Please keep in mind that Vanessa is not a trained health professional and what worked for her might not yield the same results for all.

Not many 18-year-olds can say they’ve lost 90 lbs on their own. Senior Vanessa Dupont is one of the few who can.

She has come a long way from 240 lbs, her heaviest. Since seventh grade, Dupont has worked her way down to 150, her current weight.

According to healthdiscovery.net, a WeightWatchers support network, the ideal body weight for a large-framed female of her stature– 5’6’’– is around 140-159 lbs, meaning that her Body Mass Index (BMI)* is normal.

The journey

Dupont looks up to Neil Burns, an infamous weight loss icon who dropped 400 lb.

“This guy couldn’t even walk at first,” Dupont said. “And he’s old, which means his metabolism is slower. It just shows how nothing’s impossible.”

Not all of her inspiration to lose weight was positive, however.

“In middle school a girl used to pick on me for being big,” Dupont said. “I used to get jealous of her hot bod.”

“I didn’t plan it. I was always more concerned with being happy, even though I was always that kid who was overweight,” Dupont said.

She began by watching music videos at home in her middle school years, sweating in private and slowly shedding the pounds.

“I started feeling happier, feeling good, and I forgot about food,” Dupont said.

Dupont regards good motivation as the key to weight loss.

“For me, it was hard to do it for myself because so many people would put me down all the time. But that anger inside me helped me to want to become a better dancer,” Dupont said.

“ I know it’s bad to do it for someone else, but it worked for me. Guys started hitting on me the thinner I got, and I wanted to look good.”

This past summer her desire to lose weight was so strong that she lost ten pounds in two weeks by eating only 500 calories a day and doing three hours of cardio every day.

“I used to wear a plastic bag over my body to make me sweat more,” Dupont said. “It’s not all waterweight [that you lose], some of it’s fat. I don’t recommend this method, but if you do decide to do it, make sure you drink a lot of water.”

Dupont is careful to eat the right foods, however, as she believes that not consuming enough nutrients depletes her energy for the exercise she needs.

“I drink a lot of green tea and water before I eat anything in the morning,” Dupont said.“It doesn’t let the fat come through and keeps my metabolism going. Plus it gets you fuller so you eat less.”

“My dad was like, ‘wow!’ But my mom kept reminding me that I have a curvy body shape, and only gave the occasional compliment.”

Dupont acknowledges her mother’s realistic attitude, and proudly describes herself as a voluptuous Latina.

“I felt weak, but in a different way than I was used to. I felt happy,” Dupont said.

Dupont is enrolled at West Potomac’s Dance Academy as a Level Three, or advanced, student and is an alternate on the AHS Atomic Dance Team. She is also an active member of her community Caporales– a traditional Bolivian dance– troupe.

“Dancing works everything– thighs, abs, arms– everything,” Dupont said.

Plans for the future

“Soon I’ll be certified to teach zumba,” Dupont said.

According to the official website, Zumba Fitness® is the world’s largest and most successful dance-fitness program, and blends international music with routines to create a “dance party”. The goal of one-of-a-kind Zumba Fitness® is to “spread the philosophy of health and happiness and of loving everything you do, especially your workout.”

Dupont wants to open up her own dance fitness business and plans to take an entrepreneurship class at NOVA Community College in the fall before transferring and moving away in two years in order to study to become a dietician and nutritionist.

“My dad majored in business in Bolivia and studied to be an entrepreneur in Argentina so he’s going to help me,” Dupont said. “He has an open mind. Right now we’re just looking for a place.”

Her advice

Dupont discourages others from trying crash diets like those involving Cayenne pepper and despises negative thinking.

“If you think ‘fatty fatty fatty,’ you’re just going to get depressed and stop trying,” Dupont said.

Nor is she embarrassed to share her story, saying that everyone has something they don’t like about themselves, even celebrities that are portrayed as ‘perfect’ by the media.

“Celebrities have just as much pressure on them to be thin as we do. The paparazzi [is ruthless],” Dupont said.

Her ambitious agenda and determination are unwavering.

“If I want to be a dance instructor, I’ve got to be fit,” Dupont said.

Zumba is known as a “happy accident” because its inventor, Colombian fitness instructor Alberto Perez, forgot his traditional aerobics tapes one class and had to improvise with the merengue and salsa music with which he grew up, creating the revolutionary fitness concept of “letting the music move you.”

(http://www.zumba.com)