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Name: Maddy Dilawar
Age: 25
Height: 5'6"
Before Weight: 245 pounds
How I Gained It: I have always been overweight, but piled on the pounds after my father's death. When I was in the 12th grade, I fell ill for a year. Staying home for a year made me gain a lot of weight. During that year, food was my only friend. I isolated myself from the world, didn't go out or buy clothes for myself. It was the worst time of my life.
Breaking Point: Let's face it, the world ain't too nice to fat people. I can remember the day someone mistook me for my best friend's mum even though we are the same age. Incidents like these made me realize that I needed to lose weight. Originally, I decided to lose weight before my graduation ceremony.
How I Lost It: I started eating boiled eggs, grilled chicken and fruit, and I started walking. I started out slowly. I could hardly walk for 10 minutes continuously. My knees hurt all the time. After a month or so, the pain became better and my stamina increased. This made me realize that I had been making excuses all my life and that when a person really wants to do something nothing can stop them.
I lost an initial 15 pounds, but then stopped dieting. But last year on March 2, I took a vow to change my life. Having PCOS made my journey even harder, but I was determined.
I started doing crunches and bought a pair of dumbbells. I gradually started running when I hit a plateau. After a long run, I feel like I am on top of the world. It's important to choose an exercise that you enjoy, and running is my kind of thing. One day I want to run a marathon.
I stay away from soft drinks and fried food now. I used to love friend chicken, but once you don't eat something for a long time, it doesn't taste as good as it used to.
In seven months, I lost 90 pounds. There were times when I cried at night because I was so hungry, but I didn't let anything stop me. The first month was the hardest, but then I got used to my new lifestyle. I have been maintaining my current weight for the last five months. I love how people praise me and how happy my family is for me. I find it funny when people say they never thought that I could lose the weight, because deep down inside I knew this day would come. When I show people my before and after pictures, they can't believe I used to weigh that much, but I will never forget. This journey has not been an easy one, but it has been worth it.
After Weight: 140 pounds
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