In her own words, Kamila explains how she lost over 100 pounds with the help of her family and Spinning®.

Before I had children, I was a healthy and fit athlete, standing at 5’ 10” and weighing 175 pounds. But from 2011 to 2016, I was pregnant every year with my four children. That destroyed my body, and I ballooned up to 343 pounds. My health also started falling apart. I became dependent on an inhaler to improve my breathing, and in November 2016, I went to the doctor to talk about other options because my inhaler was no longer doing the job.

My doctor then pointed to my youngest child – then only 13 months old – and said “she will be starting kindergarten without a mother because her mother will die from an acute asthma attack because her mother won’t lose weight.” I went home that day and cried. My husband had undergone heart surgery when our youngest was just 8 weeks old. The thought that she might grow up without any parents was my biggest nightmare. While I could not do anything about my husband’s genetic heart issues, I can do something about my weight.

The Monday after Thanksgiving 2016, I joined the gym. Believe me, walking into the gym as huge as I was probably the most intimidating thing I have ever done in my life. At first, I just used the treadmill and practiced some portion control. After losing 40 pounds, I was finally able to give up the inhaler. I grew more and more confident, and I started trying out different classes. It didn’t take long to fall in love with Spinning®, and the weight just started to melt away.

Over the past two-and-a-half years, I have lost 133 pounds thanks to the Spinning® program. I’m waiting to lose another 35 pounds to get back to my pre-babies weight, and I definitely believe Spinning® can get me there. In 2019, I decided to become a Spinning® instructor myself. I personally believe it’s never good enough to just climb the mountain; you should always go back and show others how to reach the summit too. I want all my students to look at me and say, “If she can do it, I can do it too” because it’s true!

I believe there are four keys to weight loss:

1. Find your Motivation: There has to be something to make you want it bad enough to work for it. For me, it was the thought of my children growing up without me.
2. Plan to reach your goals: For me, it’s eating with portion control with six Spinning® classes and three strength training classes per week. That’s how I’m getting it done.
3. Find accountability and support partners: I have several workout buddies at two different gyms, and of course, my wonderful husband.
4. Perseverance: It won’t be easy, but the pain and struggle is worth it for a healthy life in the future. I can’t tell you how great it is to be inhaler free!

I will leave you with this; if I can get on a Spinner® bike with one bad knee, asthma and weighing around 300 pounds, what’s stopping you?!

We want to congratulate Kamila on her weight loss success and on becoming a Certified Spinning® Instructor! We hope you share your inspirational stories in the comments below and on the Official Spinning® Facebook page.

This article was contributed by Kamila Abbasi.