Lindsey M. Adams, a young Chicago woman, lost 140 pounds naturally, without surgery. That in itself is an accomplishment by any standards.
But it's her journey to that weight loss that's even more astonishing.
"I had obesity on both sides of my family, both maternal and fraternal, 80-90% of my family was overweight," says Adams.
Overweight by the age of seven, and obese by the time she turned 14, but no one noticed that she wasn't bothered by it. Lindsey had great parents and was always well dressed. She even started a blog for plus sized women that was doing very well. But her health wasn't.
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When she was 23-years-old, and over 320 pounds at her heaviest, Lindsey got back into church and got saved. During that time she had an accountability partner.
MUST READ: The First Step In Weight Loss Is To Get Fed Up
And it was her accountability partner that brought her weight to her attention. "She said 'Lindsey, how can you be 5’5” and over 300 pounds at age 25? You're a high risk for these major diseases and health problems.'" That initial conversation got Lindsey focused on her health. She knew she had to do something.
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"Growing up, I was emotionally unstable and ate more when was feeling down," Lindsey remembers. "I was a perfectionist and used clothes to cover up what was going on on the inside. I was double-minded."
With a newly determined mind, Lindsey lost her first 25 pounds just by running. From there, she joined weight watchers and LA fitness. And each time her body seemed to plateau, she started intensifying her workout.
After accomplishing 140 pounds of weight loss, Lindsey chose to document the progress on her YouTube channel, resulting in 3 million views of her over 400 + videos. So when a person loses that much weight wight, you should feel overjoyed right? Well, Lindsey's joy was short-lived.
There are a number of things that usually goes through a person's mind when losing that large amount of weight: new outfits, renewed sense of self-esteem, and even a new attitude. But after losing her weight Lindsey had over 20 pounds of loose skin around her arms, chest and legs.
"Many women decide not to lose weight because of the lose skin," explains Lindsey. "But it's that fear of what comes after losing weight that keeps many of us with hypertension, heart disease and heart attacks. Loose skin won't kill you, but obesity will."
All of this was highlighted in TLC’s latest docu-series "Skin Tight". Her size 6 frame was not what she imagined it to be wearing tank tops and crop tops since her skin was dragging a lot. The excess skin left her feeling embarrassed, unmotivated to further her fitness goals, and scared of physical intimacy.
The TLC docu-series followed Lindsey across four cities as three plastic surgeons performed a total of eight procedures in an astonishingly only six weeks to remove the excess skin. With cuts and scars from...
... each surgery, the pain would grow even more. Resulting in Lindsey unable to walk or use the restroom on her own as she healed from large incision openings over 3 inches wide.
“The mental battle was harder than the physical pain," said Lindsey. "But my dream of being in a white bikini kept me going back to remove more skin “
The weight loss industry is an over $60 billion business and draws more than 7 million viewers who tune in to network weight loss shows. Lindsey’s incredible journey of this taboo industry topic transparently shows the secret shame after massive weight loss. Sharing her body, story and an intimate areas of her life, Lindsey is helping others “Break Free of the Bondage of Obesity “
"Now, I'm more real: with myself and with others. I'm more of my authentic self and who I'm supposed to be. My heart is definitely more open to loving myself and others," confesses Lindsey.
For more information about Lindsey, click here.
