Caitlin Flora and Andrew Belsky, both 33, have always been foodies, but realized as young adults their relationship with pizza and sweets was greatly affecting their health.

So they each made huge lifestyle changes and have lost a combined 300 pounds. Find out how they did it below!

For Caitlin, food became her best friend in elementary school after she became a victim of bullying.

“I remember sneaking out quietly with cupcakes stuffed down the pockets of my jeans and sneaking up into my bedroom with treats,” the Venice, Fla. resident tells Today. As she continued to gain weight into adulthood, the taunting and teasing just got worse.

“I cried my eyes out because I was humiliated at what I had become,” she shares. “I was tired of knee pain and no energy. I wanted to be healthy, and that was my motivation.”

So she threw out all of her unhealthy food and filled the fridge with low calorie frozen dinners and SlimFast. She also went walking every day and kept an “emotions journal” to track what triggers caused her to binge eat.

After 15 months, she dropped 100 pounds and has kept shedding ever since! Now weighing an impressive 145 pounds, Caitlin says, “I am a completely different person. I feel like I won the lottery.”

caitlin flora

For former college athlete Andrew, he never thought much about what he put into his mouth. His involvement in sports helped to burn everything off anyway.

But once he stopped the constant workouts, he quickly packed on the pounds. His job as a college golf coach made things worse by eating out on the road every weekend.

At his heaviest, 355 pounds, the St. Louis native shares, “One of the most embarrassing moments for me was when I couldn’t ride a roller coaster because the bar wouldn’t shut.”

After stepping onto the scale at the doctor’s office, he knew it was time to commit to a healthier lifestyle. Andrew began ordering from Bistro MD, an online meal delivery service for weight loss, and exercised by walking around his local mall.

Once he became more comfortable working out, he switched to the gym and has since dropped a total of 105 pounds. Now weighing 250 pounds, he’s managed to keep the weight off by reading food labels and checking out restaurant menus ahead of time.

andrew belsky

Despite the sometimes difficult process, Andrew has remained positive. “None of us with weight issues got there overnight, and we’re not going to get back to a healthy weight overnight either.”