A Disney level weight loss transformation – literally.

August 26, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments

I draw a lot of Cinderella analogies when talking about weight loss transformations.

But when it comes to Jacqueline Avon, a 29-year-old from California, she might just be the most deserving of the princess-esque transmogrification moniker. Not only was her magical fat melting journey the most extreme weight loss I’ve ever seen, but it was also inspired by an event that transpired at Disneyland itself.

So what happened exactly?

Why’s Jackie deserve the first prize transformation trophy?


(Um… maybe ’cause of this metamorphosis fit for a fairy tale.)

Well, Jacqueline’s story goes thusly:

Young and unfortunately gluttonous, she was trying to live a normal life – despite being at the peak of her obesity. So, she decided to go to Disneyland in 2011 with her boyfriend, just like many young couples do. Fearful that she wouldn’t be able to fit on the rides, she had avoided even asking to go on a single one. (After all, she was large enough at this point that she required a wheelchair, in which her dude gladly shuttled her around the park.) Finally, however, she found one ride on which she thought she might fit. However, what she forgot was that there was a turnstile you’ve gotta slip through first in order to get on the ride. Too late to backtrack, Jackie hoped for the best, and attempted to get through it. Unfortunately for Jacqueline, though, it was a little too small to accommodate her body’s proportions. And she got stuck. However, in retrospect, Jacqueline probably thinks it was fortunate. Because this moment was her rock bottom. This was the moment that (although she laughed it off in front of the crowds) pitched her into the epitome of shame. This was the moment that changed her life.

Because over the course of the next several years, Jacqueline lost a whopping 350 pounds.

See, when she got home, she began a program that has worked for many fed up with an overfed lifestyle: Jenny Craig. And for a long while, it legitimately worked. In fact, in the first year, she dropped about 100 pounds and hit her first milestone; when she revisited Disney, she fit on all the rides. (An amazing weight loss landmark for her.) By the time she went back again that year, she was almost at the 200 pound loss mark. Little did she know, though, that this trip would mark her new milestone to be. Because it was during that holiday that her then boyfriend proposed to her. Now, she had a whole new goal in mind to further spur her weight loss quest: her wedding dress. “I was determined to get married in on plus size dress,” she said, “I told myself that no matter how long it takes, I will get married with the body I have worked so hard for, next to the man who was by my side through it all!”


(I love this for two reasons.
A.) The fact that she had a goal that included someone other than herself.
B.) The fact that once you begin a fitness path, you’ll find new reasons – new goals to keep you going)

However, by the next year, her weight had hit that wall so many of us encounter on our weight-loss odysseys. This probably wasn’t helped by the fact that she’d accrued some psychosomatic issues with food, and had to actively remind herself that eating (in healthy quantities and quality) wasn’t going to plump her up again. Rather, all she really needed to do, was give her exercise routine a Cinderella makeover of its own. Thus, to turn up the burn-ability of her body’s metabolic furnace, she started Boot Camp classes, stat. Now, she’s doing high intensity exercises combined with cardio and weights – roughly 4 to 5 times each week. Coupled with her already healthy eating plan, this’s proven to be the panacea for pound dropping, loss of inches around her limbs, and even adding a bit’ve definition.

As mentioned above, homegirl’s lost 350 pounds to date. And, what’s more, she’s stayed at her new low weight for half a year now. (The toughest bit about a newfound fitness path.) That said, she’s now struggling with a new problem – that undesired prize at the bottom of the dramatic weight loss box. Copious folds of excess skin.

You’d think this might be an easy fix with surgery.

But, unfortunately, many insurance companies won’t cover the cost of removing excess skin, because they think it’s cosmetic. According to many, they couldn’t be further from wrong. Between the rashes sufferers endure and the pain from carrying around all of that heavy dermal tissue, you end up needing medical attention. And, when you tally up treatment costs to care for all of that, it’d probably end up costing the insurance companies less to just let every poor reformed former fatty just have a doc lop the stuff off.

Lucky for Jacqueline though, she’s a massive inspiration on social media. Between Facebook and Instagram (not to mention all the new followers she’s probably going to have after her story went viral), she can probably brand herself enough to earn an income both through social media, interviews she agrees to give, and perhaps even a kickstarter for her surgery – which I can totally see her fans championing for her.

Yet, what Jacqueline has to say about what comes next might be what I admire most about her:

“My journey does not end here and I’m excited to see what the future holds for me. I have my whole life ahead of me and I am living a life that I am proud of and not ashamed of anymore.”

See, Jackie now has a confident outlook for whatever comes next, and keeps looking toward new goals despite perceived obstacles blocking her way. Why? What makes her different from others? Probably the fact that, once you’ve hit your lowest low (like getting wedged in a turnstile and suffering unutterable public humiliation), you realize that those moments are opportunities for self-sorcery of Disney proportions. Those moments are when you can choose to seek a better way (like habit changing until you’re a hottie like she is now). It’s not about having the pixie dust or a geriatric fairy fix you. Sure, sometimes we get inspired – and change comes from a positive place. But others? Other times, the magic’s in the miserable moments.

And a realistic, goal minded outlook like Jackie’s is all any of us need to write our own happy ending.

Every day… for the rest of our lives.

#before and after#dramatic weight loss#Jacqueline Adan

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