Here are some of the changes she’s seen in her life
Even though Pierce had dropped 50 pounds, she doesn’t focus on her weight — she only weighs herself once every month or so. She prefers to focus on her measurements, and she’s seen the inches drop from her upper arms, chest, waist, hips and thighs.
Plus, she shared several other non-scale victories. She:
Here’s how she changed her diet
Pierce’s doctor recommended that she work with a nutritionist, but Pierce had mixed success: “We butted heads a lot.” She felt the nutritionist was pushing her toward gastric bypass surgery, which she didn’t want.
But there were some pluses. The nutritionist taught her that she was binge eating. “There were days where if I wasn’t hungry, I wouldn’t eat at all. Then the next day, I might have breakfast and then eat a whole bag of chips. I could eat a whole row of Oreos. And Girl Scout cookies? The box was a serving. I don’t do that anymore,” she said. Now, she:
Here’s what she eats in a typical day:
How this woman changed her life by walking every day
Here’s how she added physical activity to her routine
Pierce walks in her Chicago suburb, even when it’s raining or cold. “When I first started, it was frustrating because I was walking and being more physically active, but I wasn’t seeing any changes,” she said. “Now, I get excited about going for a walk. Something in my brain has changed. Walking is so much fun for me now — I can’t believe I could be addicted to it.”
For the past two months, she has been walking five miles every day. “Instead of adding distance, I compete with myself and try to walk a little bit faster than I did the day before,” she said. But she will occasionally mix in longer distances, such as an 8.4-mile walk home from her grandson’s football game. And she sometimes works out on a rowing machine to strengthen her upper body.
Here’s how she connects with support and stays accountable
Pierce joined the Start TODAY Facebook group in April. “I was watching TODAY Show, and Stephanie [Mansour] was on. She said, ‘You just have to do 20 minutes.’ I thought, ‘I have 20 minutes. I could put it in my planner and schedule it,’” she said. Now she participates in the monthly challenges that focus on things like stretching and strength training, modifying exercises like lunges when she needs to.
“Between the other people in the Facebook group and Stephanie’s motivational daily reflection, it’s helpful,” she said. “And I try to give kudos to whoever is struggling. Because it’s not easy. Change doesn’t come overnight. You have to do the work, and the journey isn’t easy. I’m on my way to my goal. Is it attainable within this year? That doesn’t even matter to me anymore. All that matters is what I do today.”
This content was originally published here.
