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Name: Melody Regnary
Age: 40
Height: 5 feet
Before Weight: 260 pounds
How I Gained It: I was big throughout my childhood and into my teen years and adulthood. It has been quite a struggle to lose weight. In high school, I met a good friend who told me how she saw it. She told me how pretty my face is and that I just needed to lose a little bit of weight. I was 188 pounds as a high school junior and lost 33 pounds when I met my first husband my first year of college. Well, that weight loss was very short-lived (just like my first marriage). After seven years together and two children later, I weighed 260 pounds.
Breaking Point: I wasn't feeling very sexy and had a feeling my husband wasn’t attracted to me anymore. By controlling what I ate, I lost 10 pounds in a month. I guess that wasn’t good enough for him, because he was gone. His leaving did not deter me from losing weight. It was the best thing that he could have ever done. He gave me strength and endurance to lose it and keep it off, for my children, and of course, for me.
How I Lost It: The first year was super easy. Just controlling what I ate and doing my everyday activity (I’m a pre-school teacher) was good enough to have the fat melt off me. I cut out fast food and red meat, always ate before six, made breakfast larger than lunch and dinner.
I think I lost 50 to 60 pounds the first year. It wasn't enough, though. I was determined to lose more. I joined a local 24-Hour Fitness. More weight came off, as much as 10 pounds a month. I went to the gym at least five days a week, doing mostly cardio on the stepper, elliptical and treadmill. It wasn’t until I lost more than half of the weight that I started incorporating weight machines two days a week.
I would also go out of my way to get any extra movement I could, such as parking farther away and walking or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. I started working out every morning before work, which gave me more energy to play with the kids in my class. Most vital to my weight loss was the encouragement of my family and friends.
I was down to 135 when I met my wonderful second husband and true love. I did gain some of the weight back, but after I had my third child went back to controlling what I ate and exercising when I could. I love that my husband loves doing all this with me, and, no matter if I gain or lose, he will be right there supporting me.
After Weight: 133 to 135 pounds
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