At 22 years old, Laura Micetich AKA ‘The Iron Giantess’ weighed over 300lbs and was facing a raft of health issues including hyperthyroidism, high blood pressure and prediabetes. She realised that without a radical change in diet and lifestyle, her precious youth would be lost already and she was facing a short and difficult life.

“I decided to take charge of my life and make a change,” she said. “After trying and failing to get a handle on my health numerous times, my weight had become a serious enough concern that I was considering weight loss surgery.”

However, she instead began to go down to her local gym, where she quickly found an affinity with lifting weights. So much so, that it became clear that surgery wasn’t going to be necessary at all. “What initially began because of consideration for weight loss surgery quickly grew into an intense love of health, fitness and nutrition,” she writes on her website. “I started by going to the gym, lifting weights and eating a clean diet tailored to my body’s needs. It only took a few weeks for me to realize that I didn’t need to go under the knife. I needed to get under the bar.”

“In the first year, I shed more than 100 pounds without surgery and significantly changed my unhealthy habits. I am now health issue free and my life has changed for the better with the simple realization that what we want and what we do are completely in our own control.”

It all sounds so simple doesn’t it? While there are a billion techniques, fad diets, pills, nutrition plans and other methods out there, Laura’s story proves that a little discipline, hard work and common sense can produce amazing results. “I just adjusted my diet. I ate lots of clean foods and removed all starches and processed sugars. I stopped eating out. I stopped getting takeout. I stopped buying junk at the grocery store. I stopped having alcoholic drinks with friends. I stopped binging on crap. That was it.”

Combined with the new found routine and discipline that lifting weights at the gym offered her, Laura saw the pounds begin to shed rapidly with none of excess skin that many other rapid weight loss diets tend to leave behind. What began as a weight loss journey has become a life long passion for Laura, and she shares her results and tips on Instagram where she has over 330,000 followers.

Scroll down below to check out how she did it for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!

“I grew up heavy. I also grew up a ball buster. So there was no chance I was going to admit I was insecure about my appearance”

“I played it cool and a lot of people bought it. After finally having time to think about who I wanted to be, I decided to make a change”

In 2014 Laura weighed over 300 pounds and that’s when she decided she wanted to change

It all started with the barbell. “I fell in love with weightlifting and that changed the game for me”

“It only took a few weeks for me to realize that I didn’t need to go under the knife. I needed to get under the bar”

“I started weight training almost daily, spending hours in the gym and studying research and scientific findings relating to health, fitness, and nutrition”

“In the first year, I shed more than 100 pounds without surgery and significantly changed my unhealthy habits”

“I just adjusted my diet. I ate lots of clean foods and removed all starches and processed sugars”

Image credits: theirongiantess

“I stopped eating out. I stopped getting takeout. I stopped buying junk at the grocery store”

“I stopped having alcoholic drinks with friends. I stopped binging on crap. That was it”

“This is my heaviest – over 300lbs in 2014. My thinnest – at 180 in May 2017. My current  at about 195”

“Every single day”

“There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now”

“I am now health issue free and my life has changed for the better with the simple realization that what we want and what we do are completely in our own control”

More than 330k people follow Laura on Instagram looking for inspiration and advice

She also likes to motivate her followers with beautiful inspirational messages:

“If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit”

“With patience, age, and a little self-love, your smile won’t quite catch on your insecurities the same way it once did. Give it time..”

 “You’re not too old. It’s not too late”

 “It’s hard. It’s worth it”

“You are who you choose to be”