'How I went from being bedbound to a bodybuilder'
A mum who feared her children would find her dead on the bedroom floor, has shared how she saw a 220 lbs (approx 15st 10lb or 100 kg) weight loss and became a bodybuilding champion and fitness coach.
At her heaviest Alicia Briggs from Maryland, USA, weighed over 429 lbs (approx 30st 8lbs or 195 kg), which left her trapped in her own body and unable to stand for more than five minutes without excruciating pain.
"I was bedbound and in the worst physical health of my life," the 36-year-old recalls. "I had always thought I'd be an active and involved mum. Instead, I couldn't participate in the simplest activities with my children."
The turning point came in a moment that still brings tears to Briggs' eyes.
"I passed out on the floor, and my then five-year-old asked if mummy was dying. That was the wake-up call I needed."
Briggs says she'd struggled with her weight from an early age. "My relationship with food was very emotionally driven," she explains.
"Food was a safe friend that made me feel better. It was company when I was lonely, kind when other kids were mean."
By 2020, Briggs' weight had crept up to the highest her scales could measure, but her size was taking a severe toll on her health.
"I was put on complete bed rest by a neurologist in February 2020 when I was having seizure-like episodes, and I couldn't fit in the MRI to get a clear scan," she remembers.
"Standing longer than five minutes was very painful. I couldn't dress myself without assistance. I felt very low and ashamed."
Desperate for change, Briggs decided to undergo Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) surgery on 29 December, 2020.
It wasn't an easy decision, but after years of trying and failing at various diets she believed surgery was her only option.
"I tried Keto, low carb, Atkins, WW, going vegan, weight loss pills, the Beachbody' barre' programme," she lists. "If it existed before 2019, I tried it."
Following the procedure, however, Briggs understood the real work lay ahead.
"I knew I couldn't rely on the surgery alone, so I decided to give it my all," she says. "My first goal was simple: regain my mobility to walk longer than five minutes.
"Once I achieved that, I tried weightlifting at a local gym. But those early days at the gym were far from glamorous.
"I had no idea what I was doing, so I did a lot of YouTubing and googling information. I fell off and fell down a lot of equipment. I cried in the car on the way home. But I refused to give up. Eventually, if you try enough times, you'll begin to learn and get the hang of things!"
As well as her initial gym hurdles Briggs also faced some other unexpected challenges.
"I had to deal with loose skin and managing ongoing health issues, including POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) and Orthostatic Intolerance - all of which made exercising a challenge," she explains.
"I had to transition from gym workouts to home workouts for safety. Some days were harder than others, but once you've been bedbound, you'll do anything to not be there again."
Body image was another obstacle Briggs says she had to overcome.
"I still see the 400+ lbs Alicia at times," she admits. "I take a lot of photos and compare to prove to myself that I really did lose weight and it’s not a dream."
But as Briggs' confidence grew, so did her ambitions and in June 2022, barely 18 months after her surgery, she competed in the Summer Shredding competition.
"It was a lifelong dream and a blur at the same time," she explains. "I fell in love with bodybuilding as a young lady as my dad has been a lifelong fan but right before competing I had a mini-stroke and had to rehab myself to make it to the stage.
"Just competing was enough for me, but I managed to place second. No other black woman had been placed in SS history at that time, so I'm really proud to do that."
Today, Briggs' is barely recognisable from her former self having lost half her body weight and dropping from wearing 4XL clothes to a size 10.
But the physical transformation is just part of her story. Briggs has also become a certified personal trainer and the founder of Butterflies and Dumbbells LLC, a coaching programme designed to help women become "healed, whole, and healthy."
For those struggling with their own fitness and weight loss journey Briggs' has some practical and heartfelt advice.
"Everyone feels frustrated at times," she says. "That frustration is the tipping point towards continuing and succeeding or giving up and having to start over again.
"Never feel ashamed to ask for help! Never feel bad for taking care of yourself. You're worth taking care of. You're worth the hard work and effort. Believe you can and you will."
Additional reporting Cover Images.
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