AFTER turning 21 in a hospital bed, Christa Sierra decided to change her ways. Christa, of San Marcos, Texas, had struggled with her weight all her life and was diagnosed as diabetic as a teenager. At 21, she contracted MRSA and the hospital stay prompted her to change. Christa’s weight had ballooned to over 400lbs and she relied on a walker before working on her nutrition and building her strength to then work out. Five months into her weight loss journey, her mum Georgia, dad Jonny and brothers Austin and Jarred were also inspired to lose weight and together the family have shed 560lbs. Christa herself has lost 198lbs and qualified as a personal trainer, helping others to get fit too. Christa told Truly: “Fitness has become a huge part of my life and I absolutely love it because I feel like it saved me.”
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00:00I've been obese since I was a little girl. My family were always morbidly obese.
00:08Gradually every year I was getting bigger and bigger and bigger. It wasn't until I had my final scare. I turned 21 in the hospital bed.
00:17I left on a pick line and I was over 400 pounds. That was it. Something needs to change.
00:23I've lost nearly 200 pounds.
00:25So within five months of my journey, my family decided to join me.
00:31Together we weighed 1550 pounds. We've lost 560 pounds combined.
00:43Since the last time Barcroft came to film me, a lot has changed.
00:47I've gone through different phases of fitness. For the first part, I feel like I was just running a lot,
00:54doing a lot of half marathons. I did run my first full marathon.
00:58Lately, I've just been doing and focusing on strength training.
01:03I also feel that I have shaped and toned my body a whole lot different.
01:13So in the beginning, I've been obese since I was a little girl.
01:20Me and my family were always morbidly obese, always wore way bigger sizes of clothes than the kids my age.
01:28It was just like gradually every year I was getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
01:33When I turned 18, I was diagnosed as a diabetic. I was sticking myself with two types of insulin twice a day.
01:41Her struggles were
01:44real, you know, she was going through depression and you could see her, you know, kind of shine away, you know, from things.
01:50She participated in all the sports, but it was just
01:53harder for her, you know, to do what everybody else was doing because she was, you know, so overweight.
01:59You know, her illness came up and, you know, and it just
02:02she just went down from there, you know.
02:06It wasn't until I had my final scare,
02:08I had a very bad blood infection MRSA and with that I had a lot of
02:14unexplained pain in my pelvic area when I turned 21 in the hospital bed that I
02:21finally was like something needs to change like and it needs to happen now.
02:26That was probably the scariest moment of my life because I felt so, I was stuck.
02:31I was like over 400 pounds.
02:33I was using a walker and I wasn't very mobile at the time just because I had a lot of pain.
02:40That was it for me. And
02:42so I was like, well, if you can't walk and you can't move, physical activity is very limited, then you need to focus on nutrition.
02:51But I knew that if I were to cook my own food and not be eating junk food, no chips, cookies, ice cream,
02:57no sodas, no fried food,
02:59within two months, I lost like 40 pounds and then within five months, I lost a hundred pounds.
03:07Currently, I'm working out about six days a week.
03:10Yeah, six to seven days a week.
03:12I'm out moving up seven days a week, whether that means I'm gonna go hiking or I'm gonna go just do some corrective exercise.
03:21I've lost nearly 200 pounds.
03:29I
03:33have excess skin. I'm constantly wearing compression
03:38because it's literally like lumpy.
03:42Skin removal surgery is definitely, I'm gonna have it. I will have it.
03:47I just need to find, one, I need to come up with the finances and two, I need to find the right doctor.
03:53But it will happen. I know it will happen.
03:57I
03:58became a trainer
03:59back in, I think, 2015. If I could choose any type of clientele,
04:04I'd want to work with the morbidly obese, the people that were in my shoes. That's where my heart's at.
04:09I never realized how much helping people helps me.
04:14Definitely keeps me motivated for sure.
04:17So within five months of my journey and losing a hundred pounds, my family decided to join me.
04:23I was super excited to help them.
04:25It started just with one of my brothers and then he started dropping weight and it was just me and my brother and my mom.
04:34I've definitely felt different since we've started this weight loss journey.
04:38I felt just more alive, more capable of doing more things without being out of breath, without
04:45just being tired, sweating.
04:48It's amazing.
04:50I was about a little over 220 pounds. I just couldn't believe my eyes.
04:55I'd never been that, not even when I was pregnant, I wasn't that heavy. And so I was like, well, I gotta do something.
05:09She's constantly on us all the time. What y'all eat? What's that smell in the house? You know, and stuff like that.
05:14I know y'all went somewhere to eat. I can tell.
05:18She's really hard on everybody, but it's good in a way, you know, because she cares about everybody.
05:23That's the thing about it. She's got a big heart.
05:27Together we weighed 1,550 pounds and currently we've lost 560 pounds combined.
05:34Not a lot of people can say that they've actually done that and kept it off.
05:39So I feel like it was a huge accomplishment for my family.
05:42I see her herself now, smile, happy with herself. And to me, I mean, that just, that means a lot to me.
05:50The real Krista came out. Her transformation has been one amazing story.
05:57Fitness has become a huge part of my life and I absolutely love it because I feel like it saved me.
06:02If I can do it, you can do it.
06:11you