After Misty Mitchell suffered from a herniated disc in her lower back, her health fell apart. The Texas mom's weight jumped to almost 300 pounds, and she sometimes drank half a liter of vodka in a day, the Daily Mail reports. But Mitchell amazingly turned everything around by cutting alcohol out of her diet, losing 137 pounds and looking nearly two decades younger as a result.
Mitchell's injury first cost her a job and later her family's home before she had back surgery in August 2014. But, she wrote on her website, she "wallowed" for months. "I was eating all day, then drinking by night, then because I was hungover, I was eating badly," she told the Daily Mail. "On my worst days, I probably drank around half a liter of vodka, which equates to an additional 1,000 empty calories on top of my poor diet."
For reference, a half liter of liquor equals about 11 drinks. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines moderate drinking for women as up to one drink per day. Having more than four drinks in less than two hours also qualifies as binge drinking, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Luckily, Mitchell realized her habits put her on the wrong track. "On February 19, 2015, I stepped on the scale and weighed almost 300 pounds, was most likely an alcoholic, and I smoked," she says on her website. "I didn't like where my life was going, and I was sick of being unhappy, so I decided to change everything." She swapped hamburgers and fries for fish and veggies and picked up weight-lifting and yoga. The new routine made a world of a difference.
"No one believes me when I tell them I'm 36, which is great because I looked middle-aged less than two years ago," Mitchell told the Daily Mail. "I feel like I've lost 20 years off my age, and I certainly look that way, too."
Mitchell has since started a weight loss company called Mind Your Macros, and she's not slowing down anytime soon. She recently shared on Instagram that she's no longer afraid to travel or fly, and her family's planning their first-ever vacation this year.
Congratulations, Misty!
[h/t Daily Mail]
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