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When Jordan Kirkham's husband picked her up into his arms, she felt on top of the world. Finally.

In the pool about a month ago, Kirkham was overjoyed when her husband was able to pick her up, the first time he had ever done so. Since January 2015, the mom of two has shed at least 140 pounds, down from over 300 pounds.

I havent been picked up since I was a kid, so when he did that with no hesitation, no struggle, just picking me up, I almost cried, Kirkham, 24, told TODAY. I felt light as air. I was over the moon I was so happy.

Kirkham was all smiles when her husband was able to pick her up for the first time ever.

Her husband, Daniel Kirkham, had whispered in her ear, Look, I can pick my wife up, and pretended he was carrying her over the threshold on their wedding night, she said. Kirkham wanted to document the moment for her large Instagram following, as part of her weight-loss journey, and they recreated the pose in a photo that went viral.

Thats a pretty big non-scale victory so I wanted to post it, said Kirkham, who was overweight for most of her life and now weighs 170. I was hesitant because of the loose skin, but that wasnt the point. The point was my husband picked me up.

Her loose skin, which hangs uncomfortably from her stomach, thighs and arms, as a result of her weight loss, is the reason she believes the photo racked up nearly 50,000 likes on Instagram.

The 24-year-old mom of two has lost over 140 pounds.

It was so raw and so real, said Kirkham, who has sons ages 3 years old and 11 months and lives in Bastrop, Texas. I didnt tuck it or hide it. This is real life.

The victory was another step in her nearly two and half year effort to lose weight and reclaim her life.

As an overweight girl, she was bullied and called names: Her middle school nickname was Twinkie. As a young adult, it was hard to breathe, her joints hurt and getting out of bed could take 30 minutes. But not any more.

I feel incredible, Kirkham said. I have my life back.

Kirkham decided to lose weight in January 2015 after seeing herself in holiday photos.

I knew I was big, but I didnt realize how big I had actually gotten, Kirkham said. I was so tired of being heavy.

At the time, she estimates she weighed 320 or 330 pounds. Her highest recorded weight was 310 pounds at a doctors appointment a few months earlier. She knew she wanted to live a long life for her growing family.

To start, Kirkham relied on portion control, healthier eating and exercise and lost 60 to 70 pounds before learning she was pregnant with her second son in November 2015. She restarted her weight-loss efforts after he was born in June 2016. Since January, shes been eating a low-carb diet and has lost another 60 pounds.

Kirkham had lap-band surgery in June 2015, but said it didnt work, as she was able to keep eating large amounts of food and gaining weight.

Through her viral photo, Kirkham hopes that people wont want to avoid weight loss because they are afraid of being left with excess skin, as she was at various points.

Id rather hold onto this 15 to 20 pounds of extra skin rather than having hundreds of extra pounds of fat on my body, she said. Its OK to have flaws. Mine right now is my loose skin.

Kirkham wants to have the skin surgically removed when she reaches her goal weight of 130 to 140 pounds, and she is raising money to fund the procedure. Some days are harder than others, but most of the time I love it because it shows how hard I worked, she said of the skin.

As she works to lose the last of her weight, she is happy with who she sees in the mirror: A confident, beautiful young lady.

Im so proud of myself for how far Ive come and the dedication that Ive put in, Kirkham said. I love my body that Im in. I love myself. Now I dont hide from mirrors or try and run past them so I dont see myself.

TODAY.com contributor Lisa A. Flam is a news and lifestyles reporter in New York. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook. For more inspirational stories, check out our My Weight-Loss Journey page.

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Men's Health

This Man Lost 60 Pounds, Built Muscle, and Started Feeling Better Than Ever Men's Health Over the course of four years, Jeffries dropped 60 pounds, bringing his weight from 235 lbs to a much healthier 176 lbs. However, with that dramatic weight loss came an unforeseen consequence. "After losing the weight I still had the skin sagging down ...

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This Man Lost 60 Pounds, Built Muscle, and Started Feeling Better Than Ever - Men's Health

Women's Health

These 4 Words Can Sabotage Your Weight-Loss Goals In So Many Sneaky Ways Women's Health We all have that one friend who praises going gluten-free for her recent slim down and another who swears by her ~willpower~ for banning indulgenceseven a slice of birthday cake at her own birthday party. What?! Yeah, we hear you. While we totally ...

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These 4 Words Can Sabotage Your Weight-Loss Goals In So Many Sneaky Ways - Women's Health

CHICAGO (AP) Heavy seniors who want to lose pounds safely shouldnt skip the weight machines or the treadmill, new research suggests.

Experts have worried about recommending weight loss to older, obese people because it speeds up bone and muscle loss, increasing the danger of falls and broken bones. Losing weight plus aerobic activity and strength training improved their health more than dieting plus either type of exercise alone.

The results suggest a combination of exercises is the safest approach, and may have big implications for helping people continue to live independently as they age. Medicare, the U.S. health insurance program for people 65 and older, now covers behavioral therapy for weight loss and some plans offer gym memberships.

It is the worst of both worlds, being fat and frail, said Dr. Dennis T. Villareal of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who led the study under a grant from the National Institute on Aging.

More than a third of Americans ages 65 and older are obese. Obesity can make the elderly vulnerable to medical problems, but losing weight can worsen frailty by hastening muscle and bone loss.

The study, published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine, involved 141 older obese people who were randomly assigned to a diet-and-exercise program. They scored in the frail range on a standard test used with seniors.

One group did aerobics such as treadmill walking. Another did strength training with weight machines. A third group did aerobics and strength training. All exercised three times a week.

A control group didnt diet or exercise and only attended monthly nutrition classes.

After six months, all the groups except the do-nothing group had lost weight, about 19 pounds on average.

The combination and aerobics-only groups built their ability to use oxygen most efficiently, which can increase endurance. The combination and strength-only groups preserved the most lean mass and bone.

The health differences showed up in follow-up testing where participants did a series of nine tasks including picking up a penny, standing up from a chair and climbing stairs.

Most improved was the combination group with a 21 percent average increase in scores compared to 14 percent improvement in the aerobics-only and strength-only groups.

Its never too late to change lifelong unhealthy habits, Villareal said.

Minor injuries such as knee pain and shoulder pain among the exercisers were not enough to outweigh the benefits, he said.

The study excluded people with severe heart disease and other serious health problems, so the results apply only to people well enough to start an exercise program.

You get more bang for your buck with doing both types of training, especially when it comes to improving frailty scores, said Dr. Lawrence Appel of Johns Hopkins University, who was not involved in the study.

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'Fat and frail' seniors benefit from right exercise combo - KSNT News

LEXINGTON, KY--(Marketwired - May 19, 2017) - Many people struggle to manage their diet program. Whether it's a plant-based diet, ketogenic diet, military diet, consuming fewer calories long enough to see weight loss results can be challenging. After all, hunger and subsequent over-eating sabotages the majority of diet attempts. The in-house team of doctors at the nationally recognized medical weight loss center, Diet Doc have developed Fullness Factor -- a new appetite suppressant to satiate hunger and accompany most diet plans to accelerate weight loss.

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Diet Doc's Fullness Factor Appetite Suppressant is Helping Dieters Stay on Track - Marketwired (press release)

A swallowable balloon can lead to a dramatic weight loss over months but is only a temporary solution for obese patients, a medical expert warns.

A study found that obese people lost around 2st 6lb (15kg) over 16 weeks when they used the balloon that makes people feel full.

The Elipse Balloon, which costs under 4,000, is available privately in Ireland. It is in a capsule that is swallowed with a drink of water.

The capsule is attached to a hollow plastic tube, and when the doctor checks that it is correctly in place, it is filled up with water. The tube is then detached and removed. After 16 weeks a valve disintegrates, and the device is excreted safely by the body.

In a study presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Porto, Portugal, the balloon was given to 42 obese people (29 men and 13 women).

They were typically aged 46; had a body mass index of 39; and weighed just over 17st on average. After 16 weeks people lost more than 14% of their total body weight, or around a third of their excess weight.

Work was also carried out with patients on changing their eating habits.

Study leader, Roberta Ineca from the University of Rome, said the patients were very happy with the results: During my daily phone contacts with my patients, they shared with me their pictures and the amount of weight they lost.

Dr Roberta Ienca, with a swallowable balloon which makes people feel full.

However, board member of the Irish Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, Professor Carel le Roux, said the balloon is not a treatment for obesity.

Prof le Roux works at the Diabetes Complications Research Centre at University College Dublins Conway Institute. He said obesity is a chronic disease: We now understand that obesity is a disease of the middle part of the brain the part that makes you feel more hungry or makes you feel very satisfied.

Prof le Roux, who treats people with obesity-related diseases, said, he would recommend the balloon, of which there are various types, for short-term weight loss: If we want people who are too sick to have an operation, such as a gastric bypass, heart or knee operation we can use the balloon to get them to a safe weight in three or six months time.

However, he does not think the balloon would be available under the public health system in Ireland in the future because the health economic benefit is very poor.

Prof le Roux said he has not used the capsule-type balloons that are available in Ireland because other balloons that are inserted into the stomach via the gullet using an endoscope are cheaper and achieve the same result.

People with obesity needed to know the balloon is not a treatment for obesity and that they will most likely regain all the weight they lost when the balloon comes out, he said: It is not a treatment for obesity, but it is a treatment for acute weight loss that will be followed by weight gain.

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Swallowable balloon can help people with obesity to shed weight - Irish Examiner

The Independent News

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Weight loss using acai berry and colon cleanse - Acai berry weight loss pills side effects - Which is the best acai ... - The Independent News

No 1- Food diary

Nowadays there are so many quick fixes and fad diets, which yes will help you lose weight but will you maintain it???

90% of the time the answer is NO! See if we lose a lot of weight quickly we lose some very important and essential lean tissue (muscle), which controls our metabolic rate (rate in which we burn calories). Weight regained after the diet could be fat tissue which is a lot lazier. For every 1lb of lean tissue we burn 50 calories at rest but for every 1lb of fat we only burn 4 calories. So it is pretty lazy!!

Even if you dont over-eat you could regain weight anyway because of the greater the proportion of lazy fat tissue in your body, because your metabolism is slowed and because lost fluid will replace itself.

The only way to maintain weight loss and adapt and keep a healthy lifestyle is a slow and steady weight loss, and take baby step with changing things in your diet, a drastic exclusion of too many things will deffo set you up for failure.

Realistically we can only lose about 1-2lb of actual fat per week, the rest is fluid. Maybe the first few weeks if you have a lot to lose you might lose more but that will stabilise after a few weeks.

A very useful tool if your goal is weight loss would be to record a food diary. Maybe 5-7 days and just have a sheet of paper with you, it doesnt have to be anything fancy!

Record everything from water consumption, a lot of uncounted calories can be consumed in liquid form so record all drinks, if you have sugar in your teas/coffees, portion size of each meal and snack, how you are feeling if you reach for that sugary treat. Some people dont realize it but our emotions play a lot in our eating habits.

If we are feeling tired or down or had a bad day we tend to reach for sugary things kind of like a reward to cheer yourself up, so just put a little note on it of how you were feeling and see if there is a pattern there.

Times in which we are eating at which is also very important .. We all know how important having our breakfast is dont we? Its so very very important.

Metabolism needs to be kicked right in the butt first thing It slows down as the day goes on and by evening/night it can be very slow so eating huge portions and junk food at them times will just store as unwanted fat. So put times on your diary too.

Then when the 5-7 days are up have a read through it yourself and check for things like, did I have breakfast today?, did I snack in between meals, have I drink enough water? Have I had too much sugar in my tea/coffee (if you put the same quantity of sugar you usually put in tea/coffee into a container and at the end of the week see how full that container is or add up the tea spoons, will you be shocked??)

FYI: As an adult our recommended allowance of added sugar PER DAY IS 5 TEA SPOONS. So do the math and see how you go.

Am I getting enough of all food groups? ( fruits, meats, veggies, dairy, grains), is my diet varied?, am I following my metabolism, ie. eating a well-balanced breakfast, mid-morning snack, well balanced lunch, mid afternoon snack, and dinner. Little and often is key. This well help stabilize blood sugar levels and prevent sugar impulses.

Am I drinking enough H20?! People can suffer from mild dehydration and not even know it, if you drink a lot of tea/coffee you are at risk of mild dehydration as tea/coffee are diuretics. What this means is they can make you want to wee a lot which so you will lose a lot of fluid that needs to be replaced, so youll feel thirsty again and probably reach for more tea/coffee and then it will just do a full circle!

Your energy levels will drop also and if you train your muscles could cramp due to lack of hydration. A little tip on how to work out your recommended water intake would be to multiply your weight in kg by 0.033. This would have to be increased with activity level.

Also IF ITS NOT IN IT WONT GO IN! Everyone knows if the bad stuff isnt in the presses you cant put them in your mouth!!! So dont buy them in your weekly shopping. Simples!

Continued recording of a food diary will help you maintain your healthy lifestyle.

Give it a try and see how you get on. And be completely honest with everything youll be codding none but yourself if you dont!!!

Good luck.

If any of ye reading this would like to email me your food diary to ytynan@live.com or PM my page LOL Ladies Only Lifting on Facebook Ill give you some feedback on it..

Next week I will talk about our BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), a very effective tool in fat loss.

Thank you for reading..

Yvonne

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Yvonne Culleton: Keeping a Food Diary in the battle for weight loss - Leinster Express

We've all seen the adverts for magical quick-fix solutions to losing weight quickly but now scientists may have developed a 'magic bullet' for slimmers.

All you need to do is swallow a pill. The pill is actually a hi-tech gastric balloon which inflates after you swallow it. Once it's in your stomach, it inflates and fills up your stomach to make you feel full and then deflates itself after four months,according to Mirror Online.

Details of the brand new slimming aid were presented at the world's biggest obesity conference in Porto, Portugal this week.

Trial results found the 15-minute balloon operation was 'safe and effective' and triggered 'substantial weight loss' in obese patients.

On average, those who use the treatment shed a third of their excess body weight. Patients aged between 27 and 67 each lost an average of 15.2kg (2st 4lbs).

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It has already been approved for use in the UK and could help those who find it impossible to shed the pounds through normal diets. Experts said that millions of Brits could eventually benefit from the simple pill. Unlike existing gastric products, no surgery is required to insert or remove it.

Dr Roberta Ienca, of Sapienza University of Rome, who led the study, said: "Because the Elipse Balloon does not require endoscopy, surgery or anaesthesia, this may make it suitable for a larger population of obese patients not responding to diet or lifestyle treatment."

Dr Ienca told the Daily Mirror that all the patients also enjoyed "improvements in overall metabolic health including blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar control".

She described the reaction of patients to the device as "incredible".

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She said: "They are very happy about the results they were able to achieve.

"During my daily phone contacts with my patients, they shared with me their pictures and the amount of weight they lost.

"They are very satisfied with the results achieved day after day."

Speaking at the the European Congress on Obesity in Porto, Portugal, Dr Ienca added that it could also be fitted in patients "by a variety of clinicians - nutritionists, dietitians, and internists - who currently do not have access to or are qualified to fit endoscopic or surgical weight loss devices."

The patient swallows a tiny pill containing the deflated Elipse balloon, which is made from a delicate polymer film.

A catheter is attached and once the pill has reached the stomach, a doctor fills the balloon with 550ml of water through the catheter, then tugs on the tube to detach it.

The filled balloon takes up a large part of the stomach, reducing appetite and improving the patient's odds of shedding weight.

And after 16 weeks, a valve in the polymer film opens and the balloon collapses. It passes out normally through the digestive system.

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Previously, most existing gastric balloons rely on a surgeon putting the device in the stomach using an internal probe while the patient is sedated or under anaesthetic.

It also has to be removed during surgery the same way.

Two in three Brits are overweight or obese.

It is not yet available on the NHS but is available through some private weight loss clinics in the UK.

The NHS is already trialling similar balloon pills to the one in the study presented in Porto.

The cost for the full treatment varies between 2,200 and 3,400 - less than half the cost of gastric band surgery.

The balloon pill has the potential to provide "significant cost savings" for the NHS and save billions of pounds a year.

Obesity now costs the NHS 16billion a year - which includes treating obesity-linked medical conditions like Type 2 diabetes.

The study presented in Porto found that the swallowable gastric balloon "is a safe and effective way to induce substantial weight loss".

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The research examined the impact of the balloon on 50 obese patients who had failed to lose weight by diet alone and who had refused other gastric treatment, because of the need of an endoscopy or anaesthesia.

Each patient had the balloon in their stomach for 16 weeks after which it spontaneously opened, emptied, and was excreted. They were checked every two weeks.

In the last four weeks of the treatment, a very low calorie diet of 700 kcal/day was introduced to enhance weight loss and maximise the results to increase patient satisfaction. Once the balloon was excreted, patients were transitioned to a Mediterranean diet for weight maintenance.

After 16 weeks, the average weight loss was 15.2kg. The average percentage weight loss was a drastic 31 per cent.

There were no serious adverse events recorded. All other adverse events including nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain were either self-limiting or resolved with medication.Dr Ienca concluded: "The Elipse Balloon appears to be a safe and effective weight loss method. Furthermore, the absence of endoscopy and anaesthesia for placement and removal can lead to significant cost savings."

Prof Jason Halford, treasurer of the European Association for the Study of Obesity, which is hosting the world's biggest obesity conference, said: "With bariatric surgery, there are potential complications, it's a very permanent change in your life and it's not easily reversible.

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"People are looking for alternatives. "I think this is for people before they would get to the point where they need bariatric surgery. Potentially millions could benefit

"I think if studies are there and it's cost-effective... I think it should be considered on the NHS."

Dr Simon Cork, Research Fellow at the Department of Investigative Medicine, Imperial College London, added: "Currently, gastric balloons have to be inserted under general anaesthetic or sedation.

"This not only limits the number of patients who can have them implanted, but also increases surgery time and has significant costs associated with it."

He added: "The introduction of a device which doesn't require surgery to implant is a positive step forward."

Report by The Plymouth Herald.

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'Pill' which inflates after swallowing helps slimmers shed third of their weight in four months - Devon Live