A Success Story – Meet Robin K.

How did you gain your weight?  Being thin never came easy to me.  When I was young I worked at it.  But then, years of working full time in a demanding job, taking care of 2 children and an aging mother, I never had time to take care of myself.  I never exercised and loved food and was always stressed–so I ate.

What made you change your lifestyle?  Parts of my lifestyle were changed for me, not by me.  I stopped working full time, my children grew up and left home and my mother passed away.  I suddenly had time, I only had  my husband and my dog to take care of.  I finally had time to take care of myself, and since I had developed diabetes, I wanted to postpone the need for medication as long as possible.

How did you lose your weight?  I had tried to lose weight many times, but it was always too frustrating to be so far away from where I wanted to be.  The month before I started my weight loss program, I looked at my daughter with her beautiful figure and told my husband I wanted to look like that again.  Then I joined the Weight Loss Challenge at the Whitehall Health Club and the support and commitment to exercise changed my life.

I lost the weight by a combination of working out every day and by eating healthy.  I did not see it as a diet, but as changing the way I ate permanently.  I followed principles a nutritionist had provided me when I was a pre-diabetic.  I don’t eat anything white – no white potatoes, bread or rice.  I limit my intake of carbs.  When I eat carbs I eat them in combination with protein.  I eat healthy snacks at mid morning and mid afternoon.   Tracking what I ate on My Fitness Pal helped me to keep my calories intake between 1200 – 1500 calories per day.  I learned to stay away from the foods I have difficulty limiting, and I don’t eat sweets.

What was the hardest obstacle in your weight loss journey?   It’s hard to identify the single hardest obstacle.  The exercise was painful and I saw how completely out of shape I was.  But really, the hardest thing was probably learning patience and knowing that it would take time to get to my goal.  I wanted to be thin overnight, but all of that fat had found a pretty comfortable home on my body for a long time and was in no rush to leave!

Any advise you would like to offer to people that are starting this journey?  Advise–Find a buddy to help support you and for you to provide support to, and make changes that are sustainable for the long run.

Do you have a FB fan page and/or Blog?  No – Just my personal FB page.

Editor’s Note:  I want to congratulate Robin on her amazing transformation and thank her for sharing her story.  I witnessed her transformation from day one.  Robin is a friend and my workout buddy.  We have shared many tears, pain and milestones throughout our journeys.  I thank you for all the support you have given me my dear friend.  Wishing you many years of health and happiness.