Until this year, Heidi Olson Jones had never owned a swim suit as an adult. The 54-year-old had gradually been gaining weight over the past several decades until she reached a final weight of 309 pounds.
As she approached her 50th birthday, Jones decided it was time to take charge and do something about her health and weight. Her approach was simple, almost “boring” as she described it to TODAY.
She recalled a time about 30 years ago when she gave up sugar for a while and felt incredible because of it. So that was her first step–to cut out all added white sugar.
“Sugar is my nemesis,” Jones said. “I looked at those empty calories and they were easy to give up.”
In addition to dropping any obvious added sugar, she also started watching her portions. She continued to mostly eat the same things, but she began counting her calories and trying to keep her daily intake under 1,800 calories.
“That was radical for me because I never was consciously consuming. I just ate, ate, ate,” she said. “The sugar is addictive, I’ll say that for sure, but it was also just the mindless eating.”
Jones also started paying attention to her body and it’s cues about her needs, only eating when she’s hungry, and making sure she stops eating when she begins to feel full.
“I think there was some irrational connection for me with hunger. It’s like being hungry was bad. Well, being hungry is actually good because it’s my body telling me what I need and what I don’t need,” she said.
Jones also incorporated a daily walking regimen, and walks at least five times a week for 30 minutes. All in all, Jones has lost 115 pounds, weighing in at 194 pounds with a goal weight of 170.
TO celebrate her massive accomplishment, Jones bought her very first swimsuits of her adult life. Until now, she was too self conscious to wear a swim suit in public, instead choosing baggy shirts and shorts to cover her figure.
She posted the exciting moment to her Twitter account and the post immediately blew up with over 400k likes.
I am 54. I have lost 115 pounds. I have never worn a swimsuit in my entire adult life. I just bought 2. 💜
— Heidi Olson Jones (@HeidiOlsonJone2) March 7, 2021
Additionally, Jones has lowered her cholesterol by 29 points while also reversing her hypertension and her prediabetes.
“I want to be healthy first and foremost. The added benefit of feeling better — having more clothing options — is fun. The swimsuits are frivolous, but very fun, and just in general enjoying everything a lot more,” Jones said.
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