86 oxygenmag.com
ate all her meals out with her new boyfriend.
“As my activity dropped off , the pounds packed on,”
Wells says. “I was so embarrassed that I turned to
food for comfort and gained more weight. It was a
vicious cycle.” Over the course of six years, Wells
gained 100 pounds.Realization to Redemption
Wells knew she was unfi t, but when she started testing
as pre-diabetic, something fi nally clicked. She joined
Weight Watchers, wore a Fitbit to track her steps and
started an anonymous Instagram account to keep her-
self accountable. Wells also started cooking at home
where she had complete control over the ingredients
in her food, and she learned to meal prep and portion
out her food into reasonable servings. “I also found
ways to add fruits and vegetables into my diet, which
were nonexistent before,” she says.
When she had lost about 50 pounds, Wells down-
loaded the Couch to 5K app (C25K), and in
a few months, she crossed the fi nish line of
her fi rst 5K. “It felt incredible,” she says. “I just
kept thinking back to when it felt hard to run
for even 60 seconds, and I actually teared up
at the end.”
Soon afterward, it was time again to face the
Continental Divide. “I was at the bottom look-
ing up and was scared it would be as hard as last
time,” Wells says. “But once we started, I imme-
diately knew things were diff erent: We chatted
the whole time, whereas before I would never
have been able to talk. I even beat my previous
time by more than an hour. I felt unstoppable.”Social Success
Wells lost 110 pounds in a little less than a year
and credits Instagram in large part for her suc-
cess. “I tried fad diets before and they never
worked, but on Instagram, I found a whole
community of people who were doing the same
thing I was doing,” she says. “I found recipe
ideas, workout routines, even fashion tips and
made a ton of friends. It was the No. 1 game
changer for me and the reason I was successful
this time.”
Her goals coming up: to run a 10K in 2018
and to tone up using kettlebell workouts and
simple fl oor exercises. “There is no fi nish line to
weight loss, even once you achieve your goal,”
Wells says. “This is a lifestyle change, not a
fi nite diet.”very year, Michelle Wells and some
friends had a tradition: hiking up to the
Continental Divide. Though the steep,
3-mile, 11,500-foot elevation trail was
always a challenge for Wells, in 2015, it was a straight-
up battle: At 256 pounds, she had to stop constantly to
catch her breath and doubted her ability to actually fi n-
ish the trek.
Weight and Balances
Wells was not always overweight — in fact, she was thin
growing up, counterbalancing her unspeakable eating
habits (think mac and cheese, fried Spam and cheese
balls) with constant activity well into her 20s. Then she
entered a new relationship, stopped playing sports and
stats
Michelle Wells/
Norman, Oklahoma
age: 35
height: 5’7”
old weight: 256
current weight: 146
occupation: Director,
special projects (event
planning)
IG: @thisokieslife)_ww
IGs she follows:
@ilostbigandsocanyou
@marandab6985_
lifetime
favorite workouts:
Beachbody’s Country
Heat (beachbody
.com) and the
Fitness Marshall’s
YouTube videos
(TheFitnessMarshall)Losing weight is an uphill climb,
but one Mich elle Wells took on
with vigor to victory.
transform SUCCESS STORIES
Before photos
of MichelleWant to share your ory? Email us at success [email protected]!Conquering
the continental divide
Photos courtesy of Michelle Mills