Meet Brie

Brie before

Name: Brie Evans
Occupation: Soon to be certified Fitness Trainer & Life Coach
Goal: To lose 75 pounds
Wanted to Address: Emotional eating
Total Pounds Lost: 72!
Dress sizes Dropped: 6!
Old behaviors: Self medicating

I turned to food for everything. When I was grieving, I ate. When I was bored, I ate. Stressed out? You guessed it, I ate! I self medicated every possible emotion with food. I was the poster child of "emotional eating".

I rewarded myself with food. I celebrated with food. I ate out often. I indulged in high fat desserts and chips daily. I rationalized poor food choices by telling myself I was eating healthy meals most of the time. I've since learned that even those meals were 2 -3 times larger than they should have been.

Brie after

My Outlook On The Future Then
I vividly remember playing one of those question games with my siblings where you discuss personal issues and your outlook on life. We were sitting around the table, drinking wine, eating high calorie foods and the question was, "At what age do you think you are going to die?" I answered, "At 45".

A few months prior, I had a very real dream. I saw myself having a heart attack and dying. I saw my husband and my daughter having to carry on without me. I honestly and truly did not believe that I would be around for the long haul. Despite my dream, I was still not ready to take charge of my health.

How My Life Was
Aches, pains & automobiles
I had knee pain and my face turned red from walking so I drove everywhere. I didn't have any energy. I spent a lot of time denying my problems and hiding them from myself and others.

I remember an instance where I was at the playground with my daughter and she was at the top of a slide and got too scared to come down. I started to panic about what I was going to do because I was too big and out of shape to go up and get her.

Brie's Top Ten Tips For Sticking With It: Edit your diet. Only make changes to your eating you know you can live with forever. Make exercise non negotiable. Nothing comes between me and the gym barring severe illness. Surround yourself with supportive friends and family. Nothing can derail you faster than people trying to undermine your success. If you're struggling to find support in your family or current circle of friends, make new friends at the gym who share your fitness goals and turn to the forums. Collect presents often. Remember to continue to reward yourself for your accomplishments each and every day. Embrace cooking. Try new foods and recipes to keep things fun! A surprising side benefit for me was learning to cook all kinds of new recipes. My current favorites are Asian inspired dishes because they're naturally healthy and really flavorful. Reject old habits. When you're in maintenance, people have a tendency to tell you "not to worry" about your weight anymore. Resuming poor eating habits and skipping gym sessions will lead to weight gain. Set a shining example. Being a role model is a powerful motivator. My 3-year old is already talking about when she's old enough to come and work out with me. She does yoga and pilates with me at home and prefers salmon to greasy mac n'cheese. She knows how powerful and important it is to be healthy and strong. I don't want to let her down. I can't let her down. I also feel that way about my fellow forum members and friends. I don't want to let them down either. Keep challenging yourself physically. Raising the bar at the gym, trying new fitness routines, signing up for a new class and training for a race or fun walk all help keep you energized and excited. Feeling physically strong is so empowering! Make room for foods you love. I always budget calories for a dessert of some kind every day. If it's something decadent, I make sure that I eat very clean and healthy the whole day. Deprivation can lead to binge eating. Plan for natural disasters. Be mindful that it's very easy to slip back into old habits. Learn what triggers you to make poor choices. 5 pm is my danger time. I make sure that I have veggies on hand so if I need to eat, I have good, healthy options. I have a hard time making good choices when we eat out so we limit meals out to twice a month now.

Let's Eat!
I grew up in an Italian French family. The kitchen was the hub of the house and meals were the center of all social activity. My mother has always been very petite, very trim and very active. She never watched her diet but she ate healthy foods and has been the same size her whole life.

Like father like daughter
My father, on the other hand, struggled with weight his whole life which eventually led to a heart transplant in 2000. When I hit my teenage years, it became very apparent that I took after my father when it came to weight issues.

The Diet Coke Diet
High school marked the beginning of my yo-yo diet years. I'd go on starvation diets. I lived on diet coke and salads until I got down to the weight I wanted to be. When I reached my goal, I'd start eating "normally" again. Of course I always gained everything back and then some.

By the time I graduated college I was more than 20 pounds overweight. I gained 15 pounds a year. After my diet coke diet failed me one too many times, I vowed to never diet again. Instead, I'd make efforts to exercise. But I never changed my eating patterns. I was eating more than ever before. I continued to gain weight.

The Depths of Despair
The absolute low point of my life came after the unexpected death of our newborn son in 1999. I ballooned up to my all time high of 194 lbs. I'm only 5'3. In the midst of my grief and despair, I ate and ate and ate. My health and well being weren't even on my radar at that point in my life.

When I became pregnant again, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and was forced to follow the American Diabetes Association's eating plan. After our daughter was born, I lost over 30 pounds while breast feeding only to gain it all back once I stopped. Despite warnings from my doctors that I was at risk for developing adult onset diabetes, I quickly found myself back in the 190s.

Photo Op
The turning point for me happened when my daughter was 2 1/2 and we vacationed in Florida. I was absolutely mortified to see myself in the family pictures and video tapes. I looked and felt horrible. On the flight home, I read an article about fitness makeovers that sparked my interest. It got me thinking about my family health history and my own. I knew I needed to do something to make sure that I would be around to see my daughter grow up. Two days later, I saw my first episode of Cooking Thin. The message and philosophy resonated so strongly in me. Everything finally came together.

My Turn Around
With my husband's support, I began by walking in place in front of the TV while watching Cooking Thin. I immediately dusted off my food scale and measuring spoons and carefully doled out the high fat items in my cooking. I worked on getting a handle on portion sizes because I was determined not to eliminate any given food group from my diet or go without foods I loved. I did not want to fall into the trap of deprivation and starvation that I had followed in the past. I began keeping a food journal.

I started reducing unnecessary fats in the meals I was preparing. I upped my water intake. I made the switch to whole grain products. I got rid of most of the processed foods I was eating and found healthy substitutes. All these changes didn't happen over night but they did happen. Over the course of the next 6 months, I took many, many baby steps on the path to good health.

Friends In All The Right Places
I also discovered the Fan Forums. A new support system emerged. Next, I joined a gym and starting working out regularly doing both strength training and cardiovascular exercise. This was the first time in my life that I was eating well and exercising at the same time!

72 Pounds And 6 Dress Sizes Later…
My lifestyle modifications resulted in a 72 pound weight loss in just 8 months. I dropped from a size 16 down to twos and fours by following the Cooking Thin approach to health and weight loss.

I've seen great strides in my fitness level. When I joined the gym in December, I couldn't even jog 1 lap on the treadmill. By July I had run my first 5K and by November, I ran my first 10K.

I've now been maintaining my weight loss for 3/4 of a year and it feels great. I really feel like Kathleen has given me the tools to finally be successful in this journey. I couldn't have done it without her. I feel so passionately about my new life style that my goal is to become a personal trainer and then eventually a wellness coach. If I can do this, anyone can!

"I found that person hiding behind all those layers of sadness and pain all those years."
I have so much energy! Besides feeling better physically, I feel better emotionally and spiritually too. I have more self confidence. I'm more balanced and definitely less stressed out all the time.

I know that I'm doing everything in my power to take good care of myself. I owe it to my family and I owe it to myself to keep this up. Because my changes were small and gradual I know I can maintain my current weight and lifestyle forever!

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