Rachel Graham shed 92 pounds in one year, and she shared her inspirational journey on Instagram.
“I tried to lose weight so many times over the years but would give up because I felt like I wasn’t seeing any progress,” the 24-year-old from Nova Scotia tells Us Weekly. “Documenting the transformation through pictures made me see that my body was changing. And when I was struggling, I could look back and see how far I had come.”
To date, Graham has 153,000 followers cheering her on.
Graham, who battled anorexia and bulimia in high school, says her weight began to spiral out of control when she became pregnant with her first child in 2009. “I used to go days without food. I fainted countless times and was hospitalized twice and had a feeding tube,” she reveals of her eating disorder. “When I found out I was expecting my first son, I finally gave myself permission to eat what I wanted. I reassured myself that the weight would fall off once I had my son, but it didn’t.”
By the time the 5-foot-5 blonde welcomed her second child in 2015, she had reached 235 pounds.
“I found myself wearing maternity clothes even though I wasn’t pregnant,” says the mom of boys ages 6 years and 22 months, respectively. “I was unable to shop at regular stores because XL is typically the biggest size they carry.”
In June 2015, Graham was suffering from high blood pressure and decided enough was enough. “I had no energy to play with my kids,” she tells Us. “I’d look at my reflection in the mirror and start crying.”
So Graham took her first step and downloaded the Fitbit app on her smartphone. “I started tracking my calories,” she says. “I tried to focus on balanced healthy meals like chicken stir-fry. And I limited sweets to one night a week.”
Graham, who barely had the energy to get up off the couch, also began exercising five times a week. “I do a mixture of cardio and strength training, sometimes at home and sometimes at the gym,” she says. Her current go-to workout: the 12 Week Fit Body Guide, by Anna Victoria.
Now, for the first time in her life, Graham is at peace with her body — loose skin and all. “I am so happy,” Graham tells Us. “It’s kind of an out-of-body experience sometimes when I pass a mirror or see myself in a picture!”
