Issue 201

Keolahiwahiwa went from MMA fan to working in the industry - and via the training she loves she's dropped 50 lbs, twice! Get inspired by her here

Name: Keolahiwahiwa Pham

Home: Mission Viejo, California

Before: 195lb

After: 145lb

I was on my honeymoon in Big Bear, CA, in January 2009 and threw out my back one morning picking up a frying pan! My new husband Al and I always loved watching MMA fights, so I signed us up at a gym that offered a one-month trial and called Al to tell him we had plans that evening.

After our first class, I was hooked. MMA was fun and challenging.

After we signed up I figured out a diet plan. Our start weight was 195lb, but by the end of October I was 145lb and Al was 151lb.

Then I did it all over again; I got pregnant, gained all the weight back and lost it all again.

Now, two years after the birth of my daughter, I weigh 135lb and Al and I both work at an MMA gym. He teaches kids jiu-jitsu and I work the front desk. I train jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai at Reign Training Center (owned by UFC’s Mark Munoz) and plan on doing it until I’m old!

I also placed third in the Dream Women’s BJJ no gi tournament.