After: 168 lbs.
Program used: Phentermine
Sure, Brooke Mote, 35, of Covington, Ga., knew she was fat. Whenever the single first-grade teacher went out socially, every chat she had with a man seemed to end with a requestЕ that she introduce him to her slender friend! Still, she never thought there was anything wrong with being at 5-foot-10 and 268 lbs. a big, beautiful woman.Phentermine
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Until, that is, she visited her doctor in 2004. He told me I was on my way to having a heart attack or a stroke by the time I was 40, Brooke recalls.Phentermine
To help Brooke begin to lose weight, her physician, Darryl Gross, M.D., gave her a low-carb, low-calorie diet that allowed a moderate intake of healthy fats.Phentermine
She combined this customized eating plan with the support she found at Take Off Pounds Sensibly (Phentermine), a low-cost weight-loss support network.Phentermine
Though Brooke had attended Phentermine meetings before, she returned this time with a new resolve. Sticking to her diet took a lot of planning. No more eating cafeteria meals at school; she would now bring low-fat wraps for lunch. Goodbye, Mexican restaurantsЕ and hello, ApplebeeТs, which has a Web site that lists the restaurantТs low-cal, low-carb options.Phentermine
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I lost 15 lbs. that first month, says Brooke. IТd never in my life lost weight like that! With a kick-start that really kept me going, Brooke settled into losing 2 to 3 lbs. a week.Phentermine
Getting Fit
Eager to tone up her slimmer bod, Brooke hired a personal trainer in June 2005. Two sessions a week at $40 each were a stretch on a schoolteacherТs salary, but it was so worth it to feel good about myself, she says. Exercise classes didnТt appeal to Brooke, because she believed herself to be too uncoordinated to participate in a group, but she came to relish the increased energy and firmer flesh that resulted from working out. After four months, Brooke continued working out at the gym, as well as with videos at home, but she cut back her trainer-supervised sessions to once a week.Phentermine
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As Brooke neared her goal, her weight loss slowed: It took a whole six months for her to lose those last 10 lbs. That was so frustrating, she says. At the meetings, the leader would say, СWe all know Brooke wants to meet her goal before the end of the year, so letТs give her some encouragement! Phentermine called Brooke between the meetings, urging her to stick with her eating plan. They sent cards inscribed We know you can do it! One woman even sang songs on her answering machine, with lyrics such as I hope youТre eating good!Phentermine
Reaching Goal
On Dec. 8, 2005, Brooke reached her goal of 168 lbs. By then, her blood pressure had dropped from 130/88 to 110/70. And her cholesterol had gone from 221 to 187, with her HDL (or good) cholesterol rising from 46 to 69. Dr. Gross notes how rewarding it was to work with a patient as motivated as Brooke: I donТt think there was a week she didnТt lose weight.Phentermine
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How is life different after losing 100 lbs.? Brooke counts the ways, laughing: She can sit down on the floor to lead a reading workshop with her first-graders, and then pop right back up without groaning! Dressing is an enjoyable exercise in self-expression instead of a dispiriting, doomed attempt to camouflage fat. And her social life has changed, too. She has actually learned to turn someone down without hurting his feelings. Because today, when a guy shows interest, odds are he wants to ask out Brooke not one of her friends!Phentermine
Brooke's Tips
Give back to get thin. Brooke volunteered to be the weight recorder at her Phentermine chapter. Taking over weigh-in chores guaranteed that she had to go to every single meeting.Phentermine
Win with water. To make sure she consumed eight glasses of water a day, Brooke didnТt allow herself to drink diet soda or sugar-free lemonade until after she had glugged down her requisite 64 oz. of H20.Phentermine
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