How I
Lost 50 Pounds For Good
From
eDiets - The online diet, fitness, and healthy living resource
What's Olds is new
again... thanks to eDiets.
The world's number one weight loss website
has helped Brenda Olds shrink from 184 to 134 pounds in less than a year! But
who’s counting? Beaming Brenda, of course.
The fantastic 50-pound weight loss has made
a world of difference for the Maryland mom who for too many years had endured
the frustration of yo-yo dieting. Brenda says The New Dieting Solution offered
by eDiets has helped her see the light.
Before linking up with eDiets, the 5'5"
brunette felt weighed down by the extra baggage she attributed to baby weight.
The sad reality: Brenda's "baby" was now 9!
But for Brenda -- and thousands of other
ecstatic eDieters -- it’s better late than never where lasting weight loss
is concerned.
An unflattering family photo provided the
push Brenda needed to dive into the effective and inexpensive eDiets program.
Much to her dismay, Brenda finally saw herself as the dumpy, size 18
dress-wearing dud she had become.
"The picture was of my daughter Lauren at
her first Holy Communion," recalls Brenda, 35 and glad to be alive. "We took so
much time picking out the purple dress I was going to wear. I remember looking
at the picture thinking how beautiful she was and then thinking, 'Who's the
woman standing with my family in the picture?'
"I was looking at myself thinking, 'That is
not me!' Maybe it’s the way everybody sees me. My cheeks looked like a
chipmunk face with little balls of food in the cheeks. I had worked so hard
making her veil... making the day special... getting the family together.
"As parents you become so involved with your
children that getting involved with ME takes a backseat. You end up putting on
a few pounds and the next thing you know you look like a chipmunk and
there’s a strange woman standing in your family photos."
Brenda was ready to begin a life-changing
journey to wellness... but she didn't know where to start. In the past, she had
relied on over-the-counter and prescribed appetite suppressants, fad diets and
herbal supplements. For every pound lost Brenda would pack back on one or two!
She came to realize her number was up -- and
not just on the scale. She needed a weight loss program that was going to
provide sound advice on nutrition and exercise. Quick fixes were no longer part
of the equation.
"I wanted something that was going to be how
I was going to eat for the rest of my life," she tells eDiets. "I couldn’t
use supplements or appetite suppressants. I wanted to learn to eat better and
to be more in control of things.
"I tell everyone I meet that they
aren’t going to like what I have to say. It wasn’t a miracle pill
that helped me drop the pounds. I had to learn to eat better. It took me 11
months, not three. This was a choice I was making for the rest of my life.
"If I viewed it any different, I would gain
the weight back even after hitting my goal. This is something I plan to do for
the rest of my life."
Once she became a dedicated eDieter, Brenda
stopped treating her stomach like a junkyard bulging with Snickers and French
fries. That also meant taking the fat out of fast food by finding value in
healthier alternatives.
"We still eat at McDonald’s, but I
don’t eat the French fries anymore," Brenda says. "McDonald’s makes a
great salad and I eat it. I also choose the grilled chicken as opposed to the
fried chicken. I’m making better choices."
Of course, she also had the eDiets meal plan
and shopping lists to guide her to good health. The well planned out program
left Brenda little room for failure. It wasnt long before she got into a
routine that included healthy staples like frozen yogurt instead of ice cream.
Brenda knew if she was going to talk the
talk, she also needed to walk the walk. Although she concentrated on healthy
eating habits to shed the first 30 pounds, she was hungry for an effective
exercise regimen to turbo-charge her efforts. She relied on brisk 20-minute
walks and sweat-inducing stationary bike rides three to four times a week.
Revving her metabolism was just what Brenda needed to revive her slimming
efforts.
Even though she has reached her goal, Brenda
is hardly ready to call it quits. In fact, her next plan of action is to tone
up a few trouble spots. She is also dead-set on keeping off the pounds she's
lost.
"I have this huge fear that in two years all
the weight will be back... plus 20!" she says. "I can't imagine doing what I've
done and then gaining it all back. This has not been a quick fix. Just because
I reached my goal doesn't mean I go back to Snickers bars and quit exercising.
"I think it’s great to be a size 8. But
when you go from an 18 to an 8, your skin is not as taut as it should be. I
need to firm up, but I won’t be obsessed with it. Everybody tells me I
look great the way I am."
Brenda has been lucky to have the support of
her hubby Michael and their daughters Morgan, 12, and Lauren, 9. Her credit
union co-workers also deserve a round of applause.
"I could do as little or as much as I wanted
-- that’s the benefit of dieting online," Brenda notes. "I’m very
busy and I didn’t have a whole lot of time to spend in chat groups or I
would lose track of the things I needed to do around the house. The benefit of
eDiets for me was that I didn’t have to interact with other members unless
I needed it."
Brenda says the best part about her healthy
new lifestyle is that the person on the outside finally matches the person on
the inside.
"I have always taken a lot of pride in being
a good mother and a good wife. I don’t think that would have changed. But
I don’t think I would be as happy with myself. Whether I like to admit it
or not, whether I am happy with me affects my husband and kids." |
