Jennifer Hunter after her major weightloss. Photo / Instagram
Jennifer Hunter after her major weightloss. Photo / Instagram
A woman who weighed over 250lbs after giving birth to two sets of twins has shed 90lbs and completely transformed her body.
Jennifer Hunter, 40, from Boise, Idaho, had been obese for ten years, was pre-diabetic and about to be put on cholesterol medication by her doctor when she made the decision to completely overhaul her lifestyle.
"I was just so tired of being unhealthy and overweight," she told Good Housekeeping. "I wanted to be able to run and not be held back by my body any longer."
Growing up, Jennifer worked out only because her parents wanted her to, but it was never something she ever enjoyed. When she reached adulthood, she continued to force herself to workout and watch her diet.
However, after her wedding in 2001, Jennifer decided to give up calorie counting and focus on making a home with her husband instead.
The newlywed enjoyed making elaborate meals, but she failed to scale down the portion sizes of the recipes to accommodate just two people.
Within just a few months, she put 40lbs onto her 5'3" frame before she got pregnant with twins that year.
Jennifer welcomed her twin boys Jonah and Aidan into the world 2002, and she was so focused on trying to take care of them, she didn't pay any attention to extra 20lbs of leftover baby weight that was still on her body.
A few years later, the mom tipped the scales at 252lbs and would get winded while chasing after her sons. As her boys headed to kindergarten, Jennifer stopped bringing junk food into her home and only allowed her family to have a fast-food dinner once a week.
Jennifer suffers from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which makes it difficult to lose weight, but she ended up shedding 30lbs. However, later that year she learned that she was once again pregnant with twins without undergoing any fertility treatments.
Jennifer as she started on her weight loss journey. Photo / Instagram
When she was 32 weeks along, she had to have an emergency cesarean section because her son Rowan was dying in utero for reasons doctors couldn't explain.
After her C-section, Rowan and his sister Audrey were in the intensive care unit for six weeks and Jennifer ended up putting on 40lbs.
Jennifer knew she wanted to be as healthy as she could be for her four children, and she made the decision to start running using the Couch to 5K running app.
However, she ended up tripping and breaking her ankle just a few days into her new workout routine. Although she ended up needing ankle surgery, she used her year-long recovery to teach herself how to cook healthy, portion-controlled meals.
Jennifer returned to running and she spent another year building up her stamina to the point that she could run for more than 30 minutes at a time without stopping.
Jennifer lost a huge 40kg on her weight loss journey. Photo / Instagram
Eventually, she weighed less than 200lbs and was able to incorporate weight lifting into her workout routine. She also kept her meals in check by using the Lose It! app.
Over the course of her weight loss journey, Jennifer lost 90lbs and went from a size 3X to a 12.
At her lowest, she weighed 160lbs, but Jennifer admitted that her weight hovers somewhere between 165lbs and 175lbs.
