Success Files: Kat

It’s that time again! Hooray for motivation!

Kat is my weight loss rival. While approaching the 100 lb milestone last year, we spent several weeks talking trash on the WW message boards. The entire community tuned in to see which one of us would hit the mark first. Well, the weight loss gods thought it would be funny to give us the prize IN THE SAME WEEK!

Kat has been very supportive in my journey and I look forward to cheering her to goal. 🙂

1. When did you start your weight loss program?
I started WW 5-14-01

2. With all of the weight loss programs/diets available, what made you choose WW?
I have done SO many of the programs out there. I was heavy ever since I was a small child. I have never been “normal” weight in the past ever. I started dieting when I was in 2nd grade. My mother “helped” me by finding tons of different diets for me to try. I did the hotdog diet, Optifast, Beverly Hills diet, 500 Cals a day diet, etc etc. WW was the only diet program I hadn’t tried yet. I went into the center on May 14th just looking to get some information about the program because I didn’t want to do another radical fad diet. The rest is history.

3. How much weight have you lost?
I started at 350lbs at my top weight. I lost 10 lbs on my own after “cutting back” for a year! I decided I need some structure at that point and started WW. I lost 133.8 lbs so far with WW.

4. What is your favorite aspect of the WW program?
I like the fact that I have choices on what I eat. People ask me how I manage to lose weight and still feed a family of 5 “normal meals”. It’s easy when you’re equiped with the knowledge of proper nutrition. You don’t have to be on a diet to eat right. Now I just make the same healthy choices for all of us. I just watch my portions more carefully.

5. Favorite low point snacks?
I LOVE ice cream. I eat Healthy choice ice cream every night. Low points and still satifying. I also love Trader Joe’s soy crisps and honey roasted soy nuts.

6. Do you plan to become a leader? If so, why?
I am not sure right now if I will ever be a WW leader. I am not sure how long it will take me to get to goal and if at that point I will want to do it. I do know we all can be leaders of sort by setting a good example and “paying it forward” by helping other WW members when they need a helping hand. I try to do that as often as possible already, even though I am not at goal yet.

7. Favorite WW moment? (i.e. meeting Fergie,receiving an award, etc.)
My favorite moment to date is still the day Courtney and I hit our 100 lbs off together. That was awesome. With all the friendly bantering back and forth about how we would beat each other to that goal it was so cool that we got there together and the same time!!! (of course I got exactly 100 lbs off that day and she had to be a show-off and get a little more!!!)

8. What is your typical exercise program?
I normally work out 6 days a week alternating every other day doing cardio and then weight training and cardio. Since I had to take on 2 jobs, I have had to cut back on my exercise drastically due to time management issues but now that my life is back to normal I want to continue with my old routine.

9. What tips would you like to offer program newbies?
I lost my first 100 lbs in 7 1/2 months and people were in awe of that. So many people wrote to me asking for my “secrets” for losing fast and staying OP. I had no secrets for losing fast. I just stayed OP ALL the time, exercised, journaled and drank 20 glasses of water a day. Staying OP and motivated then was very easy for me. It’s easy to stay the course when things are going well and you are losing quickly.

Now it has taken me a year to lose another 30 lbs after the first 100 lbs off. This is the time that I revealed my inner strength to myself. It’s much harder and takes much more determination to stay the course when you are losing slowly and working so very hard for such small losses.

When I talked to a weight loss expert, she told me that this is when people tend to lose control and gain their weight back. The hardest part is not the losing when it is coming off steadily, it’s maintaining the loss and moving forward through the tough times. I don’t plan on being one of the statistics of people who lost and gained it all back. I am striving to move forward in my weight loss journey. I think the most important part is not to get too caught up in the numbers.

Every day that I am still OP and moving forward, even if I am not losing weight on the scale, I am a success. THAT is the key, knowing that the success is not in the scale and the numbers but in the act of being OP and living healthy itself. Also remember that eating healthy and OP for one day will not make you healthy and thin, nor will eating poorly one day make you fat and unhealthy. It’s about what we do for the long haul that will make or break us. Stay strong and move forward if you slip off plan. Each time something happens in life we can make it a positive thing by just learning from the experience.

10. How do you plan to reward yourself for reaching goal weight?
Honestly I haven’t thought too much of a reward for reaching goal. I think reaching goal is going to be it’s own reward. I’m one of those people that truly believes the intangible wonderful things in life are the best rewards. It’s not about buying myself something or being given something. All the self awareness and knowledge I gain throughout my weight loss journey is my reward. Reaching goal is not the end of the program, it is just another part of it, like starting OP, and maintaining will be.

To see all of Kat’s photos, please check out her website.