Transformation of the Day: Last year, Lamonda told us how she lost 160+ pounds with VSG surgery, exercise, and healthy eating habits. She recently shared with us how she continues to live a healthy lifestyle, build muscle, and stay on track with her nutrition goals despite traveling a lot for her job. Check out her update.
Instagram: @livinglamondaloca
Facebook: Living Lamonda
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What is your current weight?
I currently weigh 217 pounds. [starting weight: 358 lbs] I’m at a healthy weight these days, with more muscle. Honestly, I focus more on my measurements and how my body looks these days. It’s easier for me to see my progress through measurements as opposed to the scale.
How have you maintained your weight loss/continued to lose weight?
The best thing I could’ve done for myself is to continue working with a trainer. I travel for work a lot, so it’s challenging to maintain a steady routine. My trainer provides me with a four-day weight training workout routine, and I focus on cardio on “off” days.
With my trainer, I have a plan set up for my workouts, which reduces my anxiety about making progress in the gym. In addition, we have weekly calls to discuss my goals and current progress. Having someone who is knowledgeable and invested in my strength goals has truly been a game changer for me.
In terms of eating, I do my best to maintain a balanced diet while also enjoying the foods I want to try in different cities. I still love food, but my goal is to maintain a healthy relationship with food instead of binging. I focus mainly on portion control and protein for my meals to stay on track.
It’s not easy to prepare meals in a hotel, but I try to be creative to avoid boring meals. My weight will often fluctuate when I’m not consistently going to the gym, so I’ve been working on making the gym a true outlet for me instead of binge eating for stress.
Looking back on the lessons you’ve learned on your journey, which one stands out the most?
My BIGGEST lesson has been to stay on top of my vitamins. I have to admit that I was still so used to not taking vitamins, so I maintained that bad habit. However, the random fainting spells quickly became motivation to stay on top of my vitamins and learn what my body needed the most. I take B-complex vitamins and iron vitamins to help fuel my body. I still laugh at my mistake of thinking I could lift so heavy in the gym and NOT fuel my body correctly. I’m not sure what I thought the result was going to be. However, it was a great lesson on my needing to pay attention to my body and giving it what it needs.
Would you like to offer any new or different advice to women who want to lose weight?
Give yourself the grace to build consistency for losing weight. I’ve had to change my mindset to think of losing weight as not a “never-ending” journey but a lifestyle I must maintain and even change as life changes. You have to give yourself the grace to understand that you won’t get it right every single time because we’re human.
Giving yourself grace will help ease the frustrations of figuring out what will work for your body. One other thing, PLEASE DO NOT COMPARE YOUR JOURNEY to anyone on social media. What works for them may not work for you, and vice versa. Your timeline and progress will always look different from anyone else’s. Learn to fall in love with your journey!