Stephanie Paul has lost 140 pounds through sensible dieting and exercise. Her weight loss story inspires others to lose weight and make long-lasting healthy lifestyle changes.

My name is Stephanie Paul and I have lost 140 pounds. I was 18-years-old when I started and now I am 21. It was definitely a journey.

As a young child I was tiny and then went on steroids when I was 7-years-old due to a health condition. I grew up a happy child and ate a lot of foods I shouldn’t have eaten. I became an obese child and let food take over my life. I ate when I was happy, sad, and any other emotion that I was feeling. I used to get made fun of in school. To me, I felt nothing wrong with eating high calorie meals and snacks.

I started getting sick of being obese and after my grandmother died of cancer I had to change something about that. I started counting calories and eating healthy. When you start measuring what you eat you figure out that you were eating too much all the time.

The pounds were coming off once I started watching what I was eating. I started using the state of the art gym at my college three times a week. I started feeling better, soon enough fitting into smaller clothes. I also enjoyed my life; I lived the life of a college student of going out and having fun. I even did the one thing most people on diets find very bad, I ate cake on my own birthday!

My journey kept continuing and it wasn’t easy. I hit bumps in the road and know how it feels to go through ups and downs. “Giving up” were never words in my vocabulary through this journey. I had a lot of motivation and support that came from my family and friends. It is not easy being on a diet, but you have to be ready to lose the weight! You can do anything you put your mind to do!

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How Stephanie Paul Lost 140 Pounds

Sherri Shepherd's new thinner figure, via The View

It seems like the all-female talk-show The View is always in the limelight. But this time, it’s for a great and celebratory reason. Co-host, comedian/actress and diabetic Sherri Shepherd, who replaced Star Jones in 2007, flaunted her new fabulous figure last week on the show after losing 10 inches off of her total body and a whopping five inches from her waist alone!

She’s not revealing how many pounds she has dropped, but by looking at her newly svelte figure in a black bathing suit, she has obviously lost a significant amount of weight in just three months.

So what is her weight loss secret? Good, old-fashioned diet and exercise. Working out with fitness trainer Don Scott four times a week, whom she nicknamed “The Evil One,” and eating prepared meals from The Fresh Diet, a food-delivery service, Shepherd now wears a size 6 pant and a size 10 dress. She has even tried to get her pal Oprah to experience the steep-inclined treadmill runs and the bicep-burning plank moves she has to endure.

Prohibited foods on her diet were Shepherd’s favorite eats like cheeseburgers, onion rings and milkshakes. Even the famous fro-yo Pinkberry wasn’t allowed as Shepherd ate healthy for three months and was able to wean herself off of her diabetic medication.

But as a present to herself for donning a bathing suit and looking pretty amazing in it, she ate a celebratory meal of ribs, cornbread, collard greens and M&Ms.

How’s that for a sweet reward?

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The View’s Sherri Shepherd’s Weight Loss with Fresh Diet

David, 32, once weighed 650 pounds. He was suicidal and lonely. But somehow, he found the will to take back his life, and lost an amazing 400 pounds in only 26 months. And he did it without surgery! If that’s not enough, he’s now a certified personal trainer.

Smith’s story was documented by TLC and aired as a special titled “The 650-pound Virgin” on July 12. He looks to his past as if it was someone else.

“It’s a different person,” Smith told Matt Lauer in an appearance on the Today Show. “It’s not me anymore.”

While he hasn’t totally beaten his shy bug, women look at David a whole lot differently.

“It’s like night and day. I’ve gone from being a laughingstock to having girls make googly eyes at me,” he said.

David’s transformation was aided by fitness and nutrition expert Chris Powell. He devised an approach called the STAX System. And what I liked about it is he didn’t make expectations unrealistic. He had David eat strictly healthy food one day, then allowed him to reward himself the next.

David’s weight problem began with deep-seeded emotional scars of sexual abuse as a kid, and bullying by others in his youth. His story of recovery is nothing short of amazing. Here it is, as told on the Today Show:

(via: MSNBC.com)

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Meet “The 650 Pound Virgin” on TLC

I also have lost more weight than any Biggest Loser contestant, 221.4 pounds to be exact. I did it all in a year without surgery or pills, and have maintained it for four months.

Losing weight is a funny thing. At 420 pounds, people advised me on so many diets. There was Atkins, Zone, Carb Haters, Carb Lovers, Protein Dandy, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, Weight Watchers, and of course the “all-purpose” berry.

What if I told you the “Diet” has very little to do with losing weight.

Most diets work. If they did not, they would not be successful.

Diets are like snowflakes as well, two people have never lost weight the exact same way.

What losing weight takes is heart!

I recently came up with a very simple challenge called “The Missouri 60.”

One day at work my boss came up to me and was pointing out a lot of things I need to fix. The stoves needed detailing, the server’s shirts needed to be pressed, etc. Before I was going to explain, he glared at me and said:

“Hey Tony, I do not want to hear it. Just do it. See, I am from Missouri. Get it! Missouri. Show me baby!”

I finally realized Missouri is the “Show Me” state.

After fixing all of the issues, I thought about my weight loss. I did not lose the weight on a special top-secret diet that will make me millions. I lost the weight by finding a plan that worked and doing it.

So here are the rules for my challenge. Get a huge pad of paper and a pen with a lot of ink! Ready.

• Take a picture of yourself
• For the next 60 days, learn about yourself and show yourself how great you can be.
• After 60 days, take another picture and compare.

Sounds silly, right? Well, most people hate taking pictures of themselves, and most people cannot dedicate themselves for 60 days.

I can tell you, if you can do this, you will be a better person. You will have more confidence, you will make better decisions, and you will find a plan that works for you.

Show yourself how great you can be!

Learn more about Tony Posnanski’s story here at DietsInReview.com.

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Creating Your Own 60-Day Diet

Here is part 2 of Rob’s lifelong battle with his weight and health. To start from the beginning, read part I – Achieving Health by Listening to My Body.

In March of 2009, I was gaining weight like crazy and I was eating what I thought was healthy. What I didn’t realize was what I was eating was making me sick. I decided to call a friend of mine who is into holistic health and knows a lot about nutrition. When I told her that I was eating one pound of raw vegetables with lunch and one pound of raw vegetables with dinner, she couldn’t believe it. She asked me if I were a horse and commented that I was eating enough rough vegetables to feed for a small family. 

We then further discovered that my problems were happening after lunch and dinner. She immediately made me change my diet. For one week I was not allowed to eat any vegetables at all and only simple grains like oatmeal, yams and sweet potatoes. I couldn’t eat anything that was loaded with fiber. That night when I had my new way of eating at dinner I felt so good it was crazy. After a week I gradually added a little bit of vegetables here and there. She also told me that if my body did flare up that drinking mint or chamomile tea would help calm things down.

What I learned out of this is that I can no longer afford not listen to my body and I have to pay attention to what my body is telling me after I eat certain foods. I have had to give up spicy foods for now because of how it makes me feel. I can’t eat the quantities of raw vegetables like I used to. Learning how to eat all over again has me feeling better than I have in years. My mind is so much clearer now and I don’t feel depressed anymore. I discover now that I can eat slower, eat more wholesome foods and feel fuller longer.

Although we want to fit in and we want to find an easy answer to help our bodies, we have to remember that we are all different and our bodies may require different things sometimes.  There are experts out there to help us when we cannot help ourselves.

Guest Blog Series: Look for the following badge on your favorite health sites to see if they have been a featured guest blogger on DietsInReview.com. See other posts in the Guest Blog series.

If you would like to apply to be featured as a guest blogger, please contact us.

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Achieving Health by Listening to My Body, Part II

Jill Knapp: Before/After Losing 100 Pounds

Like many other pregnant mothers, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes when I had my last child at age 37. I was suffering from fatigue and headaches after childbirth. My son was born very ill and I thought my own health symptoms were just the result of taking care of a sick newborn. My husband encouraged me to go see my doctor to find out what was causing the headaches. After taking a few tests, I was confirmed as a Type 2 diabetic.

Like anyone else hearing this new for the first time, I was in shock.  It took about 24 hours for me to establish an action plan as I did not want this for myself nor for my family. So I gradually began to exercise and eat six small meals a day. Over time, I lost 100 pounds and successfully brought my diabetes under control.

Today, I am a diabetes advocate, speaking publicly at health fairs, schools, youth groups and gyms sharing my journey and encouraging others to lead a healthier lifestyle. I also established my own website to educate others about Type 2 diabetes as I find great joy in motivating others to reach their health goals. I am a strong advocate of making lifestyle changes rather than following fad diets and I strongly encourage others to “Get Up and Get Moving.”

Guest Blog Series: Look for the following badge on your favorite health sites to see if they have been a featured guest blogger on DietsInReview.com. See other posts in the Guest Blog series.

If you would like to apply to be featured as a guest blogger, please contact us.

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Idaho Mom Loses 100 Pounds and Manages Type 2 Diabetes