Mom who lost 200lbs in 15 months explained how she avoided gaining weight back

Megan Christenson went from about 350 pounds to 146 in just 15 months, and the wild part is she didn’t treat it like a quick fix. She treated it like a survival plan, one that had to work in real life, with real kids, and real days when stairs and even a simple walk felt impossible.

She told TODAY in 2021 that being a parent at her heaviest meant there were so many things she couldn’t do, like climbing stairs, going for a walk, or even taking trips to the amusement park. And once she realized she wanted to be there for her children, the stakes got personal fast.

Her secret was not just losing the weight, it was figuring out how to keep it off, step by step.

Her first big push started with food, because for the initial six months Megan focused on calories and cut back on the processed, carb-heavy habits that were piling on the weight.

Main Story

A mother has revealed how she managed to keep off the impressive 200 lbs she lost by making some simple changes.

At her heaviest, Megan Christenson was around 350 pounds. She had been overweight all her life, but she said things started to get out of control after she had her children.

Key Point 2

The then-37-year-old from Windsor, Connecticut, spoke to TODAY in 2021 about her weight loss journey and how she managed to get started.

Speaking about how her size was holding her back, she said: “Being a parent at 350 pounds, there’s so much that you can’t do, like climbing stairs or going for a walk or a trip to the amusement park.”

After dropping more than 100 pounds, she hit the part nobody posts about, realizing she couldn’t just keep doing the same thing and expect the scale to cooperate forever.

Key Point 3

She explained that she wanted to make a health decision so that she could be around for her children.

Speaking about her diet, she said: “For the first six months, I focused 100% on nutrition, looking at the calories I was eating.

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Key Point 4

“The calories I was eating — it was a lot of processed foods. It was a lot of carbohydrates.”

She insisted it was the diet change that made her drop the initial 100 pounds, before she focused on her exercise regime.

That’s when she leaned into strength training, then scaled up from small goals to building real stamina, which eventually turned into running.

Key Point 5

“After 6 months I had lost more than 100 pounds, I realized I needed to do something different to maintain that weight loss.

“All the research that I had done had suggested that people who successfully maintain their weight loss focus on strength training.

Key Point 6

“So that was my next phase, I hired a coach and focused on strength training goals.”

She added that she got herself a fitness coach, and the pair started with small goals that built up her cardiovascular health and becoming stronger.

Once Megan was running 5K, then 10K, then getting all the way to a half marathon, the weight loss stopped being a sprint and started looking like something she could actually maintain.

Key Point 7

After a while, she found herself running and was able to build her stamina to the point she was running longer distances.

She said: “Running the 5K, the 10K, then running the half marathon and continuing to build on that strength.”

Key Point 8

In a 15-month period, she lost a total of 200 pounds and went from 351 pounds to 146, and while she was thankful the weight loss meant she could do more physically, the real benefits from what she can do with her family.

She continued: “Things like going on a vacation with my kids and going zip lining for the first time because I was finally under the weight limit or going roller skating with my son, focusing on those things and those milestones really helped keep the momentum going.”

Megan didn’t just change her body, she built a routine her kids could grow up with.

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