329 Pound-Weight-Loss Trio Share Their Secrets - East Idaho News
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329 Pound-Weight-Loss Trio Share Their Secrets

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Getty 081712 WeightLoss?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1345223202674Tom Morello/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Having lost a combined total of 329 pounds among them, Dana Campfield, Michelle Mohr and Eli Sapharti know a few things about transforming your body, and your life.

The trio dropped the pounds the old-fashioned way, too, relying on their own food choices and motivating themselves to exercise in order to lose the weight.  Their transformations are so notable that they’re now cover models, each featured in the “Summer Slim-Down Special” in the latest issue of People magazine.

So how did they do it? Campfield, Mohr and Sapharti stopped by ABC’s Good Morning America today to reveal how they lost the weight, and how they have stayed motivated ever since.

For Campfield, 44, a divorced mother of two from Orange, Calif., it was the realization that she needed to be strong and healthy in order to be a single mom to her sons, Matthew, 7, and Luke, 4.  Campfield planted a vegetable garden in her backyard and exercised with her sons in tow, pushing them up and down the driveway in a double-wide stroller up to 10 times each day.  When she gave birth to Luke four years ago, she weighed 244 pounds and her idea of a snack was buckets of popcorn. She now weighs 125 pounds.

To maintain her 119-pound weight loss, Campfield follows a meal plan that includes items like low-carb tortillas – paired with almond butter and sugar-free jelly at breakfast and turkey and provolone at lunch – sauteed chicken, vegetables and almonds.  For a treat, she whips up a “root beer float” with diet root beer and Cool Whip instead of ice cream.

Weight Loss Tip: Use portion control.  “You can do it,” Campfield said on GMA.  “You just have to keep reminding yourself everyday to keep trying and not give up.”

Mohr, 27, of Bradenton, Fla., lost 100 pounds after graduating from college and deciding she was tired of being the “fat kid.”  Mohr, who used to snack on boxes of family-sized stuffing, told People she read magazines and watched online videos in order to create a weight-loss plan that worked for her.  The plan now includes eating scrambled egg whites, fat-free cottage cheese, an apple, a slice of toast and almonds for breakfast; salad with chicken and chickpeas for lunch; grilled chicken with zucchini and half a sweet potato for dinner and a sugar-free fudge pop for dessert.

Weight Loss Tip: Eat a snack of string cheese and a half-cup of grapes.  “It’s protein.  It’s carbs.  It’s perfect,” Mohr said.

Sapharti, 42, of Miami, was prediabetic and known to drink two liters of soda per day before deciding to change his life.   He cut out all soft drinks from his diet and started walking 15 minutes per day.  Now, 110 pounds lighter, he works out six days a week.  While he used to eat a bowl of cereal with whole milk and a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, now he eats oatmeal with protein powder and blueberries.  For lunch, Sapharti says, he has grilled chicken with brown rice and black beans and tomato and, for dinner, he’ll enjoy meatloaf made with lean turkey breast and a baked sweet potato.  When he wants a snack, Sapharti reaches for items like Greek yogurt, apples, low-fat chocolate frozen yogurt and protein bars.

Weight Loss Tip: Start each day with a healthy breakfast.  “Oatmeal is an excellent complex carbohydrate and I put protein powder in it,” Sapharti said.

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