“I never weigh myself.”
Writer and communications specialist Karen Roberts, 49, wasn’t surprised when the white silk slip dress she wore for her wedding in Jamaica to husband Merrick in July 1998 easily slipped on again.
“I still like the style and it feels good to wear it,” Roberts says. “I didn’t want a poofy thing for a beach wedding, so it’s simple and form-fitting.”
Hopping on the scale is off-limits for the 5-foot-4 Roberts, who keeps tabs on her shape by making sure she fits into a size 6 pair of tight black pants and a tailored leopardprint shirt she keeps for that purpose.
“When you get stuck on numbers [of pounds], you go insane,” says the Canadianborn mom of 7-year-old daughter, Sasha. “Clothes are a better gauge.”
But apart from her pregnancy when she put on 35 pounds, she believes she has stayed within 5 or so pounds of her wedding-day weight 21 years ago.
“I’m really a mind, body and spirit person,” says the Nyack, NY, resident. “I drink six 8-ounce glasses of water per day and have been doing yoga for more than 20 years.”
She avoids soda and processed foods — “My daughter has never been to a fast-food restaurant,” she says — and takes 30- to 40minute walks three to four times per week carrying 3-pound weights for an optimum workout. “It’s one of my stress relievers,” says Roberts.