Missy Reece Lost 100 pounds: “ I finally reached my last goal of 110 pounds and it felt great!”

Weight-Loss Win is an original Yahoo series that shares the inspiring stories of people who have shed pounds healthfully.

Missy Reece is 35 and currently weighs 110 pounds. In 2010, after having her second child and reaching her heaviest weight, she was inspired to take control of her health and her life. This is the story of her weight-loss journey.

The Turning Point

In college, instead of the typical “freshman fifteen,” I gained 40 pounds. After having my first child, I gained another 40 pounds and kept it on. I reached my heaviest weight of 210 pounds after my second child was born. My clothes didn’t fit and I didn’t like photos of myself, but more importantly, I started having major knee problems. Getting in and out of the car was hard, stairs were terrible, and I just wasn’t happy with the way my life was going. I had had enough.

I just woke up one morning and knew something had to change. I had just given birth to my second child and something in me clicked. Sometimes you just get sick of the way things are. I knew I couldn’t control everything in my life, but I could control my weight and try to avoid some of the health issues that run in my family (cancer, strokes, diabetes). On a whim, I bought a workout DVD and said to myself, “Ok, let’s do this.”

The Changes

After buying the workout DVD, I forced myself to exercise in my living room. I started small by doing a cardio dance workout, which was fun and didn’t feel quite like exercise. I added more videos from there and started walking a lot more. I started making gradual changes in my diet — eating brown rice instead of white, incorporating more veggies, switching to diet soda (I don’t drink soda anymore), and making pizzas using wheat tortillas as a crust so that I could still satisfy my cravings while cutting calories. I stopped eating things out of a box, like mac and cheese, or any super-processed foods. After I had my third child, I started calorie counting but that didn’t work for me. I think it works really well for some people, but for others it can become obsessive. Instead, I just made sure I practiced moderation and watched my portions. I was conscious about eating lean proteins, tons of veggies, whole grains, and drinking lots of water. I also stopped keeping stuff in my house that I knew I would binge on, like any sort of junk food.

When I first started losing weight I said, “I think I am going to try for 150 pounds,” and once I reached that goal, I said “Why not try for 125?” And when I got there, it was, “I’m going for 115.” I finally reached my last goal of 110 pounds and it felt great! I had no idea that I could accomplish all the things I did during my weight loss. It was a great sense of accomplishment to set a goal and then reach it.

The After

I never realized that just starting to exercise would impact me so much mentally. I went from being in a very unhealthy relationship to being empowered. I can’t quite explain how much weight-loss and fitness has helped increase my stamina, decreased my levels of stress, and made me feel more like me than I ever have. At 35 I am doing so much better than I ever was before.

Weight loss empowered me. I was in a verbally abusive relationship and never felt like I was good enough to do better. When I started losing the weight my mindset changed. All of a sudden, I felt like a new person. Not only did I look better physically, but I also had a strength I never knew I had. After losing sixty pounds I decided to leave my now ex-husband and raise my two boys by myself.

After my divorce, I started doing Tae-Bo and training for obstacle course runs, and I felt better than I ever had. A friend finally convinced me to go to Zumba class in 2012 and I loved it so much that I actually went out and got certified to teach it. In 2013, a job opened up for me to do personal training in a hydrotherapy pool so I became a NETA certified personal trainer. In 2014, I decided I really wanted to focus more on the behavior change aspect of weight loss so I got certified as an ACE Health Coach.

Fitness not only changed my health and the way I look, and my health (I no longer have knee issues and I don’t get tired chasing my three kids around!), but it also gave me a purpose: to help other women lose weight and feel better about themselves.

The Maintenance

I try to plan my food out for the week and I am always looking up healthy recipes (we try new ones all the time so we don’t get bored!) I make sure I always have time to exercise whether it’s morning or late at night. I started adding Yoga and meditation into my daily practices too, because even though I prefer a good sweat, I also know that you have to work on the inner part as well.

I still exercise six days a week, now I prefer HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), but I am always trying something new. I love taking and teaching fitness classes, kettlebells, kickboxing, and going for runs. I am started to add more barbells to my workouts and I am looking at getting certified in Yoga next. As for food, I am still very conscious about what I am eating; I don’t like to eat anything out of a box and try to stay away from fast food. I do like to enjoy burgers every now and then, but it’s all about moderation.

The Struggles

I still have a tendency to not like my scale sometimes, and sometimes I overindulge, but the next day is a new day and I just start over. I just never let a “cheat” ruin my entire day. Honestly, one of the hardest things for me is watching people who struggle like I did. I want to give them a push and say “Do this for you! You CAN do it!”

Advice

Make little changes at first so you don’t get overwhelmed, and do something you actually enjoy doing—because you shouldn’t hate exercise. Take a class that interests you and you’ll be more likely to do it. Also, my hardest thing now with three kids and working as a personal trainer is finding time to work out, but you have to put you on your schedule, you are that important. If you have kids workout WITH them if you need to! It’s good for you and them!

Need more inspiration? Meet other weight-loss winners!

Weight-Loss Win is authored by Andie Mitchell, who underwent a transformative, 135-pound weight loss of her own.

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