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A needed dose of confidence

After living for years with weight-related ailments, one woman motivated herself to drop 165 pounds.

By Marissa Stephenson

Weight Loss Stats:

Sara Brumbeloe, Tennessee

Age: 34
Height: 5'6"
Pounds lost: 165
At this weight: 2 years

Sara's challenge
Sara was heavy since childhood. Her love of candy and big portions led her to tip the scales at 190 pounds by high school graduation. While studying for a degree in nursing, she subsisted on comfort foods; by age 28, she had lost all track of her weight.

Facing reality
For years, Sara had experienced severe back pain and shortness of breath (just bending over was difficult). As a critical-care nurse, she knew her weight was exacerbating the problems, but poor self-esteem impaired her will to change her eating habits. "I thought, I'm already big, what difference will it make?" But four years ago, after glancing at holiday photos, her appearance compelled her to step on a scale. "I thought I weighed about 220 pounds," she says. "Instead I was 300. I made a vow then to improve my lifestyle."

Getting with the program
Sara signed up for a healthy-meal delivery service and joined the gym at the hospital where she worked. Soon she was using the treadmill four times a week for 45 minutes. Quickly, her backaches and shortness of breath began to ease, then disappeared. The weight melted away too: 10 pounds the first month, another 20 by the fourth, and after a year she was down to 230 pounds. This success gave Sara the confidence she had been lacking to go for an advanced nursing degree. While in school, Sara maintained her weight, but once she graduated, she adopted a more focused slimdown approach. She made her own meals with chicken, fish, and whole grains like brown rice and oatmeal, and she nixed highcalorie extras like sour cream and butter. Instead of relying on the vending machine at work, she brought in slices of pink grapefruit to satisfy her midafternoon cravings for sweets. At the gym, Sara hired a trainer who taught her the most effective exercises for her trouble spots. She also joined several aerobics classes, where she found fellow exercisers who encouraged her to push herself even harder.

Fit and happy
After another year of smart eating and diligent exercise, Sara had lost 95 more pounds and arrived at a healthy 135. At work, she traded in her old size 24 nursing uniform-for a 6. "Before the weight loss, I couldn't have imagined achieving these goals," she says. "I know now that strength was in me all along. I just had to prove it to myself."

3 stick-with-it secrets

• Get advice
  "My trainer taught me that I didn't need to use all the machines in the gym to get a good workout; I just needed to use the right ones for my body."

• Mix up your routine
  "I tried every class my gym offered; the variety and new friends I met kept me coming back."

• Challenge yourself
  "I consistently set new workout goals. I'm a natural competitor, and testing my endurance made progress that much easier."

Weekly workout schedule

• Cardio
  60 minutes/3-4 days a week

• Strength training
  20-30 minutes/3 days a week

• Pilates or yoga
  60 minutes/2 days a week

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