Once 440 Pounds, This Mom of Three Lost 280 — Her Before & After Photos Show an Unbelievable Transformation

A home video, a purple hair appointment, and a child's tiny shirt marked key moments in April Wood's weight loss journey. Along the way, she lost a meaningful relationship, gained new ones, and became an inspiration to many.

April Wood, a mother of three from Arizona, once lived with a weight that made everyday parenting difficult. At 440 pounds, she often sat out of activities, not by choice, but because her body made it difficult to join in. Over time, that limitation became something she could no longer ignore.

She began adjusting her diet and lifestyle, gradually building habits that stayed consistent for years. As her weight changed, so did the course of her life, both physically and personally. The result was a transformation that went far beyond what photos alone could show.

She Gained Weight as a Child and Never Got Ahead of It

Wood was eight years old when her weight first became a concern. By the time she reached middle school, around age 11 or 12, she was considered overweight. The numbers on the scale continued to rise steadily throughout her teens. When she started high school, she estimates she weighed between 200 and 250 pounds.

By the time she graduated, that number had increased to somewhere between 300 and 350. Her parents wanted to help, but their options were limited. They both worked full-time, and the family didn't have the means to enroll her in organized activities that might have helped her stay active.

Wood ate what was available at home, which often included calorie-dense meals, candy, and cookies. She tried more than once to lose weight, but her efforts didn't lead to lasting changes. Multiple factors got in the way, including self-sabotage, a lack of effective guidance, and programs she couldn't stick with. Other times, it was just daily life getting in the way.

The Hard Realization That Prompted Change

By the time she was 34, Wood's weight had reached 440 pounds. She had two children and worked at Radiant Financial Group. At that point, daily life had become difficult to manage, and participating in her kids' activities often meant sitting and watching from the sidelines.

What pushed her to change wasn't a trend or a diagnosis—it was a moment caught on camera. One day, she watched a video that captured her sitting on the couch as her mother helped her young daughter Chloe, take some of her first steps. In the clip, Wood can be heard encouraging her daughter to walk toward her, but her body wouldn't cooperate.

"I wanted to stand up and go to her," she later recalled, "but I weighed so much that it was just too hard to get up." Watching that clip became the turning point. Wood later described it as the moment that got her off the couch, physically and metaphorically.

She realized, "The only way I'm gonna be able to move my body is if I make it move." From that point on, she stopped waiting for the right time or the perfect plan. She focused on doing what she could, starting exactly where she was.

She Started Small, but She Didn't Stop

After deciding she needed to make a change, Wood joined a gym near her home in Surprise, Arizona. She started with what she described as "baby steps"—short, manageable workouts that fit into her schedule as a full-time working mother of two.

Her initial routine included two half-hour strength training sessions and one or two half-hour cardio sessions each week, all with the help of a personal trainer. To stay consistent, she signed her son up for karate in a studio located in the same parking lot as the gym.

That small detail made it easier to keep showing up. She also adjusted her schedule, sometimes waking up as early as 4 or 5 a.m. to get her workout in before anyone else was awake. It was a way to prioritize her health without disrupting the rest of her responsibilities.

Wood didn't overhaul everything at once. Instead, she focused on building a routine she could sustain. "When you get to a certain age you're like, 'OK, I've got to start controlling this,'" she said in a past interview. "But it just doesn't work when you don't have the right information or the right tools available to you." This time, she had both—and she kept going.

The Results Came Slowly, but She Kept Showing Up

By 2018, Wood had lost 280 pounds. She maintained the weight loss for at least a year and a half, reaching 160 pounds at her lowest. The change didn't happen quickly, but it was the result of building a routine she could stick with over time. Her weekly schedule included five to six strength training sessions, each lasting an hour.

She focused on different muscle groups each day: back and triceps on Monday, chest, biceps, and core on Tuesday, legs on Wednesday, shoulders on Thursday, and a flexible session on Friday, depending on what needed extra work. Saturdays were leg day again with her trainer, and Sunday was reserved for rest.

She also added three to four Zumba sessions each week, each one an hour long. Her trainer, Matt, who had lost 130 pounds himself, understood what it took to stay committed. "She knows I'm beyond proud of her," he said. "The changes that she made—not only with her physique, but her as a person over the same amount of time—are just as incredible."

Wood also changed how she ate. She tracked her macronutrients using the MyFitnessPal app and followed a calorie deficit. Her approach avoided extreme plans or unsustainable restrictions. "No fad diets, no crash diets," she said. "It has to be something you can do for the rest of your life." Her method was consistent and practical. Nothing about it was rushed, but it worked.

She Made Time Even When Life Got Complicated

As a working mother, Wood had to plan carefully to fit exercise into her routine. Between parenting and a full-time job, her days were full, but she didn't use that as a reason to skip workouts. With support from her mother, brother, and sister-in-law, who helped care for her children, she kept her training schedule consistent.

Even when things got hectic, she prioritized her time at the gym. According to Chantel Cooper, her friend and hairstylist, Wood treated workouts as non-negotiable.

"It's part of the journey that's hers, and she doesn't miss it for anybody," Cooper said. "When she's had certain situations in her life, she's like, 'No, I don't care that that sounds fun, that's during my gym time.'"

Her children often joined in or observed. Her son sometimes went to the gym with her, and her daughter Chloe would copy her movements at home, doing squats, push-ups, or planks alongside her. Sometimes, they even turned it into a playful contest to see who could do more.

"Before, it would've been if I could take them somewhere, I would sit on the sidelines and watch," Wood recalled. "Now, if I take them to Elevate or Jump Street, I go out there and go jumping with them." But as Wood's strict routine changed her life, it also affected her relationships.

Wood's Weight Loss Reshaped More Than Her Body

As Wood's physical transformation gained momentum, the effects extended beyond fitness. During her journey, her marriage ended. The shift was personal and unexpected, but not unusual for someone undergoing such a major lifestyle change.

After losing 100 pounds, she decided to mark the milestone by dyeing her hair purple. At the time, her hairstylist Cooper weighed 350 pounds and was struck by how much Wood's appearance had changed between visits.

Every time Wood visited her salon, Cooper would ask her to move her body, fascinated by the progress. The two began talking more and eventually found they had much in common. Both were going through divorces.

Cooper said she had experienced domestic abuse and had reached a point where she wasn't eating at all. Wood offered her a place to stay and helped her rebuild basic habits around food and health. That support led to Cooper losing 200 pounds. "She kind of took me in and 'mom-ed' me, and she saved my life," Cooper shared.

The connection they formed became one of the most meaningful outcomes of Wood's transformation. Cooper later described how extreme weight loss often brings unexpected changes to a person's inner circle. Wood and Cooper both lost weight and their marriages, but gained each other.

"One of the major things that you lose when you lose weight, besides the weight, is relationships," Cooper said. "You will lose people you never expected to lose, and you will gain people you never expected to gain." By the time Wood reached her goal weight, she was faced with a challenge that couldn't be solved by exercise or clean eating.

She Reached Her Goal, But Was Left with the Aftermath

At 160 pounds, Wood had reached the number she'd been working toward. She was stronger and more active than ever. But the transformation left her a new challenge. "I worked so hard for the body that I wanted, but the excess skin was there," she said. "It was a scar of the battle that I had fought."

To address it, Wood underwent two separate skin removal surgeries. She described the procedures plainly, "They removed skin, skin, skin, skin, skin." As part of the process, she also received breast implants. "I lost all my boobage to the fitness gods along the journey," she said.

She shared updates with her followers as she recovered, including a post in October 2019 showing herself in good spirits with Cooper, who helped her through the process.

"I know a lot of my posts show my more serious side, but I am a total goofball as well," she wrote. "Enjoy the randomness that is me and my roomie @chantelcpr that's helping me during my recovery. [sic]"

The surgeries were part of closing out her weight loss phase. But not long after, Wood found herself starting over again—this time after having her third child.

Starting Over After Her Third Child

Months after her second skin removal surgery, Wood gave birth to her third child. The pregnancy brought her back into familiar territory: trying to lose weight while managing a full schedule. At the time of her 2021 video appearance, her youngest child was four months old.

Wood said she was working to return to her previous weight and was about 30 to 40 pounds away from that goal. The process, she explained, was different than before.

"I would say the hardest part is actually the maintaining of the weight loss," she said. "When you are losing, you have the payoff of seeing the scale—you know, like, that it's going down. When you are maintaining, there's no jackpot. It's just—it's a different kind of mindset."

For Wood, the focus remained on consistency. She emphasized the importance of staying active, eating well, and treating her health as a priority. "The only way you can take care of yourself is giving your body good nutrition, giving your body exercise," she advised. "So if you put yourself as a priority, you can make it."

Her Transformation Left a Lasting Impression

As Wood's progress photos and videos made their way online, the reactions were immediate. Viewers left comments expressing disbelief, admiration, and encouragement. On Instagram, followers praised her transformation with messages like "April you are incredible 🔥," "You look great !!!," "Daaaaam🔥🔥🔥," and "Whooohoo!"

Others simply wrote, "Wow! What a transformation! CONGRATULATIONS MA'AM!" and "I got goosebumps watching her. Her transformation is amazing and out of this world."

One post that stood out showed Wood in a shirt that belonged to her 6-year-old daughter. Alongside the photo, she wrote, "The day you realize you can wear your 6 year old daughter's shirt... Priceless! 😂😂😂 Never in a million years would I have imagined that becoming my reality.[..] I don't think I could have gotten even one arm through it."

Wood remained candid about the realities of her journey. "This journey isn't always easy, it's sometimes messy, and it is far far from perfect," she continued. "But the journey builds who you are becoming. Enjoy it even when it is hard. It is the hard that will change you."

Her journey was shaped by structure, setbacks, and small decisions made over time. The results were visible, but the effort that led there was often quiet and personal.