Q&A: Weight Loss Success, One Step at a Time

 The greatest challenge often lies with finding the proper balance between eating healthy yet well, maintaining weight loss, and still enjoying life.  This week I interviewed a local weight loss superstar—a self-described “prior fat girl”—with a moving success story who leads by example. This week she shares with us some of her top tips for losing weight, keeping it off, and still living a full and vibrant life. 

Patch: Tell me a little about yourself and why you originally decided to change your health?  

Jen Emmert: I grew up overweight. A self-diagnosed yo-yo dieter. In August of 2007, my father (who is also overweight) asked if I wanted to attend a weight loss seminar with him. We went and as I sat there, I looked around the room and got the biggest wakeup call I ever had and the one I needed; there I was, 26, fat and unhappy. I was in a room surrounded by overweight people; they were me and I was them. We were there together. I was 26 and a candidate for weight loss surgery. I left the seminar and never looked back. Through all life could throw at me, including dealing with the hugest tragedies of my life, I have fought to be healthy and maintain.

Patch: What are your top five recommendations/tips for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight?

Emmert: 

1. Don’t copy others: It is natural for us to want someone to tell us what to eat and do for activity. But the reason diets fail is because we aren’t listening to our bodies. It is okay to start following something but when things get tough, don’t give up; instead, change a little of what you are doing to make it work. Being healthy is not about following what someone else does to be “healthy” but instead, finding our own healthiness.

2. Be vulnerable: You may find yourself throwing tantrums (“But everyone else is ordering what they want!” or “Ugh, I don’t want to go to the gym!”) Allow yourself to feel those feelings; recognize and acknowledge them—and then move on. Do what you NEED to do, not what you want to do. A majority of people don’t want to go to work, but we have to, to pay bills. I don’t WANT to go to the gym, but I have to, to be healthy.

3. Don’t treat yourself with food: Food is not a reward. You don’t “deserve” a piece of cake or chips & dip. Take the “privilege” out of eating. Instead, focus on non-food things like a new pair of shoes, going to see a movie or a new book or CD/DVD.

4. Treat yourself with food: You are kidding yourself if you think you can “ban” cake, cookies, ice cream, chips and French fries from your diet. Allow them in your life within moderation. Find alternative ways to making things (use websites like Hungry Girl & Weight Watchers for recipes!)

5. One bite at a time, one decision at a time: For every minute of every day, we have a chance to change what we are doing. If you find yourself inhaling a piece of cake and have the thought “UGH, well I should just finish it,” STOP! You can put the fork down and walk away. There are no New Year’s Resolutions; No more “I’ll start on Monday.” This is your life. Start today. Start now!

Patch: What is your best piece of advice for those just starting their weight loss journey?

Emmert: Start somewhere. Anywhere. Anything is better than nothing. Stop looking around, comparing your journey with everyone else’s. Instead, look at yourself; look yourself in the mirror and take responsibility for your own life.

Patch: What motivates you to continue with this lifestyle?

Emmert: Knowing that if I give up now, I’ll have to do it all over again. I also fight for my mom; she passed away tragically on my 2-year healthiness anniversary, just as I was planning a 100 lbs lost celebration. She was my biggest cheerleader and I know she would be so devastated if I gained it all back. I can either continue with this lifestyle or give up; I know what I choose.