Her weight loss has affected her whole family—for the better. “My husband is always telling me how skinny I feel when he hugs me, and he's always telling me he's proud of me (he just told me right now, as a matter of fact!). He even started following the Nutrisystem® Flex guidelines for men and has lost nearly 40 pounds* himself! My kids are too little to really understand what's happened, but they love eating the same foods I do! Yogurt, cottage cheese with pineapple...pretty much all my add-ins. And I'm so happy to be able to teach them how to eat healthy at such a young age. One of my biggest problems with my weight throughout my life was just not knowing what I should be eating. Nutrisystem makes it so easy! All the information is there for you—just pick and choose what works for your lifestyle. I've even gotten a few compliments from my step-daughter, which is pretty big coming from a 12-year-old.”
Her weight loss has her dancing on air...belly dancing, that is! “I’m a belly dancer, and my weight loss has definitely made a difference in my performance. I’m able to sustain certain movements longer, and I have so much more energy when I dance that it really shows in the movements! One thing that can be seen as either a drawback or benefit is that now that I'm smaller, I have to make my movements much bigger to get the same effect I did before which makes it that much harder. Of course, that means I'm getting a better workout, too!”
She offers important advice for those just starting to exercise. “After joining my current gym, I had several classes I wanted to try…some more than others. I was really surprised to find that the classes I was really looking forward to and that I expected to be my new passions weren't as wonderful as I thought. And as it turns out, one class I thought I wouldn’t care for has become almost an obsession. I love it! If I could pass on any one piece of advice as far as exercise is concerned, it’s to try anything you can. You never know what will click with you or when—it took nearly my entire journey to find that class!”
She just reached her weight loss goal... “It's pretty surreal to be at my goal. The day I hit it I stepped on the scale about 10 times to make sure it was real. But I don't feel like I've crossed a finish line; more like I've finished the steep uphill portion of a hike and now I'm on the gentle downhill path, but still working! And I'm actually trying to lose a few more (I’m aiming for my 80 pound bear!).”
...but she’s not leaving the Community any time soon! “I definitely plan on being active in the community for a long time to come. I've got my personal support team and cheerleaders over there. The challenges kept me going through my weight loss because I hated having to report back that I had made bad choices. I see them still serving as a driving force through maintenance. I don't want to have to tell anyone that I'm 5 or 10 pounds over my maintenance range. And right now I'm super excited to be one of the team leaders/mentors in the next Nutrisystem Biggest Loser Team Challenge. Helping those that are still working on their weight loss gives me daily reminders of what I still need to do, and to see their enthusiasm really keeps me going. It's what helped push me to goal!”
*Results not typical. On Nutrisystem, you can expect to lose at least 1-2 pounds per week.
Weight lost on prior Nutrisystem program.