Going,
Going, Gone! I Lost 145 Pounds Weight Loss Success Story
From
eDiets - The online diet, fitness, and healthy living resource
If you took the
weight of the average woman (138 pounds) and added 7 pounds, you would get a
visual of just how much Christy Holsclaw has lost since joining
eDiets…
an entire person!
 Shes a shining example of an incredible
shrinking woman, having dropped a whopping 145 pounds. When the 23-year-old
Virginian became a member of the leading online weight loss program in
September 2000, she weighed her all-time high of 275 pounds. Christy had a long
life ahead of her, and she couldnt imagine spending it morbidly obese.
Instead of wallowing in self pity and extra
pounds, the determined dieter took control… and took back her life. Today,
she stands tall (kind of) and proud (definitely) at 5’4" and 130 pounds,
her goal weight. In her wildest dreams, she never imagined she would actually
be petite.
“It’s unbelievable,” she
tells eDiets.
“I really thought 150 pounds would be as low as I could ever get. I never
had a concept of what I would be like at this weight. It’s pretty much a
new experience. It’s incredible.”
 Looking back, Christy cant remember the last time she
weighed so little. Less than two years ago, she was comfortable in a size 28.
These days, she still cant believe she fits into a size 4 or 6. The road to
wellness has been a long one for Christy. Her first diet was a medically
supervised weight-monitoring program at the age of 11. From there, she tried
everything including Weight Watchers, but it was just one failure after the
next. Part of the reason was she wasnt ready.
It wasn’t common for Christy to eat a
bag of chips while reading a book. Nor was it out of the ordinary for her to
polish off a six-pack of Coke… then go out to dinner and not blink an eye.
This was the girl who managed to get out of the required year and a half of
physical education in high school. Between poor eating habits and no activity,
Christy was doomed to life in the fat lane.
It seemed like every aspect of her life was
being weighed down by obesity. Even her high school graduation was marred by
those extra pounds.
“I was so worried about falling,”
Christy told
eDiets
in January. “I worried about everybody staring at me. They had a one
size-fits-all gown and it didn’t fit! It felt way too tight. I felt
absolutely ridiculous and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.”
One of the biggest weight loss motivators
for Christy, who goes by CLH88888 around
eDiets,
was her looming college graduation. She refused to revisit the same fears that
plagued her in high school. Instead, she vowed to achieve a healthy new
lifestyle and a substantially lower weight before she strutted across stage.
And she did it!
 But the process wasnt always a case of easy
come, easy go. In fact, there were months when the number on the scale never
budged. But instead of becoming consumed by the agony of defeat, Christy coped.
“I hit a bunch of plateaus where my
weight didn’t move. I had one that lasted through February and March. I
recently had one that lasted a couple of weeks, but I shook up my exercise some
and I kept doing what I was doing. I knew it was the right thing to do and I
stuck with it. Eventually, the scale caught up.”
When it comes to exercise, Christy
doesn’t play around. She runs three or four miles a day in 40 to 45
minutes. Other days, she works out on her exercise bike. Top that off with
three days of weight training and it’s easy to see where Christy gets her
toned physique.
So what happened to the extra skin?
It’s something that many people wonder, but are afraid to ask. Some
dieters are under the impression that once you lose a drastic amount of weight,
you’re left with excess amounts of flabby flesh, often referred to as an
apron of skin. And of course, their first thought is surgery. But Christy says
that wasn’t the case with her.
She attributes everything falling into
place to a slow and steady loss and those bittersweet plateaus.
“The skin isn’t nearly as bad as
I expected. It’s something I can live with and something I believe I can
tone up over time. It’s definitely in certain areas, but it’s nothing
to be ashamed of or anything like that. It’s nothing anybody should worry
about."
“I now realize my plateaus were about
everything adjusting. Without those, it might have been a problem.”
After almost two years on the program,
Christy has healthy eating and exercise down to a science. However, even she
has those days when it’s
eDiets
to the rescue. Whenever she feels like she needs some structure, Christy turns
to the meal plan to get back on track. For the most part though, healthy eating
habits have become ingrained. She concentrates on portion control and getting
enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains and proteins.
Christy says she never thought about
quitting -- because unlike other diets there was nothing to quit.
“It was more like this is something I
do now. This is my life now. It’s not about deprivation. It’s about
working in balanced meals or working in portion control or making better
choices.”
Whenever she feels overwhelmed, Christy
takes a step back and focuses on one aspect of the program, whether it’s
healthy eating or exercise or emotional support. Having an entire community of
like-minded dieters on her side has made all of the difference in the world for
Christy, who says she probably couldn’t have done it alone.
“I needed all of these other people
along with me. I knew they were all struggling or doing well the same way I
was. I needed somewhere to go. I’ve been with my Ultimate Challenge Team
since January 2001. I’ve also been participating in the Beat The Heat
Challenge. I also post on lots of other boards.”
Despite her incredible weight loss success,
Christy remains humble.
“This is something anybody can handle.
I am no one special. Anybody can do this.” |
