Lakeland mom loses 127 pounds

Ra’Chel Saintfort, knew that she needed to lose weight. At 280 pounds, the single mother wanted to be healthier for herself and for her 10-year-old daughter.

But Saintfort, 31, who had struggled with her weight since her teenage years, wasn’t sure where to start or how to get back to a healthy size.

The push the Lakeland resident needed to make a health change was her daughter telling her that a classmate had called Saintfort “fat.”

“It was just that final piece I needed to get motivated,” Saintfort said. She set a goal to drop 100 pounds, but since beginning her weight-loss journey in January 2017, she has lost 127 pounds.

She did not hire a personal trainer or follow any particular diet. Saintfort looked for simple ways in her everyday life to improve her health and fitness, such as cutting out fried foods, eliminating soda, practicing portion control and lacing up her shoes for walks, and later runs, in her neighborhood.

Saintfort, whose story has been featured in People Magazine and on Good Morning America, says there’s no turning back. She is ready to stay healthy forever.

After graduating from the University of South Florida, Saintfort started a career in health care that helped support her life as a single mother, but her real dream was music.

She wrote and recorded music when she could find the time but found that no matter how strong her vocal prowess, her heavy weight was an issue.

“There was one artist I partnered with on a song who shot a music video for it and did not invite me to be in it,” Saintfort said. “Imagine you have a dream and you have the talent, but then people see you and that’s the end of the conversation.”

When Saintfort would tell friends and loved ones that she was going to lose 100 pounds, they looked at her in disbelief. But she was determined.

“There were times when I wanted to eat, simply because I was down, felt alone or overwhelmed,” Saintfort said. “I had to learn that overeating only hurt me, especially when it was time to weigh in. Instead of eating to cheer up, I started to find pleasure in shopping for workout gear.”

Even as the weight started to come off, there were times the scale started to get into her head.

“As much as I had fallen in love with the scale, it quickly became my enemy. I was extremely happy when I would lose weight and extremely sad when I would gain it back,” Saintfort said.

To overcome this self-doubt, she created a list of items she had been unable to do, like crossing her legs or tying her shoes without sweating. One by one, she started to cross these items off her list.

“I celebrated being able to play with my daughter without saying, ‘No, I’m too tired.’ Things like that kept me going,” Saintfort said.

As each pound came off, Saintfort felt her inner self growing a little more.

“I wrote out everything that caused me stress, including work, relationships and family. I hated my job, so I got a new one. My exboyfriend and I were not happy, so we broke up. My family was not being family, so I had to love them from a distance,” Saintfort said. “I had to put myself first for once. When I did that, I was able to focus on what was important.”

Saintfort’s R&B single “The Harvest” was recently released, with a music video shot in Central Florida. She continues to work with patients as a health-care coordinator and has even more energy for her daughter, now 11. In addition to promoting her music, Saintfort has created the social media persona Ms100lbs to share her story and inspire others.

“I want people to know that they can do it — that it is hard, but that they can do it,” Saintfort said. “I feel blessed to have made it to this point.”