Real Life Weight Loss: "I used to eat up to 7,000 calories a day – here's how I lost 120lbs"

Telsah, from Arizona, USA, has completely transformed her body and life after losing an amazing 120lbs. Telsah was always a bigger child and developed a bad relationship with food at an early age. 

Her calorie count was between 6,000 and 7,000 per day and was filled with unhealthy junk food. Telsah told our sibling YouTube channel Truly: "I used food as a comfort for anything, whether it was sadness, happiness, scared, stress, it didn't matter what it was." 

"It was very uncomfortable sitting in any posture with my knees underneath me, supporting my weight... I would enjoy a full takeout meal and get rid of the proof so I could eat again when I got home."

Watch Telsah's radical transformation below:

This unhealthy binge eating led to her weight gain and despite showing a happy exterior, Telsah kept her real feelings hidden way inside. Telsah said: "The feeling of me being scared to die at such a young age, me being almost 300lbs, eating three to four dinners a day... I knew I needed to change my life." 

At the age of 18, Telsah decided to act and made the life changing decision to have vertical gastric sleeve surgery. Gastric sleeve surgery removes part of the stomach, restricting the amount of calories the body can take. This was a choice Telsah embarked upon with a dramatic lifestyle change in mind, but we recommend trying other methods such as portion control (you can check our portion size guide for more) before resorting to surgery. 

With a lot of hard work, changing her diet from unhealthy take-outs to healthy food swaps and working closely with a personal trainer, Telsah dropped an incredible 120lbs and has finally got the body and confidence she always wanted. 

Telsah can be seen doing lots of compound exercise such as battling ropes, sled pushes, an elliptical machine and barbell presses to raise her metabolism, tone muscle and increase the amount of oxygen required by her body. To get started, you can check out our guides to the best elliptical machines for home use, and how to do a barbell squat.

Telsah added "When I look in the mirror now, I see me, I see happiness and I see a fit, healthy, happy person. You have to have faith in yourself and just go with it."