Maintaining a healthy weight can be a struggle for many of us, taking up valuable mind space and causing stress and anxiety.
Chantelle Sisco, 21, from Queensland, Australia, recently amazed viewers on TikTok with her weight loss journey, losing 155 pounds and revealing that her secret weapon was cardio.
Thanks to her new regime, Sisco is now down from 357 pounds to 202. She told Newsweek, “Being overweight really affected my confidence and my day-to-day tasks with my family,” including her 2-year-old son, Ace.
Between 2013 and 2016, 49.1 percent of U.S. adults tried to lose weight within 12 months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most common method reported was exercising, 62.9 percent.
Courtesy of Chantelle Sisco
“Cardio was my absolutely go-to exercise when starting my weight loss. It help shed those first few pounds so I could become more confident going to the gym,” Sisco said. “I started off with five minutes around the block. Now I walk for an hour, and it took around four months before I saw results from walking every day.”
In a viral video posted to TikTok that has been viewed by over 228,000 people, Sisco can be seen pushing Ace in his stroller when she weighed 357. The video then cuts to her pushing the stroller after her 155-pound loss, and the text reads, “Proof that cardio works.”
Sisco said the hardest part about starting her weight loss journey was her confidence.
“I hated the way I looked,” she said. “I was very self-conscious every time I went out, and being so unfit, I found it hard to go for even a five-minute walk. It was really demoralizing. My newfound confidence is such a good motivation to keep going, even on days when I feel too tired to work out. Being able to do everyday tasks with ease and being able to keep up with Ace are also big motivators!”
Courtesy of Chantelle Sisco
After losing those first few pounds through cardio, Sisco employed some other weight loss techniques to lose and keep off the weight. “I started off with portion control and swapping my bad choices for healthier alternatives and then started a calorie deficit halfway through,” she said.
Aerobic exercise is cardiovascular exercise, or cardio for short, and refers to exercises “with oxygen,” meaning that more oxygen will make it into the muscles to help them burn fuel and move. The recommended amount of aerobic exercise per week is 150 minutes of moderate intensity, or 75 minutes per week of “vigorous aerobic activity,” according to the American Heart Association. It also suggests adding moderate to high-intensity muscle-strengthening activity, such as resistance and weights, at least two days a week.
As well as aiding weight loss, this exercise routine can decrease the risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure, increase “good cholesterol” and help manage blood sugar.
3 Tips for Starting a Weight Loss Journey
Sisco shared her top three tips for anyone starting a weight loss journey.
- Consistency is key.
- Don’t deprive yourself of all enjoyment. You’re still allowed cheat days, just use portion control.
- Start with some fun exercises you enjoy. There’s no point in pushing yourself too hard and losing motivation early on.
Commenters on TikTok loved the transformation.
“People don’t like to listen but walking and running had me drop 100 in 6 months, anything you have to pay for will tell you it’s not possible,” said one user.
“Yes I lost 20 pounds in a month walking fast for 30 mins a day!” wrote another user.
Another said, “Cardio def makes me burn fat faster. I now only do weights for sculpting not really to grow muscles much.”
Do you have a health problem that’s worrying you? Let us know via health@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured in Newsweek.
