Half Their Size! Two Women Reveal Wake-Up Calls

Thats Fit Success Stories

Jill Knapp

Before weight: 237

After weight: 137

Jill gained 50 pounds during her first pregnancy and after her baby was born, she was so focused on being a good mother, she forgot to take care of herself. Soon, she was 100 pounds overweight with "bad eating habits, no time for exercise and no real desire to be healthy," she said.

Diagnosed with gestational diabetes during her second pregnancy and then Type 2 diabetes afterward, Jill was determined to turn around her health. "My husband and kids mean the world to me," she said. "Being able to live a long life was an important factor and motivation to lose the weight."

Jill adopted a five-times-a-week training routine that included both cardio and weights. She started food logging, eliminated sugar from her diet, and ate six small meals throughout the day to keep her blood sugar levels more stable. Since losing 100 pounds, she's become a diabetes advocate and competed in the Mrs. Idaho pageant. She inspires others to adopt a healthy lifestyle with her website Get Up & Get Moving.

Read Jill's Success Story

Jill Knapp

Keith Ahrens

Before weight: 414

After weight: 214

Keith was mostly sedentary and though he dieted on and off for 23 years, he could never make lasting changes to his intake of foods loaded with fat and sugar. "The food choices I made were of little regard or complete disregard to their nutritional content," he said.
When he was 45 and 414 pounds, he suffered a remote silent heart attack that required open-heart coronary artery bypass surgery. That was a major wake-up call to Keith that he needed to dramatically change his lifestyle.

His first step was admitting to himself that he was a compulsive over-eater and was tempted to reach for food when he was stressed. After that realization, he declared unhealthy foods off limits. Soda and fast food were out; lean meats, vegetables and fruits were in.

Keith also added exercise to his daily routine. Weight training, bicycling, jogging and basketball are now a normal part of his life, and he became a personal trainer to teach others his hard-won knowledge. "Small changes practiced routinely in your lifestyle add up to huge successes over time," he said.
He shares his experiences in his book "Outrunning My Shadow" and on his website.

Read Keith's Success Story.

Keith Ahrens

Ali Tripp

Before weight: 245

After weight: 135

Growing up with a single mom, Ali and her sisters were on their own at mealtimes, which lead to carb-heavy meals and eating for comfort. "I ate tons of pasta, potatoes and bread -- huge portions of them at almost every meal," Ali said. When she became a flight attendant in 2004, she noticed that larger women need to speak loudly and "be boisterous" to be seen and heard. Ali realized she didn't want to fight for attention and made the decision to change her lifestyle.

The first step in her transformation was a trampoline. She committed to 15 minutes a day, increasing her exercise time as she became more fit. She also dumped refined carbs for whole grains and added salads to her daily meal plan, replacing her usual ranch dressing with lite choices. "I chose foods based on the health benefits I get from them," she said, "instead of how comfortable they might make me feel."

The transformation of Ali's body inspired changes on the inside. Determined to use her experience to help others, she's has a bachelor's degree in counseling and is working on a master's in health psychology -- with her eye on a Ph.D.

Read Ali's Success Story.

Ali Tripp

Cecily Jamelia

Before weight: 162

After weight: 140

When Cecily's relationship with a motivated (and vigilant) boyfriend ended, her boot camp workouts and healthy eating came to an end, too. The reduction in scrutiny was a relief, but soon her new, more relaxed habits took a toll on her body. Looking at photos of herself with friends, she faced a painful realization. "I was the fat friend," she said.
Unhappy with her fuller face and hips, she accepted a friend's invitation for a hike, and the two became the core of a workout group. Soon the group had a fan base on Facebook that helped keep them accountable. The team of women dubbed themselves the Valleywood Fit Girls Club, and as a group, they experimented with their diet to find the eating plan that worked best for them.

The group is still going strong and continues to update its website to share success and inspiration -- and to remind women they're never too old to start a new program. "We're all 30-plus, and the oldest member is 42 but she looks like a 20-year-old!"

Read Cecily's Success Story

Cecily Jamelia

Cindy Sadler

Weight lost so far: 130

Don't say that opera singer Cindy Sadler is on a diet. She's embarked on her self-proclaimed "Fat Relocation Project." She's already lost 100 pounds with exercise and a new relationship with food that began when she read the book

In her blog The Beck Diet Solution.

In her blog The Next Hundred Pounds , Cindy reminds her readers that weight loss, while important, is only a side effect of taking good care of ourselves. "Really, the emphasis, it should be the changes in my health," she said, "not on specifically the changes in my weight. That's icing on the cake."

Cindy's career as an opera singer includes unique demands, but her advice and insight is applicable to anyone trying to incorporate healthy eating and exercise into their lives. Her blog provides doses of inspiration along with practical tips for maintaining good habits while traveling and juggling career demands.

Cindy Sadler

Catherine Walker Hart

Before weight: 168

After weight: 132

Catherine is an artist and grew up in a family where food addiction, and overeating were the norm. When she and her husband became the "king and queen of takeout," her weight crept up -- and her self-esteem crashed down. Unable to hide inside baggy clothes any longer and concerned for her health, she decided to make big changes in her lifestyle.

Catherine added intense exercise with CrossFit and learned to cook, following the Zone diet to learn which foods would provide the best fuel for energy. She also learned about reasonable portions of protein, carbohydrates and fat, and she found that cooking could be as creative as her other art. "Chopping up ingredients, mixing spices together and arranging food beautifully on a plate all satisfy the artist (and food lover!) in me," she said.

Now she eats five small meals every day and can't imagine returning to a sedentary life crammed with unhealthy food. She's lost inches and body fat, while gaining self-confidence and peace of mind that she shares in her blog. "I've finally gotten out of my rut and into a cycle that fuels itself in a positive way."

Catherine Walker Hart

Laurie Warren

Before weight: 260

After weight: 180

Like many of us, Laurie ate for reasons having nothing to do with hunger. She snacked while she cooked her meals. She ate while on her frequent shopping trips, where she would "find a pastry shop and eat everything in sight," she said.

When her doctor decided to test her for diabetes, she was finally honest with herself about her weight problem. And when the test results were positive, she made up her mind to start exercising at the gym and to improve her diet.
June 30, 2008 was Laurie's first official workout day, and she exercised with a personal trainer four times a week. A few months later, the nurse at her doctor's office was amazed: The extra weight had started melting away. Eventually, co-workers convinced Laurie she needed to buy new, smaller clothes. She'd shrunk from a size 22 to a size 10. When she ran into old friends she hadn't seen in a year, they didn't recognize her.

Laurie continues to workout from 5:00-6:30 every morning. "I feel good," she said. "I no longer need food to make me happy."

Laurie Warren

Roseann Dashkowitz

Before weight: 240

After weight: 150

These Success Stories usually start at the difficult beginning, but with Roseann, it's important to know her happy ending: She's maintained her weight 70-pound weight loss for 17 years!

Big homemade meals are part of Roseann's childhood memories, along with the recollection of being one of the few overweight kids at her school. She started her first diet at the age of 10 and lost weight quickly, but "it was the beginning of a 20-year weight roller coaster for me," she said. During her senior year of high school she gained 100 pounds, then spent the next few years losing and re-gaining weight.

When Roseann turned 30, she made the decision to stop the yo-yo dieting for good. "I followed a Weight Watchers diet on my own," she said, "and for the hundredth time, lost that same 70 pounds."

The difference this time was that she re-vamped her eating habits and began a consistent exercise routine. Her healthy lifestyle has not only improved her life. "The greatest outcome from all of this," she said, "is that my own children are very health-minded and make exercise and eating right a daily part of their lives."

Roseann Dashkowitz

Ted Hebert

Before weight: 211

After weight: 151

Ted started as a skinny kid with a fast metabolism that meant he could eat all the junk food he wanted. "A normal lunch was two double cheeseburgers, six chicken nuggets, a large shake and a pie," he said. But he reached a turning point when his sedentary job and wife's delicious home cooking caught up with him.

During a routine weigh-in during a trip to the doctor to combat the flu, Ted was forced to accept that he was overweight. For the first time, he became concerned about heart disease, diabetes and other weight-related ailments. He knew he needed to change his habits, he said, when he "looked at the wrapper after eating a greasy burger, and saw all that fatty grease."

Determined to be a healthy father for his kids, he replaced burgers with Subway sandwiches, switched to diet soda and began eating healthier at home. He also started a resistance-based exercise program that takes just 15 minutes per day and has given him great results. "I have not only lost weight, but I have good, lean muscle tone," he said. "I can do this complete workout during half-time of a football game."

Ted Hebert