My favorite part of my job is working on our “I Did It” weight loss success stories. I get to talk with so many amazing people who have truly changed their lives. Medical professionals say they think it’s an unusual achievement for someone to lose 10% of his or her body weight and keep it off, but every month we get emails from people who’ve topped that. Here are three things the successful dieters have in common:
They eat breakfast. Just about every single person who has sent me a success story kicked off her new eating habits with a healthy breakfast each morning. It boosts metabolism and keeps you from a mid-morning doughnut break. (Check out this research about breakfast and weight loss—trust me, you won’t want to skip your Wheaties.)
They compete. Many successful losers become regular marathon runners or triathletes. Unlike a simple gym session, the competition really keeps them motivated. Rachael Heitman, 31, our October 2007 success story, used to weigh 238 pounds. Inspired by watching an Ironman competition, she got herself a copy of Slow, Fat Triathlete and started cycling, jogging, and swimming. She felt nervous going to her first competition—but when she looked around, she saw people of every shape and age warming up. Rachael realized that you don’t have to look like you belong on the cover of Runner’s World to race. She lost 73 pounds and turned into an avid triathlete.
Jennifer Dearing, who lost 166 pounds, started with a 5K and has her sights set on doing an triathlon, too. Thirty-year-old Taysha Urquhart of Los Angeles lost 78 pounds and keeps it off by running marathons for charity; she started with the National AIDS Marathon Training Program. Friends and diet buddies Amanda Bard and Amber DeBeer Larson lost 200 pounds between them. They stay slim—and stay in touch—by running half-marathons together.
They launch new careers. Many big losers also go into fitness or diet-related work—sometimes working second jobs—to help themselves stay fit. A number of women who’ve shared their stories with us go on to become trainers or registered dietitians, or they start organizations and online communities to help others lose. It makes good sense: The hardest part about the weight loss journey is maintenance, and it’s the part of weight loss with the least support. You have to work harder—research shows women who’ve been overweight need to do more exercise to keep weight off than someone who’s never carried extra pounds.
You also have to master motivation. It’s inspiring when you can see the numbers change on the scale and people around you are complimenting your new bod. But once the flattery goes away and you don’t see your body changing, it helps to have strong tools in place to keep yourself on track every day. Mary Garrett, 37, our May 2007 success story, lost 90 pounds and increased her bone density after getting a diagnosis of osteopenia. Mary became a certified YMCA personal trainer and helps women who have weight to lose. She’s now working on a degree in health promotion. Twenty-nine-year-old Megan Marquis-Conner of Maine used to weigh 250 pounds. She started taking cardio-kickboxing classes and lost 104 pounds. Now she teaches cardio-kickboxing, and she’s about to be certified as a Zumba instructor. And check out our March 2009 issue (it should be on the stands in a few weeks) for the story of a Houston woman who lost 40 pounds and started a women’s-only boot camp. She says she’s found her calling by helping other women lose weight and feel good about themselves.
How do you keep weight off? Leave a comment and share your secrets. And if you’ve got a weight loss story to share, please email me.
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Comments (8)
I am supposed too start Modeling this month… my weight has just increased.. i feel that i am getting heavy each day. please give me the simplest way to loose abit weight. am worried i might loose my contract. help me out.
Hello Everyone,
I wanted to share with you all that Wai Lana yoga for about a month or so now. I have lost 5 pounds and I am down a size ( I am now in a size 8). This is a follow up to my success story that is on this page (please see one women lost 63 pounds story). I wanted to share this because I have not be able to get to a gym (as it is too costly) and I am not able to workout at home on my own. To really get the kind of workout I need, I have always found it easier when I am at the gym with all of the other people there (it is inspiring to me).
One day I happened to catch this yoga show on WNED and I watched (thinking in my head yeah right!) I thought about trying it the rest of that day; the next day when it came on I got down on that floor and I tried it. She is very good because she repeats over and over to you in this calm voice to not push yourself, she tells you to do what you can do and not to worry about what you can’t because it will get easier with practice. I LOVE IT; I would have never pictured myself doing yoga. Please ladies try Wai Lana you can check you PBS.org to see when she comes on in your local area.
the correct wording is lose some weight get it right please
the more i think of a diet,the more i eat,i’m in need of motivation i dont even kniw how much i weigh right now the last time i checked i was almost 170 pds and that was 1 year ago =(
Ladies, you really MUST learn how to spell! It’s not “loose some weight” (unless you’re unleashing it from somewhere), rather “lose some weight”.
i love this now i can see that i need to loose some wight
ya mom you need to loose some wight not in a bad way but in a good way,you know
I just received my March issue and wanted to chck out the diet on page 112 – but it isn’t on the web??? When will it be?