Diet & Fitness: Weight Loss: Weight-Loss Success Stories:

 Alaina

 When I was younger I played sports, so gaining weight was never a problem for me. My freshman year of high school, I gained a lot of weight, maybe weighing up to 170 pounds. I stayed that way for a year, until a high school breakup caused me to lose weight (I can't eat when I'm stressed). Then, throughout college, I gained more weight, not realizing the amount I was eating and how bad the food was for me. I tried exercising, but always wanted immediate results, which of course, never happened. I always told myself that I would look different the next year, then the next, until graduation rolled around and I still hadn't lost weight.

 In July 2006 I started dating someone who was a huge hiker and runner. We met online and I had wanted to find someone who was active so that I could get into it. Well, it took a few months; my weight was yo-yoing. Finally, October of that year, I weighed myself and was not happy with where I had ended up. The next day, I swapped out all of my junk food and started to eat healthier and exercise.

 It was never that I ate large portions of really bad food, if anything I was eating too large of portions of good food. I never paid attention to labels. I signed up for three months of Weight Watchers, because I liked how it taught you how to eat anything you want to, just in right proportions. I cut out ice cream, cookies, even pizza and ate a lot of Special K and Lean Pockets. At the time, my mother was on NutriSystem, so I ate some of her meals too. I also started to run. I didn't have the money to go to a gym so I exercised around the house and went running whenever I could. I also signed up for races to see how I was progressing. I eventually ran a half marathon a year after I started my weight loss plan and I'm now training for a marathon. After I hit a weight that I was happy with, I started incorporating my favorite foods (pizza being at the top), but I ate everything in moderation and exercised to off-set it. Now I see food as nourishment for the body, not something just to fill the void.

 I think the key to my success was just knowing that I never wanted to go back to how I was before. I'm happier now, more energetic. I look back at pictures of me in high school and college and I just smile knowing how far I've come.

 I'm not a morning person, so it's hard for me to get up and run in the morning, which is the only time I can do it. But I just tell myself that I'm training for something big and I don't want to let anyone down, especially myself.

 I just look at old pictures of myself and I pick myself right back up.

 People I haven't seen since college commenting on how good I look. That makes me feel accomplished.