Jacqueline Adan started off on a mission to lose weight after an embarrassing moment she experienced at Disney World. A moment described by her as “rock bottom.” Her weight loss journey has been a huge success and sparked inspiration amongst those who followed her story. However, Adan still has mental health struggles and has to face bullies who mock her, regardless of those efforts.
Where Adan Found the Inspiration
Jacqueline Adan was on a trip to Disney Land, and the only thing that stood in the way of her having a good time on the rides was her excess weight. At this point, she told TODAY that she weighed 510 pounds. It was this trip that sparked her motivation and turned that into progress.
Adan posted a transformation picture on her Instagram that has created some amazing comments of others who were inspired by her work. She captioned the picture with words of the wisdom she has gained through this process of shedding pounds. She advised:
“Losing over 300 pounds was not luck. Being able to lose over 300 pounds does not make me special, lucky and I definitely did not do anything “magical” to lose my weight. In fact, I did it by changing my diet and exercising. Period.” she continued: “When it comes to weight loss I feel like everyone wants a quick fix or they are looking for the “secret”. The secret is that there is no secret. It all comes down to basic science.”
How Did She Do It?
Jacqueline managed to lose 350 pounds from her 510-pound body. She tells her followers that she did this by keeping herself physically active. Her method was following the “Jenny Craig” diet and maintaining an exercise regime that Jaqueline mentioned one of her followers had told how she “is fearless with her workouts.”
In a post she made on Instagram, she captioned a post about how highly she regards exercise: “You have to burn more calories than you consume. I know that’s not what people want to hear, but trust me, all of the hard work, blood, sweat and tears that will go into your own transformation will be SO worth it!”
Bullies Mocked Her Legs
As Jaqueline was very determined in her efforts, she lost the weight quite fast, and that meant that had a lot of excess sagging skin. She confessed that it initially worried her, but she was as determined as ever to not let this bring her down. Jaqueline mustered up the courage to put on a bathing suit, in public. She described this as a big moment for herself, but upon arriving at the pool for a swim, there was a couple who found the look of her legs amusing, and they mocked her.
“When we were on vacation in Mexico a few weeks ago, it was the first time I had worn a bathing suit in a long time, and it had been even longer since I wore a bathing suit without a cover-up. I was nervous to take my cover-up off and to walk into the pool or walk on the beach. I still felt like that same 500-pound girl… then, it happened.
A couple sitting by the pool started laughing and pointing at me and making fun of me as soon as I took my cover-up off. So what did I do? I took a deep breath, smiled, and walked into the pool. That was a huge moment for me. I had changed. I was not the same girl anymore. Yes, I still have a lot of loose skin, I may still feel insecure at times, and yes I may still get made fun of.”
What Happened When She Reached her “Goal Weight”
Losing weight was a great effort on Jaqueline’s behalf, and when she eventually reached her “goal weight” she reported that she still was not satisfied with her progress. Mo recently TODAY followed up with Jacqueline to find out how she is enjoying her life now that she achieved her ideal weight.
“Along the journey, I think I didn’t make my mental health a priority. Everything I did was centered around weight loss. And then the more I lost, the more it became an obsession to see how small I can get. It went from being like, ‘I want to be healthy and live my life,’ to now, ‘I’m going to start restricting food, I’m going to start killing myself in the gym and try to get as small as possible.’ I didn’t really realize how damaging that was,” Jacqueline said.
Since her drastic weight loss, she started seeing a therapist who specializes in eating disorders, in particular, her binge-eating disorder. She is making her mental health something she prioritizes now, having realized just how physical health goes hand in hand with your mental and emotional well-being. We wish Jaqueline the best on her journey to true health both mentally and physically.