What A Difference 45 Pounds Makes

From eDiets - The online diet, fitness, and healthy living resource

Sara swears eDiets worked when everything else failed. And she says shrinking from 233 to 188 pounds over the last year has changed her life.

The Idaho mom has been watching her waistline for as long as she can remember. Sara was 15 when she began following a vegetarian diet and keeping a close eye on what she ate. She was able to hold steady at 160 pounds, a healthy weight for her height.

But then she fell in love and uttered the vows of marriage. Unfortunately, new bride Sara never promised to love, honor and obey her body!

Sara quickly started packing on the pounds with each milestone in her life: marriage, baby No. 1 (a son, Chandler), and baby No. 2 (a daughter, Lauren). Just before giving birth to her second child last summer Sara was stunned to discover her weight had peaked at 250 pounds. She blames the gain largely on the fried, greasy foods she craved during her second pregnancy.

To make matters worse, it seemed everyone around her was losing weight while she was gaining. After deciding to get back in shape and lose his extra weight, her husband Eric dropped 40 pounds. Couple that with the fact her mom and dad were also slimming down and it led Sara to feel like the odd man out.

“I was in a bad place,” she tells eDiets. “I just look back and think about how mean and grumpy I was. I was so bummed out about being overweight. It was all I talked about. I didn’t want my daughter and son growing up with that. I don’t want them to see dieting as normal.”

Sara tried to take off the weight through exercise but her losing streak stalled several months later. By last November she was 225 pounds and ready for lasting weight loss with the help of a proven winner... eDiets.com. After considering other brand name "brick-and-mortar" centers, Sara teamed up with the world's leading online weight loss and fitness program and started slaying her diet demons.

“I had to get back to reality when it came to practicing portion control, eating smaller meals throughout the day, and balancing what I ate," she says. "I don’t think I was getting enough protein before. I wasn’t taking the time to think things through.”

Although Sara usually couldnt stomach having a diet dictated to her, she was grateful for the eDiets resources. From recipes and grocery lists to support and 24/7 accessibility, eDiets had it all.

It didn’t take her long to figure out she didn't fancy frozen food. But having never been a good cook, Sara was leery of making meals from scratch. She then learned good things come in homemade packages.

I started learning to stay home and cook, rather than going out to eat. I was in a better frame of mind because I have never eaten so balanced before. I probably wasnt getting all the things I needed for 10 years prior.

One of the first things Sara did was follow the lead of a fellow eDieter, who also had a problem grazing whenever she fed her kids. Every time she went to nibble, she would set the food aside instead. A bite here and there quickly added up to a lot of extra fat and calories. The exercise put things into perspective for Sara.

But that wasn’t the only exercise Sara needed. It had been a long time since she was physically active. A month before joining eDiets, Sara took her kids for a run. What once would have come naturally to the athletic mom, left her winded and struggling for breath.

“I was totally humiliated. I was 25 and I felt like that. I used to be in good shape,” she recalls.

Slimmed-down Sara can't help but smile, knowing that she can once again jog, lift weights, ride the recumbent bike, go water skiing, and do Pilates and yoga. She stays on the physical fitness track by varying her routine on a regular basis. Despite the fact that she has two small children, the stay-at-home-mom finds the time to fit healthy living into her schedule.

She rises early to work out with her husband or makes time at night after the children have gone to sleep. And when her kids are napping, Sara plugs into the tool she says is responsible for her success: the eDiets support boards.

One of the things that turned Sara off to the traditional weight loss program was the idea of sharing her thoughts, feelings and experiences with complete strangers... face to face.

“I couldn’t sit in front of strangers and talk. I wouldn’t have been as willing to open up. Plus, I had a newborn daughter and it would have been impossible for me to always find somebody to watch the kids. If I could get a sitter, I would use that time to go out with my husband, not to go to a weight loss meeting. I would rather get support while sitting in my own house.”

She really started being true to healthy habits when she stumbled upon the STBS (Soon To Be Skinnies) crew while checking out the Stay At Home Moms board this past January.

“They’re incredible. I have made some super good friends. I needed that. I needed to go there when my kids were napping and I wanted to snack. I needed to go where there were people just like me. It helped me in so many more ways than just dieting. I don’t think any of us will ever leave no matter how skinny we are.”

Sara has no doubt she’ll achieve her goal weight of 160 pounds.

“I’m totally addicted. I don’t think of quitting. I know the weight's going to come off. I have friends there every step of the way. Some are 112 pounds. Some are 200 pounds.”

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