For twelve years, the woman from Lower Saxony fought her body with diets, starvation and excessive exercise in vain, until she started eating out of desperation. After many years and various unsuccessful diets, clothes in four different sizes accumulated in Jenni’s wardrobe, but nothing fit properly anymore.

In the summer of 2019 she experienced the decisive moment. She had reached her maximum weight of 130 kilograms. As shattered as she was, she was finally ready – to embark on a healthy weight loss journey that would eventually lead her back to herself.

“It was terribly frustrating”

For the first time in a long time, Jenni looked at herself and her body consciously in the mirror and burst into tears from the shock. She was caught in a moment of dissatisfaction, pain and despair, but also a moment when everything was changing.

She realized that something had to change, that she had to make this journey on her own. Nobody could help her as long as she wasn’t mentally ready for it. After all, every change begins in the mind.

Without thinking too much, Jenni changed her lifestyle.

She took what is probably the most important step right at the beginning: Jenni turned inward to find herself again. She had to be aware of her pain in order to realize what she had been doing to her body over the past few years – obesity, self-loathing and complexes.

“I am completely with myself and listen to my body”

With the new insight came the change in diet and regular exercise.

When it comes to nutrition, two aspects in particular were important to Jenni. For one, their meals should be balanced, healthy, and high in protein. And on the other hand, she didn’t want to forbid herself the craving for sweets, but instead resorted to healthy alternatives.

“A completely new attitude to life”

After Jenni made huge progress within a few weeks, her motivation knew no bounds. The first 15 kilograms tumbled very quickly. She herself reported on Instagram (@jenninilein) that the hard training is worth it. Not only would she have much more endurance, she could also increase the weight on the devices again and again. Also, her resting heart rate has improved a lot. Within 30 days, her average resting heart rate dropped from 67 to 56 beats – amazing progress.

On a sporting level, Jenni has always been enthusiastic about outdoor activities. Even before her final decision to lose weight sustainably and in the long term, she liked to go hiking. This also accompanied her throughout her weight loss journey and gave her new strength and energy again and again.

In particular, the athletic and cross training brought big changes to Jenni and motivated her to keep surpassing herself. In addition, the woman from Lower Saxony also signed up for the gym. In addition to strength training, course sports were also added – first jumping fitness and later Zumba.

In September, she proudly ticked off her annual resolution that she would like to last an hour on the stairmaster by the end of 2019: “My goal was to last an hour on the #stairmaster by the end of the year… to survive. What can I say… it’s the beginning of September and I finished my #stairmasterworkout today after almost 66 minutes. With trembling legs, slightly pale in the face, sweaty and still super proud. Do I now dare to do 90 minutes?”

Jenni passed the first milestone on January 4th, 2020. She reports on Instagram that she weighed less than 100 kilograms on today’s weighing day. The next thing she is aiming for is 85 kilograms.

In the same year, the native of Lower Saxony noticed for the first time that abdominal muscles were gradually becoming apparent. She proudly wrote on Instagram: “But I recently discovered something on me, a marking on the stomach… so minimal that I show you on the right picture. I couldn’t quite believe it at first, but there are actually abdominal muscles, hard to believe. In addition to this discovery, despite standing still on the scales, I have lost circumference – 1 cm per arm, 2 cm waist, 5 cm belly ring, 2 cm bottom and 1 cm per thigh – it will be (10/12/20).”

Of course, her path was not easy. As soon as she threatened to collapse, she only had to look at the old pictures. The comparison with the before spurred her on to keep going. Jenni was all the more proud when she sorted out her old clothes and was finally able to shop in the “normal” department again in March 2020, with size 44.

Participation in sports challenges such as long hikes for a limited time also motivated them to go beyond their limits.

Even if she didn’t finish, Jenni could see massive progress and is still looking forward to future challenges.

“I’m good just the way I am”

Looking back on her time before conscious weight loss, Jenni wants to apologize to her body for what she did to it:

“I’m sorry for what you’ve had to endure… you’ve always been my worst enemy. You were despised, hated and insulted by myself… days – weeks I starved you – made you exercise until you couldn’t take it anymore. Put you on a number of diets and ignored all your signals… Finally I let you carry loads of weight and totally surrendered – it was a terrible war I put you through… but believe me… it is over! No more starving. No contempt. You keep me alive and now it’s time that I thank you with love. With a lot of self-love and inner peace, because I am good the way I am and not what the clothing size or the number on the scale say (03.12.19).”

In the meantime, however, Jenni feels really good in her body and has achieved a weight loss of 43 kilograms through discipline, nutrition and sport. Overall, her circumference has decreased by more than 100 centimeters since her 30th birthday.

Looking back, she proclaimed, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over time, it’s that there’s no point in following in someone else’s footsteps – for those are his, not yours…(01/28/22).”

“You find the motivation within yourself – you will find the rest when you start walking the path”

Jenni’s success story shows how important it is to have the right mindset and relate to your own body. Losing weight cannot be successful in the long term if the head is not fully focused and ready for a lasting change.

In addition, standstill and increase are also part of the process of losing weight. After all, the body also retains water and builds muscle. That’s why you shouldn’t just listen to the scales, but also work with image comparisons and a measuring tape to be able to see the changes better.