FacebookIf this story doesn't make you want to put down the box of Doritos Loaded, get up off the couch and start getting your ass to Zumba class, then we don't know what will.
Back in 2011, Colorado couple Robert and Jessica Foster weighed 327 pounds and 287 pounds, respectively. Both of them were battling obesity for many years, and it was really starting to severely impact their lives. They couldn't take their four daughters to the park. They were always exhausted and felt unhealthy.
So they decided to change. And the before and after pictures will seriously blow your mind.
It started with Jessica, who was turning 30 in March of 2012 and had an epiphany about her lifestyle.
"I adore my kids and I love my husband very much, but there was that point I hated myself so much. I wasn't giving them the full me because I was disgusted," Jess told Fox's KDVR. "You have to look in the mirror and say, ‘Am I going to allow this to continue or am I going to stand up and make those changes?' A light turned on upstairs."
The very next week, she started taking Zumba classes. She lost 14 pounds in only a few short weeks, and then she moved on to bikes and treadmills at the gym. The weight kept coming off and she hasn't looked back.
Robert, on the other hand, was slow to start his weight loss journey, because to him the idea of running was "unappealing to the point of agony." Which, c'mon, is a fair assumption. Running can be really terrible. Right, Ann Perkins?
But he wanted to lose weight with his wife, so he started to play tennis and change his eating habits. Then came swimming, hiking and running around with the kids. By the summer of 2012, they were both addicted to healthy living and started training for their first 5K. and they finally broke the cycle of unhealthy eating within their family, making sure to lead their kids by example when it came to food choices.
Today, Rob and Jess each weigh 167 pounds, which means they lost an astounding 280 pounds together (120 for her and 160 for him). They have switched to vegan eating and are running marathons. Rob just finished his first full marathon in May.
"I love myself," Jess said. "I like what I'm seeing in the mirror. I know there's some work to still be done, but I'm such a different person than I was before."
You guys rock. Now if you'll excuse us, you two have inspired us to not just eat two donuts for lunch washed down with Diet Coke.