'Motivated' podcast: Incredible weight loss transformations
— -- Two fitness trainers who lost a combined 200 pounds are opening up about their weight loss success stories, sharing the key to their transformations.
At his heaviest, Adonis Hill says he was 310 pounds. “I was tired of looking in the mirror and not liking myself,” he told ABC News’ Mara Schiavocampo on the latest episode of the "Motivated" podcast.
Hill lost 100 pounds, became a fitness trainer and then decided to gain back weight to participate in A&E’s "Fit to Fat to Fit" reality show. On the show, trainers sign up to gain weight so they can lose it again with their clients. Hill ended up gaining 70 pounds in just four months before dropping almost 60 pounds with his client on the show.
“I realized that not only am I a stronger person physically but mentally I realized I can accomplish and do whatever I put my mind to,” he said.
To get results, Hill upped the exercise and diet. Now, he gives his clients the same advice. “Mentally, we have to get you start focusing on how you view foods,” he said.
For Shanna Fried, finding the perfect exercise was key to dropping the weight. “I would say the main reason how I got to almost 300 pounds [was] I gave up on myself. I gave up on the hope that I can ever lose weight,” the New York-based trainer said. A friend introduced her to boxing and she said she fell in love with it from the first punch.
“In that moment I would say a light bulb went off in my head saying, 'OK this is it … I have a chance. There is a chance I don't have to accept this is the way I'm going to be. I have to fight for it. I'm not going to come in here and enjoy every second of it. But this is something that I love doing.'”
Finding an exercise she loved encouraged her to change her eating habits as well. “From that point on, I completely stopped eating fast food, completely stopped soda. And just from that, weight started dropping like water,” she shared. Her hard work eventually paid off -- she dropped down to 165 pounds.
Hill and Fried are now trainers who hope their stories can inspire others to keep going.
New episodes of "Motivated" are posted every Monday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play Music, ABCNewsPodcasts.com and the ABC News apps.
