Single mom sheds 55 pounds during quarantine -- and she's not quitting now
While the coronavirus pandemic has put a pause on life for many, one woman has used time in quarantine to restart hers.
When the pandemic first hit, things weren't going great for Jackie Wilson, a single mom from Cincinnati, Ohio, who lost her job and had to juggle homeschooling her son after schools closed.
But instead of dwelling on the negative, she decided to change her mindset and give her health a shot. At 290 pounds, she knew it was time for a change.
"I just kept thinking to myself: 'At some point, my luck is going to run out,'" Wilson told "Good Morning America." "I got fatigued and started to notice that there were health problems creeping up on me."
So, Wilson turned to intermittent fasting, an eating pattern that limits the times of day during which you eat.
Wilson's plan allowed her to eat only between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. She used the LIFE Fasting Tracker to track her fasting and added to her diet foods that she hoped would help reduce her risk of type 2 diabetes.
"Making those foods ideally whole and minimally processed -- things that are like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins -- go in a way that keeps your blood sugars leveled rather than giving you a spike," said registered dietitian and nutritionist Maya Feller.
It turns out that intermittent fasting worked for Wilson, who was able to drop down to 235 pounds.
"Giving that gift to myself honestly has put me in a better position through quarantine to be there and be a help for my friends and family," said Wilson. "I try really hard to do a gut check every morning. 'What do you have control over? Do you have control over a job offer? Do you have control over whether or not school will come back this year? I have control over the choices that I make in terms of what time I'm going to eat today."
While she's accomplished a lot, Wilson said she's not stopping there. If anything, shedding the weight and changing her eating habits has only motivated her to continue the process.
"Life is uncertain and there's a lot we don't have control over," Wilson said. "It really is about what you choose to do next."
