Melissa Dunn, 35, of Park Hills, Missouri has seemingly always been overweight. She developed much faster than girls her age, which spurred a binge-purge routine to try and stay as slim as her peers. But each attempt only left her heavier than before, and Melissa eventually turned to yo yo dieting to try and lose the weight.
Compound those struggles with emotional scars from abuse she faced as a child and Melissa began using her weight as a shield to avoid getting hurt by others. “I found the bigger I got the less happy I was, and the less people wanted to be around me,” she said.
Two things eventually caused Melissa to change. First, her dad had grown so heavy that his doctors told him to lose weight or face death, and Melissa wanted to support him. And Melissa had gotten so heavy herself that she struggled to even walk through the store without getting swollen ankles which left her in too much pain to move for hours afterwards.
Out of these struggles came Melissa’s decision to change her health and ultimately her life, and no longer exist in a state of depression.
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Call it tedious, but it worked. Jason Swenk, 35, of Atlanta, Georgia lost 50 pounds by doing nothing more than taking pictures of his food. The process started after Jason saw a considerable weight gain once graduating college and getting an office job.
Though he’d always exercised and stayed active, Jason admitted he was filling up on the wrong kinds of foods, relying on whatever was “fast and easy.” This led him to reach his highest weight of nearly 260 pounds.
But when he recognized his habits were causing a change in his energy levels, always leaving him feeling tired and moody, Jason knew it was time for a change. “I also wanted to make sure I could be active and live a long life with my kids,” he said.
To lose the weight, Jason started taking pictures of everything he ate and then recording how he felt hours later. The act of taking pictures of his food spurred an “ah-ha” moment that led Jason to approach dieting differently. “One night I went back to keep snacking and kept taking pictures of everything and it clicked,” he said. “I was eating so much food and from then on, it changed.”
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Janet Jackson attended Milan Fashion Week in Italy this week looking as slim as ever, proving that she knows how to lose the weight and keep it off.
Jackson, 46, made headlines last year for her dramatic 60-plus pound weight loss as an official Nutrisystem spokesperson.
Jackson lost the weight on Nutrisystem Success, which is the meal delivery program’s extension specifically designed to help members transition back into their everyday routine once losing the weight. It also holds more emphasis on daily exercise.
During her time with Nutrisytem, Jackson revealed what always stood between her and any successful weight loss attempts. “Dieting never worked for me, counting calories never worked for me, and denying myself the foods I love never worked for me,” she said. “I needed a better plan, and I found it with Nutrisystem.”
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I admit to shrugging my shoulders when I first heard of the DDP Yoga program, referred to as “Ain’t Your Mama’s Yoga.” Originally titled Yoga for Regular Guys, I thought it was just some egotistical attempt at yoga by some inflexible macho man. I was wrong.
Developed by former pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, DDP Yoga is not your average yoga. Just minutes into a high-spirited interview I had with Dallas, it was clear that he is not your average yoga teacher.
Muscle-clad, tatted, and standing at a lofty 6 foot 4 inches, you definitely wouldn’t want to be Dallas’ opponent in the wrestling ring, or meet him in a dark alley. But watching Dallas in action on his DDP Yoga DVDs, and speaking with him over the phone, left me inspired.
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