DON’T LET DIET GO TO WASTE
IT TAKES WORK TO MAINTAIN LOSS,
Ken Chuney knows all too well the gut-busting hard work involved in losing a significant amount of weight and keeping it off for years.
At 5-foot-8, Chuney weighed 335 pounds when he was 20 years old. He slimmed down between his sophomore and junior years in college by cutting back on portions and eliminating whole milk and 100% juice.
“I lost about 65 pounds in 3½ months. It was pretty amazing. When I went back to college, I lost another 35 pounds the first semester.”
He took up running several miles a day. “I felt stronger. I felt more confident.”
Over the past 20 years, Chuney, a corporate finance manager, has kept the weight off — except for re- gaining about 20 pounds two times — by watching what he eats and exercising 1½ hours a day. He now weighs 178 pounds and is in “the best shape I have been in my life.” Some keys to his success: Weight-loss program: “I eat about 1,750 to 2,000
calories a day.” Exercise routine: “I work out seven days a week for at least an hour and a half a day.”
He lifts weights, runs and rides a stationary bike. He also has run the New York City Marathon twice, raising a significant amount of money for charity. “The same discipline I used to lose weight, I used to run a marathon. It’s extremely tough. You have to be dedicated and motivated. You have to keep your eye on your goal.”
What keeps him motivated: “I know how I looked when I was heavy. I don’t want to have that feeling again.” Goal: To maintain his weight and stay in shape. “I cannot begin to tell you how the weight loss has changed my life and how, day in and day out, I work to stay active and healthy and keep the weight off.”
April Lee says her diet was “dreadful” for years.
For breakfast, she sometimes stopped at a gas station and got two hot dogs and a soda. At lunch, she might eat a Big Mac, large fries and large sweet tea, or go to the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. She ate whatever she wanted — double burgers, ribs, fried cheese appetizers. And she didn’t touch fruits and vegetables.
Lee weighed 211 pounds at this time last year. She was taking medication for high blood pressure and was on the borderline of developing type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.
Then last February, after hearing about singer/actress Jennifer Hudson’s success on Weight Watchers, she decided to give it a try. “I joined, and I never looked back,” says Lee, a customer order specialist for Home Depot.
“My goal was to be healthy. I was tired of taking two blood pressure pills in the morning and the evening. I was tired of not feeling good.”
Since then she has lost 72 pounds and now weighs 139. She is off blood pressure medications and no longer has pre-diabetes.
When she went to see her gynecologist last summer, the doctor didn’t recognize her.
Weight-loss program: Lee follows the Weight Watchers Pointsplus plan, limiting herself to about 26 points a day.
Exercise routine: She runs 3 miles on the treadmill at the gym four days a week. The other days she does strength training for 30 minutes.
Goal: Stay at her current weight. “Not only has my weight changed, but my attitude toward life and people has changed. I’m more understanding and compassionate.”