By Michelle C. Brooks
FamilySusan Kelly-Gates weighed 222 pounds at the beginning of her weight loss journey in February 2009.
FamilySusan Kelly-Gates now weighs 147 pounds. She changed her diet, exercises six days a week, and tries to avoid emotional eating.
Former weight: 222 pounds
Current weight: 147 pounds
Pounds lost: 75 pounds
Height: 5 feet 6 inches
Age: 47
How long she’s kept it off:She started in February 2009. “I didn’t want to just lose weight. Instead I wanted to be healthy and fit,” says Kelly-Gates.
Personal life: “I’m a senior recruiter for Wells Fargo and I live in Cumming with my husband and our four-legged children, a dog and a cat.”
Turning point: “I just woke up one day and looked in the mirror and didn’t like the person looking back at me,” she says. “I think, like so many women, I was settled into living everyday life with all the chores and responsibility of taking care of everything and everyone other than myself. … I deserved to be healthy and take care of me.”
Diet plan: Her day starts with a protein shake, oatmeal and egg whites. Lunch is a salad or chicken and broccoli. Dinner is always lean meat, veggies and a salad. “You have to eat to fuel your body and not eat to satisfy an emotion, and believe me that can be difficult at times,” she says.
Exercise routine:“I exercise six days a week,” she says. “My exercise routines vary from day-to-day and I think that is part of what has helped me to achieve the results that I’ve seen. Senergy Fitness is the training group at our gym … they have helped me to succeed in so many areas. My Polar [heart-rate] monitor allows me to track my calories burned as well as identify what zone I am training in … it helps me know if I need to increase my effort level or if I’m pushing too hard…”
Biggest challenge: “In November 2009, I had to have rotator cuff surgery. I was really concerned it would knock me out of the gym … instead, I found ways to still train and didn’t let my arm in a sling be an excuse for not continuing.”
How life has changed:“I’ve become much healthier than I was, my self- confidence has increased tremendously and that has helped me to have a better outlook on life and I feel I’m a much happier person. It’s hard to make big changes in your life and often times it’s easier to give up and accept things the way they are… I hope that by sharing my story it will inspire someone else to start their fitness journey.”
You know that weight management is all about calories in and calories out, so you set the treadmill for a 300 calorie workout so you can have that 300 calorie treat – Be careful! You are probably taking in more calories than you are burning. Cardio equipment is notorious for overestimating your calorie burn. In a study, the American Council on Exercise found that some machines can be off by as much as 25%. Machines that require you to punch in your weight, height, age and gender tend to give a better estimate, but it is still an estimate.
