A mom of three has revealed that not being able to play with her twin daughters motivated her to overhaul her diet and lose 123 pounds.
Kimberly Powell, 32, from Arizona, shared on Instagram that she decided to make a change in August 2016 after she saw a picture of herself looking ‘chubby’.
However, it wasn’t just the physical signs of weight gain that took her by surprise but the mental ones also, and she knew she was letting her children down by not being able to play with them.
Times up: Kimberly Powell, 32, from Arizona, decided to overhaul her diet in August 2016 after she realized she was unable to play with her twin daughters because of her weight
Transformation: At the start of her weight loss journey, Kimberly weighed 300 pounds but now weighs 177 pounds
In the emotional post, Kimberly explained in the caption that most days she felt too tired, self-conscious and depressed to leave the house.
She also revealed that straight after the picture was taken, she took her children to their backyard to play on the family’s trampoline, but her weight made it painful for her to even walk up the steps.
‘So I put them safely behind the net and watch them play on their own,’ she explained.
‘The whole time they called for mommy to play with them but I couldn’t. I knew I was making a choice to miss out on their childhood, and even worse I was making them miss out on everything they deserved.’
Now a fan of the ketogenic diet, which advocates a low carb, high fat eating plan, Kimberly started her transformation on August 25, 2016, weighing 300 pounds.
Babies on board: Meredith was at her heaviest when she was pregnant with her twin daughters, pictured here in December 2014
Side-to-side: Kimberly switched to the ketogenic diet at the beginning of her transformation and quickly lost weight, pictured left in August 2016 and right in November 2017
No magic number: Kimberly is ditching the scales as she says she doesn’t want to put herself through ‘a roller coaster of disappointment’ anymore
She didn’t adopt a low carb lifestyle until September 12, but as the diet quickly took effect, by October 2016, Kimberly started to see some real progress and was down 30 pounds in just two months.
A typical day of food on the keto diet includes boiled eggs, a taco salad loaded with guacamole and cheese, and a red bell pepper stuffed with taco seasoned ground beef, cheese and sour cream.
In February 2017, Kimberly shared images of herself at her heaviest weight with her Instagram followers, while opening up about her thoughts on how she used to live.
‘This woman wasn’t going to live to see her children have babies, she wasn’t going to have wild adventures in her golden years,’ she wrote.
Shrinking: Thanks to the keto diet, Kimberly has lost 123 pounds and is now able to play with her children, pictured left in October 2016 and right in December 2017 in the same shirt
Back to basics: Kimberly seen left in October 2016 and right in January 2018 is now focusing on ‘loving’ herself more
‘This woman was going to slowly kill herself.’
And now nearly 12 months later, weighing 177 pounds, Kimberly is fitter and more positive than ever.
And she isn’t consumed with achieving a certain weight either – she is now focused on ‘loving’ herself instead of ‘chasing a number on the scale’.
Her advice to others? ‘Gauge your success on those things that are within your power to control- self-confidence, self-love, self-worth.
‘Don’t allow the idea of a magic number to be what you hang your hopes and dreams on, that quickly becomes a roller coaster filled with disappointment’.