Woman Who Ate Pasta Twice a Day Loses 120 Lbs. After ‘Hitting Rock Bottom’

© People.comLindsey Awad

Lindsey Awad weighed nearly 300 lbs. when she decided she needed to change her life and get healthy. “I hit rock bottom,” the radiologic technician, 25, tells PEOPLE. “I was down, I wasn’t happy. I could feel it affecting my life, and I just needed to do something about it. I made a New Year’s resolution, and I was like, ‘I’ve really just got to do it this time.'” Before making her resolution in January 2015, Awad had never made healthy eating a priority. “I really wasn’t a big breakfast eater, and I wasn’t snacker, but at meals I was overeating,” she says. “I had pasta a lot — I could have pasta for lunch and then dinner. I was always eating takeout, I wasn’t cooking a lot.” When she decided to lose weight, Awad followed the rules outlined in the book Eat to Live and ate a strict vegan diet for six weeks. “I followed the plan in that book to a T, and in the first two or three weeks I lost 15 lbs.,” she says — but it wasn’t easy. “The whole thing is totally mental thing,” says Awad. “It was hard. You really have to have in your mind that you’re going to do this, and you just stick with it and see what happens. The first time I got on a scale and saw the progress, I was like, ‘I’m definitely not going to stop.'” She also began slowly incorporating physical exercise into her routine with 30-minute walks around the block. To keep herself on track, Awad began chronicling her progress on Instagram. “It helped me to not fail, especially when I was getting down,” says Awad, who now has over 4,000 followers. “People were watching me so I thought, ‘I can’t falter now.’ It definitely helped me stay motivated.” Now down 120 lbs., Awad has fully embraced a healthy lifestyle. “I usually work out four or five times a week,” she says. “I lift weights and I do cardio, and I’m an avid runner now. I just ran my first half marathon a couple of weekends ago.”

WATCH: Jada Pinkett Smith’s Weight-Loss Secrets While she is no longer vegan, Awad sticks to a clean diet consisting of lean protein and vegetables. “I just had to think about food in a different way,” she says. “I had to totally rework my life and how I ate. It doesn’t seem like I’m on a diet, it’s just a better, healthy lifestyle.” And she says the changes have greatly improved her overall quality of life. “I just have so much more energy now,” she says. “I like going shopping now. Everything is totally different. I remember what I felt like — I never wanted to do anything. I just wanted to sit and watch TV. Now I’m constantly go, go, go.” And while she still allows herself to eat pasta on occasion, it’s a treat rather than a daily occurrence. “I will still have a cheat meal on the weekends, but I don’t do that all the time!”

• HEATHER PATTERSON, LOST 127 LBS.

  
  © People.comLindsey Awad
  
  

  These mega weight-loss champs can guide you toward your own fitness goals"One night a friend tagged me in a Facebook photo, and you couldn't even see my chair. I immediately reached out to a friend who was a health coach for Take Shape for Life, a weight-loss and healthy-living program. Then, with the help of a trainer, I started strength training and steadily lost 10 lbs. a month. Now I'm a health coach myself … I feel like I had been in a coma. This is what it's like to live."

• AUSTIN SHIFFLETT, LOST 166 LBS.

  
  © Courtesy Heather Patterson; Gabrielle Revere
  
  

  "At a friend's house one day, I noticed a scale in the bathroom and weighed myself for the first time in years. I was shocked to see 324 on the screen. I faithfully followed the Atkins diet, and in one week I dropped 9 lbs. That was enough to keep me determined. I eventually built up the confidence to join a gym where I'd run and lift weights. I'm no longer the bullied kid I was – and best of all, girls finally notice me."

• CASEY FOREAKER, LOST 105 LBS.

  
  © Gabrielle Revere
  
  

  "Now I spin or run 4 to 8 miles, six days a week. My dad was always on my case about my unhealthy diet. I know that he's looking down and that he's proud of me."

• SARAH BEASLEY, LOST 120 LBS.

  
  © Courtesy Casey Foreaker; Gabrielle Revere
  
  

  "I finally changed when I took my kids to the park and I had to sit down because I was so tired. I got a Beachbody home workout and lost 50 lbs. in the first eight months. I get up at 5:30 a.m. to do the 30-minute workouts, and it sets my whole day off right. Things are so different now. We go on hikes as a family or play baseball in the yard. Life is so much better."

• ANGELA MONTANEZ, LOST 117 LBS.

  
  © Courtesy Sarah Beasley; Gabrielle Revere
  
  

  "When my doctors suggested I lose weight in 2011, I tried to walk half a block, and I couldn't without stopping. I told myself I'd never be at this place again. I followed popular wellness women on YouTube and relearned how to eat fruits and vegetables and lost 80 lbs. in two years."

• CAITLYN MANNHERZ, LOST 135 LBS.

  
  © Courtesy Angela Montanez; Gabrielle Revere
  
  

  "One day I decided I was sick of being sick. I researched nutrition and stopped eating gluten, soy and dairy and started eating lots of organic produce. I learned to practice portion control. The weight started to drop off, and I began to feel better. I finally had the energy to exercise three to four times a week with yoga or paddleboarding. Now I'm in a relationship with a wonderful man and studying to be a naturopathic physician so I can help others."

source : People (http://www.people.com)

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