bree boyce before and after pics

Bree Boyce is the new Miss South Carolina. She has lost a total of 110 pounds, going down from 230 pounds prior to competing, as Miss Capital City in the state’s pageant. The 22-year-old is from Florence, SC, and will go on to represent her state in the 2012 Miss America pageant.

Click here for Bree Boyce before and after photos.

Click here for pageant pictures, biography and details on her win. Her talent was singing in the competition.

Prior to her victory she has been sharing her inspiring weight loss story with a campaign, Eating Healthy, Fighting Obesity, details of which are on her official Bree Boyce Facebook page.

In a recent interview (video above) she shares weight loss tips. Asked what brought her success in not only weight loss but two years of weight management, she said that the success had come after yo-yo dieting, trying a variety of diets including Weight Watchers and low carb diets. Her original diet was Atkins was and she lost 60 pounds and gained it all back and more. She is now paying attention to what and how she eats. She says she does not even say the word “diet.”

When speaking with school students, she uses an analogy: your car doesn’t run unless you give it fuel, and will not run properly if you don’t give it proper fuel. The body works the same way; the wrong foods will lead to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Food shouldn’t be a comfort, she notes, and goes on to say while it’s fine to have foods you enjoy so as not to deprive yourself. Be sure to eat fruits and vegetables, the foods we were meant to eat.

Responding to the high failure rate of dieters — shown to be around 95 percent — she said she believes it’s due to people’s feelings of being deprived. She stresses moderation instead. She says that she will indulge in chocolate cake but not every day and every hour. She says that people should tell themselves, I’m eating healthy, but if I eat that chocolate cake, I’m going to go back to healthy eating.

She also talks about how she leverages her unique perspective as a formerly overweight teenager who has become a beauty queen, losing more than 100 pounds, and competing in pageants with swimsuit competitions. She says she hopes to show young girls that they can be healthy and be conscious about what they eat and yet not take it to an unhealthy extreme in an attempt to become a size 00. Noting that as a society we have collectively become lazy about eating habits and not exercising, she admits she thought she didn’t need to exercise or watch what she ate and that it was only when she got older she came to realize that she was at risk for the health complications of obesity including diabetes.

Asked if she fears that she will gain the weight back, she says she’s conscious of that fear every time she eats or does any physical activity. She reflects upon her past, of being an overweight child and teen. When she feels she might fail, looking back she is reminded of what she does not want to return to.

It’s great to see her sharing her story and her desire to help others. I can relate to much of what she went through, having started yo-yo dieting at age nine and not succeeding until adulthood. I too remember what it was like being heavier and do not want to go back! Such memories are powerful motivators.

Be sure to check out her official Facebook page for more information and tips and pointers and to follow her journey as she competes in the Miss America pageant in January 2012.