Fitness Fanatic Whips Her Fat Family Into Shape

Former junk food addict Christa Sierra, 23 managed to lose 190 pounds (14 stone) after she swapped burritos for salads and her sofa for the gym.

She is now hoping to compete in body building competitions and become a personal trainer - but not before she has turned her attention to her overweight family.

So far she has helped her 20-year-old brother Austin lose an incredible 120 pounds and her 17-year-old brother Jarred lose 80 pounds.

Her 46-year-old mother Georgia has lost 60 pounds and her 49-year-old father Jonny has lost 20 pounds.

Christa who formerly weighed 395lb (28 stone) but now weighs 205lb (15 stone), said: “They’re all doing incredibly well but we still have so far to go as a family.

“It’s incredible that in just over a year we’ve managed to lose nearly 500 pounds together.

“I don’t know how we ended up being so large – I think we’re just a typical Southern family – we always ate huge portions of the wrong food.

“I knew I had to get healthy when I ended up in hospital because of my weight.

“I have been diabetic since the age of 18 and contracted MRSA when I was in hospital.

“Because I was so overweight my body couldn’t fight the infection and I nearly died.

“I was on a ventilator for around four months and couldn’t walk afterwards.

“I got on the elliptical machine for a few minutes each day building myself up.

“Now I work out for at least two hours a day and I’ve never felt better.

“My family aren’t as dedicated as me yet but I’m working on them and we’ll get there.”

Christa would eat three tacos, a bowl of cereal and some sausage and gravy for breakfast followed by Fast food for lunch and three burritos for dinner.

When snacking she was would regularly gorge on crisps and pints of ice cream all washed down with three litres of coke a day.

“I used to drink a lot - sometimes I would have nine or ten pints of whiskey and coke a night,” added Christa, of San Marcos, Texas.

“I didn’t realise it at the time but I was deeply depressed, I’d been bullied all of my life because of my size so used to comfort eat and drink – I’m so glad that’s over.

“I’ve never been happier or healthier than I am now and that will soon be the same for my family.”

She has now dropped her daily calorie intake by 3200 calories consuming 1800 per day now.

For breakfast she eats egg whites followed by a fruit snack or nuts and berries.

At lunch she now eats a yogurt and some lean ground turkey with vegetables and rice and at dinner she will have a piece of lean meat with some vegetables.

“Some of my family still eat pretty badly especially my dad – he is stubborn,” added Christa

“But this isn’t about looking and feeling better this is about survival – my weight nearly killed me and I genuinely believe that I would be dead by now if I didn’t do something about it.

“I don’t want that to happen to my family which is why I’m doing everything I can to ensure they get in shape.”