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Jennifer Koji, 41, is a mom of four. Like many women, she struggled to lose the weight after pregnancy and held on to an additional 40 pounds after having her children. But when she lost her father, she really put her health on the back burner.
“A year and a half ago, my dad passed. … The year after that was tough. I didn’t want to do anything. I did what I had to do to keep my kids going, my household going, but other than that, I just wanted to sit or lay and eat comfort food,” she told trainer Stephanie Mansour in a Facebook Live interview on May 9.
By January 2023, she weighed 215 pounds and felt sluggish and tired all day.
A lightbulb moment
“In December, it was a year since (my dad) passed, and it was kind of like a light switch went off. He wouldn’t want me to be wasting the days of my life being unhealthy,” Koji said.
She knew she had to make a change but didn’t know where to start. “I watched the TODAY show, but never really paid attention to the health and fitness segments; I tuned them out,” she said. When she saw Mansour promoting the January workout plan on air, she decided to check out the Start TODAY Facebook group.
“I saw it was a walking program and was like, OK, this would be simple enough to fit into my schedule,” she recalled. :I’m busy enough. I want to be told what to do. I don’t want to try and figure it out.”
She joined the Start TODAY group on January 1 and committed to moving every day and making herself a priority again. Five months later, she hasn’t missed a day — and she’s lost 25 pounds and feels better than ever. Here’s how she did it.
She identified her why
“I turned 40 last year, so just hitting that point I said to myself, I need to kick into gear and start focusing on myself to have…
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