Nina Osegueda was 19 years old , 5 feet tall and around 180 pounds when she remembers her boyfriend saying the thing no boyfriend is supposed to say : . `` You know , you 'd look better if you lost weight . '' `` No duh , '' she thought . Like many teenage girls , it was nothing she had n't thought to herself , every hour of every day . In Osegueda 's case , she said she knew she was overweight and just figured she 'd always be that way . `` He was the tall , blonde , skinny type of guy who had no idea what it was like to be a short , Latina , chubby teenage girl , '' Osegueda wrote on CNN iReport . `` I shopped in the 'missus ' section of Macy 's and felt like an old lady at 19 , trying to fit into 'mom jeans , ' thinking that crying in the dressing room was totally normal and how I was supposed to live . '' It was the summer of 2003 . It was n't that Osegueda , who wore a size 16 in most clothes , ate so much -- she just ate all the wrong things . Convenience store junk food , meals at McDonald 's , big family dinners heavy on pasta , rice and bread , and doughnuts on Saturdays before soccer games or swim meets . It was how all her friends ate too , and half of them were skinny . `` I 'm just made to be bigger , '' she would tell herself . `` I 'm just built this way . '' She did n't think it would work , but when that tall , skinny boyfriend of hers suggested she lose weight , she felt obligated to try . `` But how ? '' she asked . He told her his mom had lost a bunch of weight on the high-protein , low-carbohydrate Atkins Diet . It seemed easy enough . She cut out carbs and switched to meals consisting of mostly meat and vegetables ; cut all soda and juice , and drank only water and unsweetened tea . Upwave : Try it now ! Fill half your plate with fruit and vegetables . `` Though it was difficult to explain to my family that I could n't eat tortillas or plantains for a while , they were supportive of my goals , '' she wrote . Each night in her room , she exercised to belly-dancing workout tapes she picked up at the mall . A year later , she had lost 60 pounds . She sported a 27-inch waist , an hour-glass figure and a new aura of self confidence . `` I might never be the skinny Barbie-doll figure I had in mind , but neither would I allow myself to fall into bad habits that would make me think less of myself . I finally could shop in the 'normal ' sections of the stores , though it never became any less surprising to find myself looking for clothes marked Medium , '' Osegueda wrote . `` Here I was , in college , feeling healthier and happier than I ever had in my entire life , with the realization that I had the power to do whatever I put my mind to . '' And the guy ? `` It probably wo n't surprise anyone that I broke up with the boyfriend . '' She reached an all-time low of 125 pounds by the time she finished college in 2005 ; she currently weighs 130 pounds and wears a 6 or 8 dress size . Osegueda , 30 , now lives in Gaithersburg , Maryland . She got married , became a graphic designer and tours as a heavy metal vocalist with the band A Sound of Thunder . Her legal name is Balvina Austin , but she kept Nina Osegueda , the name she grew up with , as her stage name . The low-carbohydrate diet is her way of life . A typical day consists of two scrambled eggs with spinach for breakfast ; a salad with tuna and oil and vinegar for lunch ; some cheese , pickles or cucumbers for snacks ; and some kind of protein and vegetable for dinner . `` I know that to sustain my weight I have to keep foods heavy in carbohydrates like cookies and cupcakes to 'treat ' status . ... Sometimes events like birthdays and holidays crowd each other , and I find myself eating treats more often than I should , '' she said . `` It can be difficult when all of my friends are doing it , so I have to make sure to work out extra hard to make up for the extra carbohydrates . '' Osegueda works out three to four times a week to make sure she 's fit for the stage . `` Not only has my weight improved , but so has my stamina , '' she said . `` My dream now is to be able to run around the stage with the energy of ( Iron Maiden lead singer ) Bruce Dickinson until I 'm too old to scream . Until then , heavy metal is my life , and the demons associated with my weight are the enemies I will never let conquer my brain , ever again . ''
Nina Osegueda lost 65 pounds after high school . She stuck to a low-carb , high-protein diet . She 's now 30 and the weight has stayed off . She dumped the boyfriend who suggested she lose weight .