Watch couple’s incredible transformation shedding 150lb – plus their weight-loss ‘golden rules’
A COUPLE has shared videos of their incredible weight loss transformation after losing a combined 150lbs together.
Natasha Perhson and her husband David posted clips of themselves before and after losing weight.
The videos have received millions of views on TikTok and received thousands of likes on Instagram, with people flooding to the comments to ask how they achieved their jaw-dropping transformation.
The mum of four – who says she wants to empower other mums to love their postpartum body – weighed over 200lbs after having her third baby.
Natasha said she gained 50 pounds with each pregnancy, managing to shed it quickly only to gain again when she became pregnant.
After her third pregnancy, the mum knew she needed to change her approach.
Meanwhile, Natasha told Fox News that David has “never really struggled with his weight,” but had “slowly put on over 50lbs” over the first nine years of their marriage.
When they started their weight loss journey, Natasha said she weighed 233lbs and David weighed 268lbs.
To lose a whopping 150lbs combined, they embarked on the notoriously tough 75 Hard challenge, Natasha shared in a post.
The viral challenge was created in 2019 by entrepreneur Andy Frisella, who described it as a “transformative mental toughness programme” rather than a fitness challenge.
It involves:
- Sticking to a diet, any diet
- Having no alcohol or cheat meals
- Doing two 45-minute workouts per day, one of which has to be outside
- Drinking 4.5 litres of water each day
- Taking a daily progress photo
- Reading 10 pages of a book a day
These six “non-negotiable” rules need to completed for 75 days straight and if you slip up, you’re back at square one.
Pretty intense, right?
Fitness experts have criticised the challenge for its restrictiveness and long-term sustainability.
Natasha shared that doing 75 Hard with her husband had been a help and had also brought them closer.
“Doing 75 Hard together has strengthened our marriage in so many ways!” she wrote.
Now the fitness influencer – who shares snippets of her exercise and eating habits on social media and has launched her Body Confidence Academy to help others lose weight – seems focused on sustaining the results of her weight loss long-term.
“I lost 100 pounds without counting calories, points, or macros,” she wrote in a separate post.
“I stopped restricting foods and taking extreme measures to lose weight as fast as possible,” she explained.
“Instead I started to focus on making small changes and changed my mindset around food and weight loss because I didn’t just want to lose the weight – I wanted to lose it AND keep it off!
“I knew the only way to do that would be making a permanent change.”
Sustainable weight loss is also supporting your overall well-being while on your weight loss journey
Natasha Perhson
Natasha dropped 100lbs before inbetween having her third and fourth babies and said her postpartum journey had been radically different the fourth time round thanks to maintaining health habits during pregnancy and focusing on long-term lifestyle changes.
“I knew after baby three that we still wanted another one – and being 100 pounds overweight, I was terrified to lose the weight just to gain it all the back during pregnancy,” she wrote in a post.
“So after baby three, I made a pact with myself.
“Not to lose the baby weight, but instead focus on changing my habits and lifestyle so the weight would come off AND also so I’d be setting myself up for future success.
“I mean after years of yo-yoing, I knew I needed a different approach so I went with the lifestyle change.”
Natasha was candid about the fact that losing weight wasn’t an easy journey.
But keeping up with her kids and doing daily activities like walking up the stairs was also hard when she was at her heaviest, she explained.
“Working out when I was over 200 pounds was hard. Walking up stairs was hard. Going to the pool with my kids was hard. Shopping for clothes was hard.
“Basically everything was hard and my thoughts about how overweight I was and how much I had to lose consumed me.
“Losing the weight was also hard. Forcing myself to drink water over Diet Coke was hard. Passing up late night desserts was hard.
Often when people start a weight loss journey, all they think about is what exercises they need to do and what food they should be eating
Natasha Perhson
“But the results were worth it. All of the things that were hard because of my weight are now easy.
“It feels good to be living my life confidently and focused on the memories I’m making rather than how self conscious I use to feel and what others might be thinking about me.”
NATASHA’S GOLDEN RULES FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Natasha has shared her golden rules for weight loss, which centre around changing your mindset about shedding pounds.
They include shifting your focus from calorie counting, to making sure you’re getting enough sleep.
1. No yo-yo or crash dieting
Natasha wrote: “Everything changed for me when I stopped trying to lose the weight as fast as possible and instead focused on making small changes I knew I’d be able to continue for a long time.
“The internal struggle of what I should or shouldn’t be eating/doing stopped.
“I no longer lived in states of either feeling starved from deprivation or stuffed from overeating.”
And to her surprise, Natasha watched the pounds melted off her.
Her weight loss was “slower than it would have with a crash diet”.
“But it felt effortless, maintainable, and I was able to keep going until I hit my 100 pound goal.”
The mum has shared what she eats in a day to keep trim and energised, starting with protein drinks before and after her morning workout, oats with peanut butter and banana for breakfast, a Mediterranean salad with chicken, chickpeas, peppers, cucumber and quinoa for lunch and minced beef with cauliflower rice for dinner.
2. Slash stress
Weight loss isn’t just about calorie counting, Natasha shared in a clip posted to her Instagram.
“Often when people start a weight loss journey, all they think about is what exercises they need to do and what food they should be eating.”
But the mum said sleep and stress levels also make a big difference to the numbers on the scale.
“I started prioritising self care and doing more thing to help manage my stress, like deep breathing a taking baths, making sure that I’m getting enough sleep.
“Sustainable weight loss is also supporting your overall well-being while on your weight loss journey,” Natasha said.
3. Exercise isn’t just for weight loss
Natasha has worked regular exercise into her routine, but she stressed that we shouldn’t just be working out to lose weight.
“One common misconception is that exercise should primarily be about burning calories to shed those extra pounds,” she wrote in a blog post.
“Regular exercise has a profound impact on your mental well-being.
“When you make it a habit to move your body daily, you’ll notice a significant improvement in your stress levels and overall mood.
“Those endorphins released during exercise can work wonders in reducing anxiety and enhancing your sense of well-being.
“It’s a natural mood booster that can make a bigger difference than you might initially realise.”
How to lose weight safely
Losing weight should be a long-term commitment to healthier living, rather than any drastic measures.
The NHS tips – which can be adopted slowly – include:
- Get active for 150 minutes a week – you can break this up into shorter sessions
- Aim to get your 5 A Day – 80g of fresh, canned or frozen fruit or vegetables count as 1 portion
- Aim to lose 1 to 2lbs, or 0.5 to 1kg, a week
- Read food labels – products with more green colour coding than amber and red are often a healthier option
- Swap sugary drinks for water – if you do not like the taste, add slices of lemon or lime for flavour
- Cut down on food that’s high in sugar and fat – start by swapping sugary cereal for wholegrain alternatives
- Share your weight loss plan with someone you trust – they can help motivate you when you have a bad day
Read about:
- The five fat loss foundations
- The calorie formula for weight loss
- The perfect portion sizes for meals to lose weight
- Sun Health’s 8-week weight loss kick start plan