BEFORE: At 5 feet 9 inches, Mo’Nique had reached 300 pounds. AFTER: It took her three-and a-half years to lose 92 pounds, and she’s not done.

BEFORE: At 5 feet 9 inches, Mo’Nique had reached 300 pounds. AFTER: It took her three-and a-half years to lose 92 pounds, and she’s not done.

In our recent article on comedian-actress Mo’Nique’s inspiring weight-loss journey readers got a glimpse of the dedication it takes to achieve a major transformation. After three-and-a-half years of committing to a healthier lifestyle — and taking small and deliberate steps — the entertainer has shed 92 pounds and counting.

 

“For the first time in my life, I can walk up and down stairs without running out of breath. I’ve lowered my blood pressure and blood sugar. Everything is better!” says Mo’Nique, who isn’t the only celebrity to have recently won her battle with weight.

“You see it on TV all the time: People losing hundreds of pounds, going from couch potatoes to athletes, transforming themselves into different (and happier) human beings,” writes Holly Wyatt, M.D., medical director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center in Colorado, in an article on CNN.com.

At 43 and 100 pounds lighter, Rhonda Hall is fit for the first time in her life. “I started getting up at 5 a.m. every day to go to the gym,” she says.

At 43 and 100 pounds lighter, Rhonda Hall is fit for the first time in her life. “I started getting up at 5 a.m. every day to go to the gym,” she says.

“How do they do it when most people struggle to lose 10 or 15 pounds? Big weight loss requires big lifestyle changes that stick for more than a few weeks, and it almost always involves a true-life transformation.”

Although some of us look to celebrities for inspiration, everyday women are  transforming their lives too. Rhonda Hall, a special education teacher profiled by Fierce earlier this year, says that through faith, she was able to drop 100 pounds.

Perhaps you’re contemplating a major transformation this summer. Wyatt, who is also medical director of season four of ABC’s “Extreme Weight Loss,” offers five strategies to lead you to success.