Tori Phillips aka Finding_Torikins Incredible 200 Pound Weight Loss Journey | Her Diet & Exercise Revealed
Tori Phillips’ remarkable weight loss journey is a powerful testament to resilience, courage, and long-term commitment. At her heaviest, the 39-year-old mom from California weighed 420 lbs. and wore a size XXXXXL. Today, she’s half that size, full of energy, and living life on her own terms — not thanks to a quick fix, but through years of hard work, a life-changing mindset shift, and ultimately, a powerful motivation: to undergo a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery after testing positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation.
Be sure to follow Tori’s journey on her social media below:
Instagram: @finding_torikins
Facebook: Tori ‘Belly Mod Mama’ Phillips
Also consider donating to her GoFundMe: Help Me Get To My 200 RYT
A Lifetime of Struggles
Tori’s struggle with weight began early. By age 11, she weighed 180 lbs and used food as a coping mechanism for the emotional wounds left by a difficult childhood. “I think my weight was noticeable from as young as seven,” she recalled. She remembers receiving a Barbie exercise tape for her eighth birthday — a not-so-subtle reminder that others noticed her size, too.
At school, she was the biggest in her class and often invisible to boys.By 18, she weighed 350 lbs., and by 21, she reached her peak at 420 lbs. Despite trying countless diets and fitness plans, Tori would always regain the weight. “I would overexercise and under-eat. I once even blacked out in a grocery store. And I never maintained the weight loss,” she said.
A Health Scare Sparks Change
In 2014, Tori was diagnosed with the BRCA1 gene, significantly increasing her risk for breast cancer. Doctors told her she would need a double mastectomy before her 39th birthday. After giving birth to her daughter Caitlin, now three, she knew she had to take her health seriously — not just for herself, but so she could be present for her child. Doctors also made it clear: she needed to lose weight to qualify for reconstructive surgery.
In February 2022, she began the process of qualifying for bariatric surgery. That September, she underwent a gastric sleeve procedure. But she knew the surgery was only a tool — not a solution. “It was a mental game,” she said. “But it also helped me mentally prepare for my mastectomy journey.”
Building Strength — Inside and Out
In the year following her surgery, Tori completely revamped her lifestyle. She embraced weight training, used her Peloton, and made dramatic but sustainable changes to her diet. She brought her weight down to 244 lbs. in time for her double mastectomy in January 2024.
Later that year, in August, she underwent another surgery to remove 28 pounds of excess skin from her stomach and arms, reducing her weight to around 210 lbs. and fitting into a size L — a far cry from her former XXXXXL.
“The final step after my weight loss was having the excess skin removed. It was life-changing. I had never seen my upper body without my large arms or with a flat stomach,” she said. “Having my ‘wings clipped,’ as I called it, was life-changing.”
In November 2024, she completed her journey with a double breast reconstruction — a milestone she had worked so hard to earn. Today, her risk of breast cancer is as low as the general population, and she’s enjoying a new chapter of life she once only dreamed of.
More Than Weight Loss
Tori’s transformation is not just physical — it’s deeply emotional and mental. “When people talk about my weight loss, it’s not just about what I ate,” she said. “I don’t struggle to keep the weight off now because I’m healing mentally too. I’ve learned to view food differently now.”
Even before her surgeries, Tori had already begun healing through yoga. Despite an initially intimidating introduction to the practice, she found a home in accessible yoga and has since become an advocate for inclusivity in the fitness space. Her Instagram presence under the name Finding_Torikins has helped others see what’s possible — especially those who don’t see bodies like theirs represented in wellness communities.
Tori hopes to one day become a certified yoga instructor, helping others with accessible and modified practices. “I want to be the adult I needed as a child,” she says.
Tori Phillips’ Diet Transformation
Before Her Weight Loss:
Breakfast:
Large coffee with lots of creamer and Splenda.
Large breakfast burrito (eggs, cheese, potatoes, meat) or two breakfast sandwiches and large hash browns.
Lunch:
Large sandwich with chips, large diet soda, and a cookie or brownie.
Dinner:
Four slices of pizza, diet soda, and breadsticks.
Large serving of spaghetti with garlic bread.
Snacks:
Cereal with nonfat milk.
Whole pints of ice cream in one sitting.
Nachos or large portions of potato chips and dip.
Drinks:
Lots of diet soda.
Now, After Her Weight Loss:
Breakfast:
Protein coffee or eggs and avocado toast on homemade protein bread.
Or a breakfast salad: arugula, air-fried sweet potato cubes, onions, avocado, and two eggs.
Lunch:
Protein pasta with garlic-infused olive oil, Italian seasoning, green onions, and parmesan.
Dinner:
Salad with crunchy chicken nuggets chopped up.
Snacks:
Protein bar.
Air-fried low-carb tortilla strips with homemade cottage cheese dip.
Apples with peanut butter.
Mixed nuts.
Cool Whip with sugar-free pudding mix.
Drinks:
Sugar-free drink mixed with water.
Protein coffee.
Tori Phillips’ story isn’t about a quick fix. It’s about strength, healing, and a relentless will to live fully. Her journey is a reminder that long-term change takes more than a new diet — it takes rebuilding your relationship with yourself.
What sets Tori apart is not just the number on the scale, but the emotional and mental transformation that accompanied her physical change. She’s learned to treat herself with compassion, to nourish her body instead of punishing it, and to celebrate what it can do rather than dwell on what it can’t. From battling lifelong insecurities to overcoming the fear of not fitting in, her courage to show up — whether in a fitness studio or on Instagram — has inspired countless others to believe in their own potential.
Today, Tori is not just surviving, she’s thriving. She can keep up with her daughter, wear the clothes she once thought were out of reach, and move through life with confidence and purpose. Most importantly, she’s found peace — not because she changed her body, but because she changed how she sees herself. Her story proves that transformation isn’t just possible — it’s powerful. And it starts by refusing to give up, no matter how many times you’ve had to start over.
Sources: @NewYorkPost, @VoyageLA
