After making simple tweaks, a woman had an incredible 30 stone weight loss.
Tanya Santiago was making impressive progress on her journey but was halted by a cancer scare. Determined not to back down though, the 31-year-old didn’t give up and has continued to follow the healthy changes she made to her life.
The retail store manager from California weighed 42st 12lbs at her heaviest, wearing clothes in a size 7XL.
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She says she’d gotten so big at that time that she struggled to get out of bed and ‘everyday tasks were difficult’.
"I ate anything I could get my hands on," she explained. "Chinese was my go-to and Mexican. I'd eat enormous portions - for a family of six."
But in 2020, tragedy struck as Tanya, who hadn’t known she was pregnant, suffered a miscarriage.
She explained she’d had ‘irregular periods’ that were ‘really heavy and lasted a year’.
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And during a procedure to remove tissue from inside her uterus, it was found she had miscarried.
"I was three months along, and my body was rejecting the pregnancy," Tanya said.
"I had to get an abortion pill as I was too big to go on the table."
This scare put things into perspective, with the realisation she couldn’t carry a baby without being in serious danger. After grieving this, she also realised she wasn’t happy in her marriage and filed for divorce in December 2021.
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So, Tanya started to make simple changes and exercising however she could - starting with short walks and pool exercises.
Chinese takeaways were swapped for low-carb homemade meals, and she'd lost 17st 12lbs by January 2023.
However, her health was deteriorating as Tanya said: "I went to the doctor and he said it's great you've lost all this weight but you have fatty liver disease and it's going to turn into cancer."
A gastric bypass was advised to help her lose the additional weight and reverse the disease.
Since that four-hour operation, the woman kept up her exercise and now works out a mega six days a week for two hours a day.
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Thanks to her determination before and after the bypass, Tanya now weighs 12st 2lbs and her family hardly even recognise her.
"When I went home they said 'who is this lady at my door?'" she explained.
"They said 'you shape shift'."
The woman says her old life feels like an ‘old TV show that used to air’ as she’s amazed every day that she ‘can run’.
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She’s still got her old 7XL clothes as a ‘reminder’ of how far she has come and is now becoming an online coach and bodybuilder.
"I just want to help other people," Tanya added. "If I can do it you guys can too."
Jess Battison