Many life events lead to my weight gain. I became a mom and wife at just 17 years old. I went on to have three more children. A very rocky marriage later lead to a divorce. I was suddenly a single mom with no income struggling to survive. Add the sudden loss of my big brother, I felt lost and wasn't taking care of myself.
I was able to finally gain employment and worked hard to provide for my family and worked my way up to management. It was at that job I met and married my current husband. I found my health continue to decline quickly. It was hard to even function.
In November 2015 after months of tests and struggles, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. At this point, I now had two more children with my current husband and was working full-time with six children.
My health took a turn for the worse and shortly after that, I found out I was pregnant with my seventh child.
I had to quit the career that I had worked so hard for and became extremely sick and depressed. I gained 80 pounds with that pregnancy and because of my autoimmune disease, I felt very limited with options to get rid of that extra weight.
For the next five years, I suffered in silence and just accepted that this was how my life was going to be from now on: Sick, unhappy with myself, and unhealthy.
I made excuses and got stuck in the victim mindset. I sat around feeling sorry for myself, giving every last ounce of energy to everyone else and leaving nothing for me. I lost myself.
Fast forward to December 2021, on Christmas Day my eldest son and his wife announced to us that they were expecting. I was going to be a grandma!
Within moments it flipped a switch in me. I just kept thinking about how I was giving every last bit of myself to care for my kids and my family, and how I was barely hanging on as it is.
How was I going to be able to play and help with a grandchild when I had nothing more to give?
I knew I needed to do something and I was going to be the only one that could make it happen. Nobody was coming to save me. It was up to me.
I made up my mind and set a time to start my journey. I knew I only had until August to lose the weight to be able to be the best grandma and mom I could be. I was determined. I did my research and found some information on calorie deficit and intermittent fasting and I started it on January 3, 2022.
I limited my daily calorie intake, as well as the time of the day that I would consume the calories. I was eating 1,000 calories less than I was burning every day, so on average, I would eat between 1,500 to 1,700 calories daily.
There are different deficit amounts you could do and still lose weight; the amount depends on each individual.
I was very limited on the exercises that I could do because of the fibromyalgia so I found that walking is what worked best for me. I walked two miles every day and that helped me burn the calories needed to stay within my daily calorie intake.
I also started the 16:8 fasting method, fasting for 16 hours, and eating for 8, and would usually eat between 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily.
I worked hard and stayed consistent and by August 3, 2022, just seven months after starting my journey, I had lost 65 pounds, just in time to welcome my beautiful granddaughter who was born less than two weeks later.
It wasn't an easy journey by any means. I blew out both my knees in the beginning and struggled to adjust to the fasting but I didn't give up and I started to see success pretty quickly.
I kept daily progress pictures to help me see the difference and I redirected my thoughts anytime I started to doubt myself. I also started a TikTok account to hold myself accountable and to possibly help others and pull inspiration from those who were going through something similar. A few of my videos went viral and I was thrilled to see I was inspiring people to start their journey as well.
My family was also a huge support along the way and I'm glad I could set an example to my kids to show them you can do hard things.
Since losing weight my health and quality of life have improved immensely. I have very few fibromyalgia symptoms and most days my pain is nonexistent. I have more energy to care for my kids and help babysit my granddaughter.
Although I'm not currently counting my calories, doing the deficit has taught me a lot about myself and about food, which has helped me to maintain my weight. I learned that I can still enjoy pizza and treats and all the comfort foods but learned to not overeat. I still do the fasting for most of the week because I feel the health benefits when I do.
I always thought that losing weight meant surgery, or pills, or a gym pass. I never imagined I could have such great results losing it naturally with no intervention and little to no cost, all while struggling with an autoimmune disease.
I think everyone, including myself, was shocked but happy with my results. But the comment I've received the most from others is that I look happy.
My life has changed for the better in so many ways and I've never been happier. I just want others to know it is possible for them too. I am a mom to seven children and one granddaughter on a fixed income and with very little free time.
If I can do it, anyone can do it.
Amy Laforett is a 39-year-old stay-at-home mom to seven kids and grandmother to one. You can find her on TikTok: @amylamey89.
All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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