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It was only after trying an extreme three-day fad diet that Danial Winston decided she was done with dieting — for good. The plan, which advocates eating less than 1,400 calories a day— comprised of crazy food combinations like hot dogs and bananas — claims to melt pounds fast. But for Winston, it only made her feel sick. “I thought I’d try it and I did but the sad thing was I wasn’t getting enough calories so it made me light-headed,” Winston says. “I only made it a day-and-a-half and I decided I wasn’t going to do that anymore!”
Weight has been a life-long struggle for the now 31-year-old Winston. “My family has a history of not taking care of themselves,” she says. Despite a pretty healthy diet, and even a consultation with a nutritionist, Winston saw her weight steadily increase throughout her 20s and after getting married.
The one thing that seemed to help: Sticking to a regular exercise routine. So she stocked up on workout DVDs — from dance cardio to Pilates and yoga — and committed to working out. “I constantly changed the DVDs, but my body got used to what I was doing,” Winston says.
After the birth of her first daughter, Winston discovered Daily Burn — and decided to give it a try. She quickly got hooked on Cardio Sculpt, marveling at instructor (and mother-of-two) Judi Brown’s flat abs.
RELATED: Daily Burn 365: New Workouts, 7 Days a Week
Getting Back on Track After Babies
But, as with many of us, life got in the way of Winston’s efforts to stay fit. She suffered a miscarriage before becoming pregnant with her second child, a boy, born in May 2014. After dealing with cravings for sweets and red meat throughout her pregnancy, Winston, 5’7” realized she’d hit her peak weight of 294 pounds.
Determined to get back in shape again for the sake of her children, Winston decided to start over with Daily Burn’s True Beginner program. And it wasn’t always easy. “My hips felt broken!” Winston says. “Every time I moved them, they were so stiff…My body was like ‘Owww, owww!’” But after a few weeks, Winston got used to moving again — and soon she was back into the routine of doing Daily Burn every day.
By February 2015, Winston had gotten down to 273 pounds — despite the stress of moving her family (her husband is in the Navy) from Florida to Virginia. “I was happy since when I get stressed, I gain weight,” she says. “Doing Daily Burn every day really helped.”
RELATED: This Mom Lost Weight But Her Non-Scale Victories Are Even Better
Fighting Through a Weight Loss Plateau
After dropping the first 21 pounds, Winston hit the dreaded weight loss plateau. “My body fights me along the way…I don’t get discouraged, but it just becomes kind of annoying,” she says. So when Daily Burn 365 debuted in the fall of 2015, she decided to change up her routine. “If I don’t switch it up, my body gets used to [a workout] in two weeks,” Winston says. The idea of doing brand new workouts every day sounded like the perfect solution.
After tuning in, Winston was hooked. She loved that the daily sessions offered a challenge — but weren’t quite as difficult as some of Daily Burn’s advanced or intermediate workouts. And what really appealed to her was the fact that the 365 class members looked just like her. “There are women there who are shaped the same way as me,” Winston says. “I’m like, ‘Look, look, it’s a real person! Not all of them look all toned and you can tell they’re real people with actual jobs that don’t involve going to the gym!”
RELATED: 5 Easy Ways to Burn Calories at Home
Celebrating Non-Scale Victories
Nearly one year after hitting her plateau, Winston now weighs 234 pounds and has dropped from a size 24 pant to a size 18. “I only have 59 pounds to go to get to goal weight of 175, which I was at when I first met my husband,” she says.
Though she weighs herself every now and then, she doesn’t like to measure all her success by the number on the scale. “Sometimes I take a measuring tape and measure how much my waist or arms have shrunk,” Winston says.
Even more impressive: Her serious strength gains. She can carry around her 22-pound son with ease, and lifting her 50 and 60-pound dogs is no longer a major struggle. Plus, she recently found a new strength training partner when she discovered her newfound ability to “bench press” her 26-pound daughter. Winston laughs, “I was able to do 25 reps of her in the air!”
To learn more about Daily Burn 365 or to try a free 30-day trial, head to DailyBurn.com/365.
Note to reader: The content in this article relates to the core service offered by Daily Burn. In the interest of editorial disclosure and integrity, the reader should know that this site is owned and operated by Daily Burn. Always talk to your doctor before beginning any exercise or weight loss program. Daily Burn users who worked out for 30 minutes or more at least five times a week for 60 to 90 days reported an average weight loss of about one pound per week.
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