Woman Loses 154 Pounds to Save Her Knees

Because of crippling knee pain, Janet Paton needed surgery in order to be able to walk normally, but doctors told her she couldn't undergo surgery because she was too heavy. That left the 38-year-old mother from Yorkshire, England with only one alternative -- slim down or live the rest of her life in pain. Guess which option she chose?

If you guessed the first one, you're absolutely right. Paton realized that life in agony was no life at all and made the decision to lose weight. At her heaviest, she weighed 290 pounds, but now clocks in at 154 pounds -- almost half her size. She did it by taking control of her eating habits.

"I've never been able to resist chocolate, and I'd polish off a big family bar every day ... that's the way I lived for years and years, putting away lots of burgers, pizzas, chocolate and chips," she told the UK's Daily Mail. Her diet of potato chips, chocolate and fries was quickly replaced with a calorie-controlled healthy eating plan. In addition to her poor diet, she also traded in her sedentary lifestyle for an active one -- she now walks three miles a day with the family dog.

And while the truth hurt at the time, hearing that she was too obese for surgery was a monumental turning point for Janet. "I felt really insulted and offended at the time," she told the Daily Mail, "but I'm grateful when I look in the mirror now because what she said changed my life, and gave me a chance to look at things afresh."

But the best part of Janet's amazing transformation? Now that she lightened the load on her joints, she no longer needs knee surgery.

"As for my knees, they're perfect -- and I can't imagine I'll ever need to think about getting some new ones," she said. "[Prior to the weight loss,] My knees were really sore, and you could hear them grinding when I went down the road. It was agony wherever I went, and I really thought surgery was the only answer."

In the UK, where knee operations are paid for by the government, she's saved the taxpayers over $30,000 in estimated medical expenses. But more importantly, she may have saved years of her own life.

Janet lost the weight by walking -- you can, too, in as little as four weeks!