Sue has lost 68 lbs! Read about her incredible weight loss…

My heaviest was 247. I have fluctuated some since that time, but after that initial loss, I have not been over 197. In January, I weighed 194 and I stepped on the scale last week and it is 179. This has been a long time project for me.

At the time I was the heaviest, I was working a lot of hours, managing the household and other activities. I did not feel that there was enough time in the day to do anything else.

I have always struggled with my weight. I did Weight Watchers and did fine, but got really tired of calculating and measuring, etc. I have been as low as 164 and I think that was with Weight Watchers. That was a real struggle to maintain. But then I was not exercising, just watching what I ate.

The process that I have gone thru has really been an evolution. Before I met Cindy Newland (Intentionally Eat), I was occasionally working out doing pilates and some yoga. That really made me feel good. I started walking and that made me feel better. Then after my friend, Lee Ann and I started training with Cindy, she suggested that we could do a “race”. I would go to the little track off of RD Mize and 23rd Street and I would walk, then I wondered if I could possibly run the corners and found that I could. Eventually, I would run the straight part of the track and walk the corners. I thought that the day I ran an entire lap was really something else. Something I never thought that I would do again. I was never an athletic kid. Always very slow in gym class. As a young adult I tried Jazzercise and enjoyed it, but when my friend stopped coming, I stopped also.

Cindy’s encouragement, constant pushing me to do a bit more, the formation of a friend network that likes to workout, run, etc., and the formulation of the Sermon Center classes has helped tremendously in getting me to where I am right now. It is very hard to have the mindset to continue on the running path by yourself. It is very hard to push yourself to do more, and just not take an easier pace. I learned a lot during the time I was training with Cindy and because no one else ran that I knew, I would run by myself. But it is certainly more fun to exercise and run with people. They push you, you help them. It is a “give and take”. After I did the first couple of 5k’s, I was hooked. I knew that if I was to continue to run/exercise, I needed to have a reason. That’s why I try and sign up for events, because being the person that I am, I don’t want to go into an event unprepared. I am still pretty cautious about trying something new (I’m considering a duathalon). It took Cindy a long time to get me to try the 1/2 marathon! Dana (a friend) pushed at the last minute, but it was Cindy’s long time pushing that helped me make that leap. I learned that getting up at 5:15 is a very workable time to exercise and still get to work at a decent time.

The food part of things has been difficult. My spouse doesn’t understand and is constantly tempting me. I have been uninformed about ingredients in things that I thought was good to eat. I hate the keeping track, but find that is really the only way for me to make progress. The on-line tracker is really a big help. Years ago, when I was working for the CPA firm, I would walk in with a large Dr. Pepper, a couple of donuts and hit the advil bottle before getting started on my day.

It is a struggle when you are a “numbers” person and the scale just doesn’t move, or your doctor’s visit and those stats just don’t change even though you are making small changes. I felt like small changes (Small Bites) was the best to do, because I did not want to “diet”, I wanted to make a “lifestyle” change. I have had to learn to focus on other types of measurements, like the size of clothes that I buy, the additional weight I can lift, how I don’t feel tired during the day, etc.

Planning meals and eating well continues to be hard. My husband won’t eat the way I want to. I have a lot of irons in the fire and so my evenings are busy. I am learning to read the labels and trying to have better nutrition. But it does take constant monitoring, thinking ahead about the social situations I have in the week, etc. to continue on the path.

Seeing how “immobile” my husband is at this time in his life is quite an incentive. He is 11 years older and is having mobility issues. I have noticed it a lot within the past year. When we were in Colorado, there was no way he was able to hike or even just walk around and enjoy the beauty of the area. There are a lot of things I would still like to do, places to visit, and people to enjoy, and I want to be able to do all that I can.