Just like weight doesn’t suddenly show up all at once on a person’s body, it doesn’t leave all at once either. It takes time.
Just like weight doesn’t suddenly show up all at once on a person’s body, it doesn’t leave all at once either. It takes time.
Cypress resident Barbara Treece, 57, is a testament to that fact and sticking to a goal: to lose 203 pounds by the end of 2012.
It’s taken seven years for Treece to go from 346 lbs. to 143 lbs.
What made her decide to lose weight? Treece lost her job at Boeing Aircraft after 22 years as a secretary and was told by her doctor that she was diabetic. So, she joined the Buena Park chapter of TOPS in January 2005.
“I was looking for something that was more affordable than Weight Watcher’s and Jenny Craig and I needed the support of people who were also seeking to lose weight – who needed to lose weight – and I needed to be accountable to the scales each week,” Treece said. “I tried Weight Watchers and lost weight, but after I quit the program, I put the weight back on.”
Treece’s mother had also been diagnosed with diabetes, but when she lost 100 pounds, she no longer had diabetes.
“I went from being a secretary to maintaining swimming pools, and as a consequence, I’ll reach my goal weight by the end of this year, and keep the weight off by moving each day,” Treece said.
Before Treece sought help at TOPS, she couldn’t lose 10 pounds a year; but when she lost her secretarial job, joined TOPS, got active, began eating sensibly, and moved each day rather than be inactive, she lost 122.75 pounds in 2011 and 24.25 pounds in 2010. By the end of 2012, she will have lost 56 pounds for a total weight loss of 203 pounds.
She takes 1 ½ hours a day to walk with TOPS leader Sue Whited, who allows Treece to swim in her pool or ride her bicycle.
“I ride my bike to Sue’s and then we ride to the park and I ride back home,” Treece said. “I pick and choose what I do each day for the 1 ½ hours, but I keep moving.
“We have therapy each week, where a member presents a program to help us make sensible food choices focusing on moderation in our meal quantities, exercise or how to avoid stress that leads to weight gain.”
Treece pays a small weekly and yearly amount at TOPS and purchases her own food in a regular grocery store. She recently took second place in her weight loss division at the Buena Park chapter.
Her message to those reading her story:
“I did it and so can you,” she said. “There’s no quick fix. Take it one pound at a time, eat sensibly, move every day, and have a good support system.”
Loreen Berlin may be reached at loreenberlin@verizon.net.