After a Doctor Suggested Gastric Bypass, This Mom Was Fired Up to Lose Weight Herself

Amber Barham is a 25-year-old mother and teacher from Florida, but after one scary doctor's appointment, she was motivated to change her life. Amber struggled with her weight her whole life, and because of a thyroid condition, she believed weight loss just wasn't possible. It was only after a doctor suggested she have gastric bypass surgery that she realized how serious this was. Amber didn't want to have surgery, she wanted to work for her results, and that's exactly what she did.

"At only 23, I was facing death if I didn't change my ways, I had high blood pressure and was put on medicine for, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, you name it, it was all wrong," she wrote on Instagram. "Don't get me wrong, I've 'tried' losing weight my entire life! I've been on every 'diet' known to man, and have even been on appetite suppressants before. But this time something was different. I knew that I wanted change, and I wasn't going to stop until change happened."

So what did Amber do? She lost weight! Just 18 months following that life-changing appointment, Amber worked harder than ever and lost 100 pounds on her own. "This made me believe that he thought I wasn't capable of losing the weight, so I proved him wrong," she explained.

Amber replaced her pizza and sweets with nutrient-filled meals packed with fruits and vegetables. She started working out six days a week and can now shop for clothes she wants "without worry."

While it's obvious Amber's hard work is paying off, she wants everyone to know that keeping her goals small has made this journey so practical. "Plateaus are the hardest part about losing weight hands down, it can be very discouraging to be doing everything right and to see the scale not move or it go up even," she said. "Make small goals and small changes, when I started my goal was to be able to run an entire mile, now I can run two. Start small and go from there."

She has been documenting her journey on Instagram and inspiring so many people to never give up on their goals. Keep reading to see more photos of Amber's weight-loss journey.