The Working Mom Who Lost 100lbs In a Year
I’m really excited to share the final part of this epic weight loss success series: Part 4! Once again we have another incredible weight loss success story about a full-time mom who lost 100 pounds on her way to a healthier lifestyle and starting her own health and wellness business!
Here is another inspiring transformation that really helps us learn more about what it takes to make it possible! Once again, here are the three main questions we covered:
1. How did your mindset change?
2. What about your exercise routine?
3. How did your nutrition change?
Weight Loss Success: Jenn Espinosa-Goswami’s Transformation
- Name: Jenn Espinosa-Goswami
- Occupation: Mom & Owner of Weightless
- Height: 5’6
- Weight Before: 275lbs
- Weight After: 175lbs
- Weight Change: 100lbs
- Quick advice:
1. Keep a beginner’s mind. That means trying new ways to cook and new ways to move. You just might love it!
2. Never forget your “why”. If your progress doesn’t tie into your “why”, it won’t be permanent.
3. Food is yummy. If you don’t like it, don’t eat it.
4. Exercise is energy. You will never regret moving more.
Significant weight loss is incredible by itself but the goal is to keep it off sustainably, right? That is one of the harder parts about sustaining such weight loss success.
Sometimes when you reach your goals you are susceptible to fall back into some bad habits! Not for this lady!
It wasn’t easy for Jenn (it never is) but she stayed committed and lost over 100 pounds and has kept it off for over 14 years.
Jenn helped described her journey, “My mindset was critical to success. My main goal was to live a long and healthy life. That is still my goal. I lost weight in my senior year of college after the death of my grandmother. She was a role model for me. I have kept it off through marriage, the birth of two children, and career transition.” Let’s dive in!
How did you make the mindset change that allowed you to do this?
I never really believed that I was unhealthy, despite being 100 pounds overweight by the age of 20. My pediatrician used to tell me to eat more veggies and less fried food, but I scoffed at her advice. Even having emergency gall bladder surgery at 17 did not snap me out of my fried food funk.
It wasn’t until I was 20 that I took a good long look at my lifestyle.
That was the year Grandma Espinosa passed away. She was 88 years old, had survived her husband by 40 years, and was a big part of my young life. Grandma was never still, and she never missed a big family event.
I realized that she had lived a long and healthy life. I also realized that I would be lucky to reach 50.
That was enough reason for me. One year later, I was 100 pounds lighter.
What exercise changes did you make?
My family was always very active. We would spend our weekend’s hiking, biking, playing sports in our backyard, and playing at the park. I was a track champion in elementary school, and a champion volleyball player in junior high. But, there is a difference between active and fit.
I have always hated running, and I was too heavy to be much good at it. Instead, I found fun ways to exercise!
Turn the music up, and I will dance. At first, I tried just about every fitness video or DVD I could. I graduated to fun community education classes every 8 weeks, and eventually discovered weight-lifting and the benefits of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
Today, I do intense cardio for half an hour several times a week and lift weights at home on off days.
I am also a big fan of Dr. Levine’s idea of NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). It boils down to: find moments for movement throughout your day. Take the stairs, or park farther away. [Editor’s Note: Such a great idea; always find little ways to stay active!]
How did you go about getting your nutrition under control?
When I was 18, I stubbornly declared to my family that I would never eat anything green. This was in direct defiance of all of those nasty peas I would choke down at dinner. Today, I am a vegetarian.
I never intended to come full circle. In fact, the only way I motivated myself to eat better was to write down what I ate. I took a pen and paper and wrote down every single bite to pass my lips. It wasn’t pretty, but I was honest with myself.
Slowly, I edited and pared down my huge serving sizes to smaller portions. I also decided to track calories, fat, and fiber.
This was my first attempt at dieting, and it worked. I still maintain a beginner’s mind when it comes to eating habits. This is how I stumbled into vegetarianism.
I didn’t just go “cold turkey (tofu?)”. Instead, I told myself to try it for a month.
Basically, I am a guinea pig. Most of the diets I tried were after my weight loss. I have tried everything from the Zone to gluten-free to body-building to vegetarian. The most effective method for anyone is a plan they can enjoy. I enjoy vegetarianism and see no reason to stop. By the way, vegetarians also live 3 years longer than meat-eaters, so it fits in nicely with my goals.
What are you doing these days?
I am a full-time working mother of two daughters who also owns a company called Weightless. Being overweight does not make you unhappy. I had a great childhood.
It wasn’t until I dropped the weight that I dropped other undesirable thoughts and feelings about myself. I became free to be who I wanted.
It upsets me when women put so much of their time and energy into caring for others but don’t care for themselves. It doesn’t take a lot of time or money to get healthy.
Today, my mission is to help overwhelmed and frustrated women get their bodies back. I do this through private coaching and motivational speaking.
I offer a free resource to get started with 5 healthy habits that you can get here.
Wrap-Up
WOW… what a great wrap-up to an incredible weight loss success series with incredible stories! From a Broadway performer who lost over 125 pounds to a psychologist who lost over 70 pounds to the mom who lost 40+ in one month finally to a full-time working mom who lost 100 pounds and has kept it off 14 years later, we have witnessed stories about 528 lbs of weight loss (that’s a little less than the weight of a large vending machine…)! Incredibly inspiring, enlightening, and educational!
Let’s once again go over what these weight loss success stories have in common:
- They all failed multiple times until they created a program tailored to them.
- They started slow and didn’t make huge changes all at once.
- They cut out bad foods but replaced them with healthy foods which they could eat more of for fewer calories.
- Many of them kept a nutrition log to understand their eating habits.
- They started to get active every single day.
- They took it easy on themselves and gave the program time to work.
If you want to make a change, try implementing these 6 points and you will be on your way to weight loss success!
This has truly been an incredible series full of Fit-spiration for us all! Stories from folks who have done it, stories from individuals who have taken their lives back, stories from people who have literally “Been There, Lost That!”
Now it’s your turn to make a change! We would love to help!
- Post-Workout Meal: Getting the Most from Your Workout - January 22, 2024
- 6 Ab Exercises To Blast Your Core - December 17, 2023
- 10 Office Exercises You Can Do To Burn Calories - November 19, 2023
