-haul day in and day out, and getting comfortable with ourselves. I congratulate you and am very happy for you, and hope you are still a healthy weight in 5 or 10 or more years. I found OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS, a 12 Step Program patterened after A.A., over 30 years ago at a top weight of 292 lbs. - - have been a regular size body over 3 decades now. O.A. isn't for people who need it, it is for those who want it ... and it works a day at a time. Barbara B.

[kayyy]

01:29 PM on 12/05/2011

A) Good for her ! :)
B) we should all take care of our bodies. It's not like we can just go to the store and get a new one.
C) The only thing that bothers me is the constant attention and focas on body & self. At some point I would like to just live my life and get on with the things I want to do. The sheer volume of constant me is interfering with the life / things I want.

[realterrific]

12:58 PM on 12/05/2011

Nice Weight Loss!!! I lost 93 pounds on the LA Weight Loss Plan I Downloaded from an EBay auction for only $10. .... it saved me thousands on going to the center: http://www.ebay.com/itm/160693638558?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1916wt_1185

[phillipsnyc]

12:53 PM on 12/05/2011

Congratulations to her for her incredible success, but as a fitness trainer and nutrition advisor, let me warn against using flowery language to describe one's own responsibility in being overweight to begin with. When you say "It was no help that I refused to eat vegetables ...." or "I was no stranger to extra servings......" rather than simply saying "I refused to eat vegetables..." and "I consumed extra servings nearly every time I ate," you avoid the core problem and entire foundation and structure of the problem to begin with. Advice on how to lose weight that does not include accountability for your own actions is far less effective than telling it like it is. For many people, the question remains "how did I get to this ridiculously lieffe-threatening weight?" and that question needs to be answered in order to help OTHERS be truthful about how they go to where they are.

[bouvdoggie]

01:23 PM on 12/05/2011

And you will most likely get hate mail for telling the real facts, I have.

[jbhg1990]

01:45 PM on 12/05/2011

I dont think it was about using "flowety language", it was about writing a good article with clear meaning, as she did. She, imo, was being thruthful. And you, as a fitness trainer, should know that its hard for an obese person(ex obese in her case) to talk about their weight. No hate mail intended, just my 0.02

[phillipsnyc]

08:59 PM on 12/05/2011

Thanks, jbhg1990, I agree it's hard for an obese or formerly obese person to open up. It's all the more reason I encourage it with my clients. When each of us allows ourselves to be honest, we also widen the arena for those who have great discomfort in doing so to step in and feel accepted. The success rate for those who utilize brutal honesty (which is this case was always encouraged by me in a supportive, loving environment, coupled with a dose of self-acceptance) is incredibly higher and saw a degree of permanence than those who skirted the core issue and utilized euphemisms. As a provider of continuing education for trainers throughout the northeast, I also pushed very strongly for an issue that most trainers seemed reluctant to include in their approach to exercise and that is simply accepting your body for what it is and loving it." Regardless of whether you are 50 pounds overweight or 250 pounds overweight, LOVE your body just the way it is. Only through self-acceptance and love can permanent change take place. In the future, any urge to relapse on a healthy eating plan and exercise program will diminish quickly and the desire to LOVE yourself will take over, rather than a cycle of self-hate and criticism and manic but futile quick fix exercise ideas and eating fads.

[Harlan Corel]

12:42 PM on 12/05/2011

Good for her!.. We lost weight by cooking for ourselves more and not eating out.. the problem was that I was doing all the cooking while hubby sat on his lazy butt! so I went out and got him a hilarious beginners cookbook called "Get in the Kitchen, BIT@HES!" was perfect for him.. you have to google it, the website is hilarious.­.. check it out

[Jarret Garret]

12:39 PM on 12/05/2011

Good for her!.. We lost weight by cooking for ourselves more and not eating out.. the problem was that I was doing all the cooking while hubby sat on his lazy butt! so I went out and got him a hilarious beginners cookbook called "Get in the Kitchen, BIT@HES!" was perfect for him.. you have to google it, the website is hilarious... check it out.

[Christopher Ball]

12:18 PM on 12/05/2011

Fast way to loss 10 pound's of Ugly Fat, Cut off your Head, lol

[zippysport]

12:27 PM on 12/05/2011

Now that's a sad comment. That comment says nothing about her, but says loads about you. I hope you start feeling better about yourself so that you don't feel any need to cut others down

[walkingwolf]

12:27 PM on 12/05/2011

I lost 250 pd..I divorced my wife ..

[bouvdoggie]

12:10 PM on 12/05/2011

You get fat because you eat way too much. I was very skinny as a child and stayed so skinny that my doctor joking said I should eat more cake, cookies and candy. I became sedintary and gained over 60 pounds. When I went shopping and found I needed yet another, bigger size I stopped eating too much and lost weight. I am now at a good weight for my size, age and physical capability. That's the entire thing, you get fat because you eat and eat and don't use up those calories. I have no sympathy for fat people. For those who say "medical reason" I say a medicine I HAVE to take says right on the label that you will gain at least a pound a year, I have been taking it for 20+ years and did gain until I adjusted my calorie intake.

[kellygirljc48]

12:57 PM on 12/05/2011

You get fat when you use food for anything other than fuel!! Eating instead of feeling is just another addictive behavior! It has nothing to do with food....it has everything to do with being present here and now. Geneen Roth has been writing about this for over 20 years. When you start participating in your own life and stop running from your feelings....food will take it's proper place in your life! Check it out in "Woman, Food, and God" by Geneen Roth!

[epincpalmer]

01:11 PM on 12/05/2011

I am soooo happy that you never had a weight problem, all you had to do was quit eating. For the rest of the world's people, the reality is that other things can cause weight gain besides eating too much. Its people like you that have no sympathy for overweight that cause a lot of discremination. I hope you never encounter a disease that makes you different in others eyes. We should ALL examine the book rather than just look at the cover.

[bouvdoggie]

01:20 PM on 12/05/2011

If you even bothered to read my entire answer you would see that I do have a medical problem but I dealt with it.

[OAK STREET MAFIA]

11:57 AM on 12/05/2011

Good for you. You are looking good.Keep up the good work.