PEOPLE Half Their Size

By Meredith Corporation

This year's edition of Half Their Size features the class of 2020, determined people who changed their lives by embracing a healthier lifestyle and dropping half of their size. This special edition is filled with inspirational stories, practical tips, and menu ideas from real people who achieved their weight loss goals. Also inside: How to cut stress in half, including ideas everyone can adopt, and workouts from Health magazine to do anywhere with little or no equipment needed. And catch up with people featured in past Half Their Size issues on how they maintain and overcome challenges. We also include delicious, easy, recipes from our sister publication, EatingWell!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Meredith Corporation
• Release date: Apr 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781547851270

Book preview

PART ONE

motivation & inspiration

STORIES FROM THE FRONT LINES: REAL PEOPLE WHO OVERCAME STUMBLING BLOCKS AND BAD HABITS, AND LEARNED TO EMBRACE LIFE HEALTHIER AND HAPPIER

We lost half our size

THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING HELPED JUMP-START THESE REMARKABLE TRANSFORMATIONS

A NEW LOOK! Hairstylists at Rita Hazan salon in New York City gave the women their dream hairstyles. And stylist Don Sumada helped them choose new outfits. I never was a fashion person. It was just ‘whatever,’ says Cellucci. Now I have so much fun with it.

Shawna Tindal

Age: 39 Height: 5'10"

Lives in: Tucson

Job: Photographer

Was 340 lbs.

‘I came into my own and no longer needed food to fill the gaps’

I grew up in a household that didn’t model good relationships with food, and I picked up on that and took it to the extreme. I’d go to 7-Eleven in the middle of the night for ice cream and burritos. I even shoplifted food. I hit 332 lbs. by ninth grade, and I was pre-diabetic. I knew what I was doing wasn’t healthy, but I didn’t know how to ask for help. Then when I went away to college, I started walking everywhere and lost some weight. That was motivating, so I joined Weight Watchers [now WW] for more guidance. It took me seven years to lose the first 150 lbs. and feel comfortable in my skin. I no longer obsess over food, and I’m teaching my three kids healthy eating habits. I’m proud of my weight loss, but it’s not the center of my life—my family is.

How I kept the weight off for over a decade

She lost 165 lbs.

The more consistent you are, the greater your chance of maintaining your weight loss. I lost 25 to 30 lbs. a year over several years. I felt like a tortoise at times, but I slowly kept losing weight. My eating habits, exercise regime and behavior evolved through small, gradual changes.

Tina Cole Campbell

Age:47 Height: 5'9"

Lives in: Snowdoun, Ala.

Job: Student

Was 500 lbs.

‘I’m still on a journey. Every day’s a new day’

In the past 30 years I’ve gained and lost 1,000 lbs. I was 180 lbs. when I graduated from high school. I went to nursing school and was a 250-lb. nurse. I started having blood pressure problems that put me into respiratory arrest in 2003, and I ended up on a lot of steroids. I was bedridden, and my then husband brought me fast food every night. I got up to 500 lbs. Four years later I was diagnosed with uterine cancer, and doctors told me I might not live to 40. When I beat my cancer, I decided to have gastric bypass surgery, but then my insurance changed, and it wasn’t covered. I told myself, You can do this. I started walking—first to the bathroom, then the mailbox. I began eating proteins, fruits and vegetables. I joined TOPS [a network of support groups], and they cheered me on every week, even if I gained. Now I’m healthier than I’ve ever been.

How I’ve kept a positive attitude

She lost 340 lbs.

Nonscale victories are precious to me. As I lost weight, being able to wear sizes I never even imagined I would fit in was a great reward.

I switched up my routine—I’d walk a new route or add more fiber to my diet—whenever weight loss started to feel stale. Anything to jump-start itagain.

Shelli Johnson

Age:49 Height: 5'8"

Lives in: Lake Wylie, S.C.

Job: Writer

Was 304 lbs.

‘I learned to eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m full’

From a young age, I didn’t want to deal with my emotions, so I ate. I had bulimia from 13 to age 30. I also tried every diet, but nothing worked. I hit my heaviest weight in 2001; I was over 300 lbs., but it didn’t feel real. I finally realized that it’s not about the food, it’s about how you think about the food. Now I look at food as fuel. I do intuitive eating, so I eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m full. I don’t have any off-limits foods—if I want a donut, I have a donut, but I’m usually satisfied after two bites. It’s so freeing. I used to calculate how many calories I could burn, but now I think about exercise in terms of stress relief and meditation. It took two years to get the pounds off, and I stay within a comfortable weight range. Before I didn’t want to be seen—now I’m willing to put myself out there.

How intuitive eating works for me

She lost 174 lbs.

I don’t weigh or measure anything. I couldn’t say how many calories I eat a day, and I probably eat a third of what I used to. It’s all about listening to what my body wants.

I stopped looking at weight loss as agonizing. Once I figured out what foods work for me, it didn’t feel hard at all.

Some weeks you don’t lose weight. I started charting my progress, and I realized my body went through cycles. If I gain, I don’t freak out.

Marsha Parker

Age: 42 Height: 5 ft.

Lives in: New York City

Job: Teacher and Ph.D. student

Was 290 lbs.

‘I have a healthier connection with food; it’s not as emotional’

I was a chunky kid, constantly gaining weight. I got pregnant in 2010 and had to support my daughter