Weight-loss tips from a true survivor
How much do you love those "how I lost weight" success stories in fitness magazines?
Donna Nelson might have the best success story ever.
The policy adviser at the governor's office lost 70 pounds, which is a remarkable accomplishment in itself. But she did it after surviving breast cancer. Today, after maintaining her weight loss for three years, she looks a decade younger than her 52 years and radiates good health.
Nelson got fit using Weight Watchers, and now she's featured in a new book, "Weight Watchers Start Living, Start Losing: Inspirational Stories That Will Motivate You Now." (By the way, Nelson does not work for Weight Watchers and was not paid to be in the book.) If your New Year's resolution to lose weight is flagging or long-forgotten, Nelson's story and tips should get you fired up again.
"It's never too late to start again. If I can do it, anyone can do it," she says. Here's how she did it.
Be in it for the long haul. "From the very first day that I started, I thought, 'I'm going to do this forever,'" she says. In other words, she did not do anything to lose weight that she was not willing to continue for the rest of her life. She wouldn't, for example, swear off treats like chocolate. If you think you have to be perfect on a diet, you're setting yourself up for failure: If you slip a little, then you might be tempted to throw in the towel. It's better to plan for treats, Nelson says, and even to accept that sometimes you'll go beyond your planned splurges. The key is just to keep going.
Focus on people. If you go to a party, make your priority spending time with other guests instead of at the buffet table. People should be the main event in life, not food, Nelson says.
Treat yourself. Eating can make us feel good, but so can plenty of other things. Nelson recommends making a list of other activities that give you positive feelings (taking a hot bath, spending time with a friend) that you can do instead of eating.
Wait out cravings: If Nelson wants a snack, she'll wait 20 or 30 minutes to see if her desire is real hunger or just a craving.
Never say never. Another trick Nelson uses to deal with cravings is remembering that there's a big difference between "I can't have chocolate" and "I can't have chocolate right now." If she's craving M&Ms but has already eaten all that she had planned for the day, she reminds herself that she can have the candy the next day or next week and that she's not being deprived of it forever.
Make it special. Nelson loves chocolate, but if she's going to eat it she'll buy one excellent piece instead of a bag of candy bars. "I almost keep nothing in my house, because I just find that a recipe for disaster," she says.
Set a goal of getting at least 10 minutes of exercise a day. "Because the truth is, once you're doing 10 minutes, you're probably going to do a half-hour, 45 minutes or an hour," Nelson says. That's because getting started is usually the hardest part of exercising. Once you've done that, momentum takes over.
Remember, it does get easier. Starting a weight-loss effort takes a lot of focus because you're making so many changes, Nelson says. But as you continue, you'll actually have an easier time, as your new behaviors become habits.
Visualize your progress. Nelson recalls a trip to the mall when she bought a couple of 7.5-pound hand weights. After carrying the weights from the store back to her car, her feet hurt. "I thought, "I used to carry around 70 extra pounds!""
In the same vein, she found a creative way to encourage a fellow poster on the Weight Watchers Web site who was lamenting that she had lost "only" 1 pound in each of the past three weeks.
"I said, 'Go to your refrigerator and get a pound of butter, and hold it up to your waist, and hold it up to your hips,' " she says. Try using tricks like these to visualize how significant your progress really is.
Celebrate small goals. Don't wait until you hit your goal to reward yourself. Instead, set little goals along the way and give yourself nonfood treats when you reach them.
Motivate yourself by thinking about things you'd like to do at your goal weight. It's easier to try new things after you lose weight, Nelson says. You're more fit and less self-conscious. At 50, she took a dance class for the first time, something she says she never would have done before.
Don't think of losing weight as a cure-all. "Whatever your weight, be happy in your skin," Nelson says. "If you're unhappy when you're overweight, you're probably going to be unhappy when you lose weight."
Do it for your health. Nelson stays motivated to maintain her weight because it reduces the chance that her cancer will return.
Read, read, read. Another motivation trick: Keep reading and expanding your knowledge about nutrition and weight loss.
Stay focused in maintenance. For Nelson, maintaining her new weight is easier than losing weight was, but she knows that's not the case for everyone. "Why most people find it more challenging is you don't see the scale moving," she says. One way she stays energized is working to eat more healthfully.
Nelson's story
Donna Nelson says she had had a weight problem since she was a young teen. She started dieting in high school and saw her weight go up and down, but for most of her adult life she was 20 to 40 pounds overweight for her 5-foot-3-inch frame. She says she has a slow metabolism and that she was "as unathletic as a person can be. I did not move very much." While she did start exercising in her early 20s, her efforts were sporadic until the past few years.
In 1999, Nelson was diagnosed with breast cancer that spread to four of her lymph nodes. She endured six months of chemotherapy, 38 radiation treatments, a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. And then her thyroid stopped working, which caused her to gain 30 pounds, pushing her overall weight to 200 pounds.
In 2001, a friend and co-worker asked if she wanted to join a Weight Watchers at Work program because she had done the program in the past. Because she was the woman's supervisor, she thought, "What kind of role model would I be if I don't join?" she says. "I just did. I just sucked it up."
Nelson attends Weight Watchers group meetings and says she was inspired by her group leader, Julie Faircloth. She also found ample support from family and friends, and from the online community on weightwatchers.com.
When she started, her thyroid medication was still not at the right levels, so progress was slow. It took her a year to go from 200 pounds to 150. She then hit a long plateau. In the fall of 2004, she was inspired to aim again for her goal weight of 141 pounds because it would reduce the chances of her cancer returning. On Jan. 29, 2005, she reached her goal weight of 141 pounds. She compares the moment to the births of her children and the completion of her cancer treatments in terms of emotional intensity.
On the menu
What Donna Nelson ate the day before our interview:
Breakfast - Plain no-fat yogurt with Splenda, frozen blueberries and granola
Lunch - A big salad with lots of veggies and grilled chicken. She dips her fork in regular salad dressing (she doesn't like diet dressings or their often-high sugar content) before each bite.
Dinner - Soup made with navy beans, turkey Italian sausage, onions and cabbage. Glass of wine.
Snacks - Apple, smoothie made with frozen blueberries, frozen peaches, plain fat-free yogurt, plain soy milk and Splenda.
Favorite fast food - Quiznos Cobb salad, minus bacon, croutons and cheese
Favorite treat - Soy-milk latte
By Sarah Lindner
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