90-Pound Fitbit Weight-Loss Transformation and Maintenance

Tonyia's Exercise Schedule

Image Source: Courtesy of Tonyia Renee

Tonyia started out walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes every day. She steadily increased the duration then ended up hiring a personal trainer, with whom she still works out around February every year. On top of her own cardio, her sessions with the trainer took place two days a week. They'd run, focus on Tonyia's flexibility, and strengthen her core.

Tonyia said she wears her Fitbit when she exercises and also to compete in step challenges with relatives. "Once I started walking, I realized that it was great motivation. I would walk more during the day to try to win the step challenge, which was a lot of fun," she explained. "I even started walking in 5K races and managed to complete 30 of them the year before I turned 40." Tonyia noted that the walking challenges "make you feel like your movements matter."

Tonyia uses the Fitbit app to work out sometimes as well, and she tracks her sleep on the device. This coming February, she plans to meet with her personal trainer four days a week, and she'll also add an extra run or walk in the evenings.

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Tonyia's Eating Habits

Image Source: Courtesy of Tonyia Renee

Tonyia described herself as a very anxious person, and she allowed herself to overeat when she had that anxiety. She also went through depression. "When I felt that, I ate and it felt good. That still feels good now, I just eat differently." For example, she'll have fruit when she's craving something sweet and crackers and tuna if she's craving something salty. "I'm from Louisiana, my family eats chitlins and chicken and gravy, and everything's fried," Tonyia said with a laugh. But she cut back on flour and sugar, and she takes vitamins daily.

Tonyia told POPSUGAR that, after her bariatric surgery, she had to cut down what she was eating even more (which is typical). "I can't eat a lot, but I eat often," she said. Here's what a day of meals might look like for her:

Breakfast: an egg with vegetables like spinach and onions
Snacks she'll eat throughout the day: grapes, blackberries, a banana, vegetables, nuts, crackers (sometimes Cheez-Its), etc.
Dinner: baked chicken, broccoli, and brown rice or quinoa

Note: Tonyia also said that, when you have bariatric surgery, you have to space out when you drink and when you eat. "If you're thirsty and you drink something, then you'll have to wait almost 30 minutes before you can eat because your stomach will not be able to handle all of that liquid and food," she explained.

Tonyia added that eating healthier was important from the start, especially in the wake of her hysterectomy. "I've been in menopause since I was in my 30s," she said of her history with cervical cancer. "So my metabolism was at a zero. . . . I had to kick-start it with eating right. Then, having [bariatric] surgery was what was going to prevent the weight from coming back." Getting fuller quicker and not being physically able to stomach as much food, she said, helps keep the weight off, but she still maintains her healthy eating habits. "That is something that has gone to the better and really hasn't turned back."

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Tonyia's Nonscale Victories

Tonyia said she still battles insecurities. "I still feel like I don't see what everyone else sees sometimes until I see myself in a picture," she explained, "but the confidence that I've gained about how I want to live my life has definitely been something that I've really appreciated." The increase in her self-worth is weight-related, she said, but it could "also just be what happens in life as you get older and you start to prioritize things. You start to be really grateful for the small things, whether you've gone through something big or not."

Tonyia's weight loss has also helped her mental health. "I was walking with tears in my eyes, saying, 'I don't want to live like this. I don't want to think like this. I don't want to feel like this.' And the more I walked, I still cried. I still kept walking, until eventually you're sweating and you're not thinking about crying anymore."

She added, "Whatever that was that had me in that bed, not moving for days, it was gone because once you start moving, oh my goodness, that changes everything!"

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Tonyia's Goals Moving Forward and Advice to Others Setting Their Own Goals

Image Source: Courtesy of Tonyia Renee

It took Tonyia from late 2014 to early 2017 to reach her goal weight, but her new target is 175 pounds "and toned with muscle," she said. She's come so far and, like in any journey, there have been speed bumps and slight detours along the way. There were some months when Tonyia became less strict with what she was eating, and it took some discipline to get back into her routine, she said.

She'd ask someone struggling with the same setbacks what she asked herself: "You can cheat. Yes, you can. You can have a bad day. Yes, you can. Or, you can decide you don't want to do this anymore. That's fine, but then what would be the whole purpose of everything you've done up until now?"

Tonyia added, "When you get to thinking about it, you will get up and you will make a decision about how you're going to eat, and you're going to change the way that you are moving around because you're going to remind yourself that you get to make the decision." She concluded, "Sometimes you've got to have a tough day. Those are the days that change who you are."

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