Minnesota Couple Lost 90kg Along With These Small Steps

Stephanie and Brandon Engblom lost nearly 200 pounds together.

The routine started with a simple change to Stephanie’s coffee order and turned into a huge weight loss success for the couple.

The couple live in Duluth, Minnesota, and Stephanie says that she and her husband of two years just woke up one morning in January 2020 and decided they needed to make a change.

“We looked in the mirror, we looked at ourselves and said, ‘You know what? This is one of our lowest lows,'” Stephanie told TODAY.

“We both weighed over 300 pounds (136 kg), Brandon had just been diagnosed with sleep apnea and I was feeling terrible. My whole body ached every day.”

“We needed to make a change if we wanted to live a long, happy and healthy life together and maybe one day start a family,” said the 25-year-old.

Less than a year later and Stephanie has lost 53 kg. Brandon lost more than 80 kg.

The couple went on to explain that they did not follow a strict diet or any extreme exercise plan. Instead, they focused on changing their lifestyle into something they can go on forever.

“I’ve been overweight my whole life,” Stephanie said.

“I have early memories of trying fad diets like Weight Watchers or low carb and initially I would lose a little weight, but I would never be able to keep it off long term. I would always regain it plus five pounds.

They say that sustainability was the key to being healthier.

“We wanted this to be something that not only could we see results right away,” continued Stephanie, who works as a photographer, “but something that we could ideally stick to for the rest of our lives so we don’t have to keep playing this game. . “

In fact, the couple shared exactly what they did to achieve their goals.

Stephanie explained how the little things that added to an unhealthy lifestyle were eliminated.

“For me, that was eliminating my sugary coffee and replacing it with low-calorie options,” he said. “I’m still drinking coffee, I still have my coffees with milk, but instead of whole milk, chocolate and syrup, I’m drinking almond milk and just espresso.”

Surprisingly, they still enjoy their favorite things like pizza and tacos, but they’ve made it a little healthier.

“For the tacos, instead of cooking with ground beef, we used ground turkey or chicken, and we used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and a little less cheese with more veggies,” he explained. “For the pizza, we make it at home and we use turkey pepperoni.”

“You can still eat as much as you want, just in moderation,” he continued. “It’s more about portion size and being mindful of how much you’re eating, rather than limiting yourself entirely to certain foods.”

For Brandon, a 29-year-old attorney, he put all his focus on protein.

“It was a big change from really carb-heavy pastas and things like that, and switching to a much more protein-based diet because protein keeps you fuller longer,” he told TODAY.

“You can have really good meals that rely heavily on different types of protein and not feel like you’re missing out on or depriving yourself of a food that you really want to eat.

“We use things like chickpea noodles, for example, instead of traditional pasta – the difference in calorie and protein load that you get from that is just astronomical.”

Stephanie explained how she even brought them closer.

“It has strengthened our relationship,” he said. “I feel like we’ve only gotten stronger together and doing this with him has made it more possible than doing it alone.”