If you have set a New Year’s resolution to shed a few pounds, you’ll probably be inspired by a New Brunswick woman who has already lost 120 lbs and plans to shed another 100 lbs more this year.
Mandi Smith of Fredericton, N.B., said she’s ready for the next round of her remarkable weight loss journey.
“I was 419 pounds at my heaviest on the scale,” said Smith.
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Back in 2018, the 5’3″ 36-year-old set a goal to lose 100 pounds by the spring of 2020.
Smith said she has battled with her weight her whole life. But when she stepped on the scales at her heaviest she knew she had to change her life once and for all.
She has vowed to give up a lifetime of emotional eating.
“If I was sad I ate, If I was mad I ate. If I was happy I ate,” said Smith.
She hired a life coach and a personal trainer, and managed to reach her goal ahead of schedule. She lost 120 lbs by December 2019.
Jamie Skavlebo is Smith’s personal trainer and said that Smith had become her star pupil.
“She is believing in herself and she knows what her worth,” said Skavlebo.
Smith is also openly sharing her story on social media. She said she is hoping to inspire others to win their weight-loss battles in 2020.
“Don’t do it just because you set a resolution and have some lofty idea that this is what you should do?” said Smith.
She said you have to do it for yourself and let go of emotional baggage.
“Every time I let something like that go weight just melts off of me,” she said.
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Smith’s technique to eat better and move more is nothing new. It is her belief in herself that is truly inspiring others.
“I gave my old clothes away so that I haven’t got that space where you know where I am going back to that,” said Smith.
All except for one pair which she can now stretch around her body twice.
“If I could help just one person with my story I wanted to make sure that I got it out there”
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