Women Who Lost 100+ Pounds Share Stories

Dawn Bryant and Maria Jarosh are leading very different lives than the ones they had not so long ago.

Bryant, 37, lost 130 pounds in 13 months. Jarosh, 21, lost 105 pounds within a year.

Their stories, plus the weight-loss achievements of Myya Mixon and Lindsay Kimball, are featured in the newest issue of People magazine.

"This was all their handwork, determination, and really healthier attitudes towards their lives and themselves," People Magazine Senior Editor Michelle Tan said today on "Good Morning America."

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"My life revolved around every meal," Bryant, who revealed that for lunch, she would eat a one-pound bag of gnocchi, said in an interview with "Good Morning America." "I ate very rich foods."

The Minneapolis woman fought the scale for most of her life, and realized that she needed to make a change.

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She did, and by working out every day and changing her eating habits, Bryant went from 266 pounds to 140.

Now, for breakfast she'll have oatmeal mixed with a scoop of protein powder, and for lunch, hard-boiled eggs, cottage cheese and an apple. For dinner, she'll have grilled chicken with avocado and peppers.

"Knowing I've lost so much weight is very surreal," she said.

Jarosh, a Pittsburgh resident who is studying to be a social worker, feels the same way.

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She joined Weight Watchers, and went from 240 pounds to 138. She says she never wants to go back.

"I hated to look at myself in the mirror. I hated to go clothes shopping. I really was just embarrassed by all of it," she said.

Her lowest point, she said, was when she was in high school. "I was always the bigger girl in school … I really felt completely alone and didn't have anyone," she said.

Now, she is sharing her eating plan. For breakfast, she has a whole wheat muffin with peanut butter. For lunch, it's homemade pizza on a tortilla with chicken and vegetables, and shrimp stir-fry with broccoli for dinner.

Before her weight loss, Jarosh says, she didn't want to be in a bathing suit at all. Things have changed. "Now I love to go bikini shopping … at the end of the day I'm so proud of how far I've come, and a bikini is just a sign of what I've accomplished," she said.

Myya Mixon, 33, and Lindsay Kimball, 24, both appeared live on "GMA" today, and had similar weight-loss transformations to share.

Mixon, a single mom from Douglasville, Ga., was unable to afford a diet program, but managed to lose 101 pounds entirely on her own. That meant saying goodbye to her favorite snack: a banana and mayo sandwich with Doritos on the side.

"I first adjusted my eating habits, cut out all of the sugary drinks and started eating frozen entrees for lunch and dinner … and 100-calorie snacks in between," she said of her 1,200-1,500 calorie eating regime. "My new snack is a custom protein shake with protein powder, peanut butter and a little bit of a banana."

She also hit the gym and has made fitness a major part of her life, taking part in three fitness competitions.

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Lindsay Kimball's amazing weight loss story is featured in a special issue of People magazine. Credit: People magazine

Like Mixon, Kimball of Leesburg, Va., lost 100 pounds the old-fashioned way. In college, Kimball put on close to 70 lbs in one year by binging on loaded cheese fries. That's when she realized she needed to change her eating habits and turned to Jenny Craig for help. Now, she eats vegetables at every meal to help fill her up, and still finds ways to satisfy that bar food fix, but with healthier ingredients.

"I do corn chips, lots of veggies and instead of sour cream I use non- fat Greek yogurt," she said today on "GMA."