allDAY : Joy Fit Club

A look behind the 4th hour

Brian Balthazar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:10:00 GMT

Hello again! Today, for me, is an exciting day. In light of some of the questions and comments I received yesterday, here is some more inside info about how the show is put together, and some other personal background info. (Can you handle the suspense?)

Today is Tuesday, and I'm a little sleepy. My parents have come to visit this morning's show, and last night I took them out to dinner. That meant staying out past 9 pm, which, sadly, is usually my bedtime! So if the puffy eyes are a little more pronounced, well, now you know why! I'm such a rebel.

Almost all of us have some morning rituals that keep us awake during the initial early hours. Hoda takes her coffee black, Kathie Lee likes it with skim and Equal. But me, I'm a little hooked on a seductress known as Diet Coke. I swig at least two before 10 in the morning. I can't get enough. No one ever said I was a health nut! Don't even ask me how many I drink in a day. I'm a caffeine junkie.

Now to your questions: Viewer Asma from the United Kingdom watches the show online and she asks about how we organize the segments for the day. Well, Asma, one of the first things we consider when we plot out our segment order is the subject matter, the popularity of a guest or topic, and how much time we'd like to give it. Sometimes the restraints of the commercial structure will give a segment more time if it appears in the back half of the show rather than the first. Since the Joy Fit Club is so popular with viewers, we often like that in the first half, with the hope that it will keep people watching. Same goes with celebrities. Other times we'll put something in the back half because we need the time. (And of course, we continue to hope that people will keep watching!)

You'll notice that a cooking segment is almost always the last segment in the show. It's not that we don't like food! (Quite the contrary! The moment we go to a commercial we dive bomb the table.) It's generally because it's the "lightest" content, and it just feels like a natural way to close the show. Don't most parties usually end in the kitchen?

Asma also asks if I personally call the actors to come on the show. In fact, I couldn't book so many celebs without our senior producer of all things entertainment, Melissa Lonner. She's the equivalent of a rockstar here in the building. She manages to book all four hours of the show. She has met everyone in show business, and she could tell you some amazing stories. In some cases, I will work with a celebrity directly, or over the years, strike up a friendship with one. Joan Rivers is one such person. I once did a story for TODAY in which I helped her find some dates. WATCH THE VIDEO

We hit it off so big that we remained friends, and I have since spent Thanksgiving and other holidays at her home. You can't even imagine what that was like! She's a comedy legend! (I do standup comedy in my spare time, and she's an amazing icon to me.) The whole time I was there, I kept looking down at my plate, thinking "Holy cow, I'm eating at Joan Rivers' house! No way! No way! I can't believe I'm eating Thanksgiving Dinner at Joan Rivers' house!" Then, when I went to the bathroom, I was going "Holy cow, I'm in Joan Rivers' bathroom! No way! No way! I can't believe I'm in Joan Rivers' bathroom!"

After seeing so many famous people come on the show, you do actually become less starstruck, but today, I must admit, is an exception. I don't think I've been so excited about seeing a star like I am about Kermit and Miss Piggy. Besides being such an immense part of my childhood, they really represent an idyllic genre of television that seems so rare today. Truth is, I'm dying over meeting them. I will take pictures, I will get video, I don't care. I have no shame. Try and stop me. I want a picture of me smooching with Miss Piggy. I just do. WATCH THE SEGMENT

Another question I received was regarding how far in advance we book our segments ... the answer -- it depends! Sometimes, we will book something weeks in advance. (Celebrities plan their schedules early.) But in other cases, like TODAY -- not until the day before! One of our segments fell through yesterday, and we were forced to find a new one. I wonder if you'll be able to tell which ones had advance planning, and which one was put together at the last minute! I sincerely hope you can't tell.

"K" from Philly wants to know if I'm still single! Well, well, well, all I can say is I am incredibly flattered you asked, and am fairly certain that this must be a friend teasing me ... Yes?

Thanks to everyone who took the time to wish me luck. I'll answer more questions tomorrow. Keep writing!

What makes us change a lifetime of habits? Shock!

Jaclyn Levin — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:10:00 GMT

(From Katie B. Ciarcia)

Hi! My name is Katie, and I'm a 42-year-old small business manager from Monroe, Washington. Like everyone else, I’ve been searching for the magic potion on weight loss for 19 years. I’ve tried every weight loss diet plan in the books -- prescription pills and shakes -- but none of them worked for me. In desperation I even tried all of those expensive specialty exercise gimmicks seen on infomercials, with no success. And then, “success.” I lost 124 pounds in 17 months, going from an over-sized petite of 5’0” at 234 pounds to my current weight of 110 pounds.

My story goes like this. On my wedding day I weighed 98 pounds and maintained that for the first year of my marriage. Then I gave birth to my daughter in 1989 and started gaining weight continuously. My basic activity levels just seemed to drop to chasing diapers instead of my morning five-mile run.

As a result I started feeling sluggish and less motivated for high-activity pursuits. In fact, going out to eat at a fine “fattening” restaurant seemed the best form of recreation. Food became the pivot point of our family life with all the rest of my time tied up in the many hours of trying to take care of Samantha, my husband and a full-time job.

And if any of you know Filipinos, we love to cook and must have our social eatery gatherings! Ten or 15 of my friends and I would get together and we’d all cook enough to feed an army; especially the rice and lechon (roast pig). I often laughed with my husband that it all felt like a re-run of the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

So how did it happen? I don’t know. Every few months I’d look in the mirror and hate the reflection. I’d then rush around to find an innovative way to lose the weight, only to fail miserably after two or three weeks of intense effort and then start the cycle over. After nearly 18 years of this I’d ballooned from 98 pounds to 234. I’d become very disappointed in myself with low personal esteem and saw only a future based on high-blood prescriptions and diabetes like my mom.

What makes us change a lifetime of habits? Shock!

The fact that we can all look into a mirror each day and disavow the view says something for adaptivity, but when that impression is recorded for all prosperity, boy are we in trouble. I couldn’t hide from the view of myself in a video taping of my parent’s 50th anniversary. That made me face the absolute reality of how bad things had become. And perhaps my tears of frustration and personal shame finally gave me “absolute motivation”.

But what to do? I’d tried everything, even “fen-phen”. So I sat down and asked myself, “What was common to all of the plans?” The obvious answer -- diet and exercise. So I decided to bite the bullet and go for it. And this time all I had to do was think of that video to re-energize my motivation. I enrolled myself into the local gym and joined weight watchers simultaneously.

For the past 17 months (and even now) I’ve gotten up at 3:25 a.m. every morning for a brisk 90 minute workout at the gym, before the daily madhouse starts. It may sound crazy, but finding time to exercise when it doesn’t interfere with our busy day is the excuse we all use. I sure don’t have many excuses at that hour. Of course it wasn’t always easy. In the beginning I’d swear the gym’s floor was on a steep incline.

I also learned what to eat and not to eat, with critical emphasis based on portion size. Coupled with weekly support from my friends within the local Monroe Weight Watchers group, I was finally able to learn how to monitor and control my intake. And I lost weight.

These days I continue my exercise and watch the amount and type of food I eat. I stay away from fried foods, high fat, high sugar, etc., and try to maintain a balanced diet of white meats, fish and vegetables, along with many different types of fruits.

And I’d finally come to realize that the magic potion is really part of me and not from external sources. All I really needed was the personal motivation to combine careful portion control with consistent exercise. And 17 months later, I’m 124 pounds lighter, happier, more confident and off my blood pressure medications completely. I feel good.

Half my size after losing 200 pounds!

Jaclyn Levin — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:00:00 GMT

(From Shelley Napier)

Hi! My name is Shelley, I am a hairstylist from Wadsworth, Ohio and I have struggled with weight my whole life. Although I was chubby as a child, and heavy as a teenager, it wasn’t until my twenties when I gained most of my weight. At my heaviest I weighed 326 pounds. Some days I felt so self-conscious that it was hard for me to even get out of bed. Just trying to find clothes and getting dressed to go out was a challenge. I always felt like people were judging me based on my weight and couldn’t see past it to see who I was inside. I was so unhappy most of the time, which I think also made me develop a bad attitude. I used food to cope and whenever I felt happy, sad, bored or lonely, I would turn to food.

Before I changed my eating habits I would eat whatever, whenever. My weaknesses were fast food and sweets. A typical day for me would be to skip breakfast (or eat a breakfast pastry), indulge in a fast food meal for lunch, and then dinner would be pizza or Chinese takeout. And when I would order fast food, it had to be with everything. If I ordered a burger, I would put bacon and heavy sauces on top. I loved heavy sauces. And I would add a super-sized fries and soda – sometimes with chicken nuggets and a frostie. I would snack on chocolate bars at night.

The turning point for me came when I was thirty-one. My twenties had flown by, and I felt that I had wasted so much of my life heavy and unhappy and I did not want to spend the rest of my life being overweight. I work in a salon, so it is very important for me to look and feel good about myself.

I had tried losing weight in the past – one time I even lost seventy-five pounds. However, it only took six months for me to put the weight back on, and it made me feel miserable. I felt worse than I had felt before I had ever lost a pound.

Then, I decided to try Slim-Fast and to start walking. I lost the first 150 pounds using the Slim-Fast plan. I stayed on it for a year and a half. I love sweets, and I liked the way it tasted, so I didn’t get tired of it. I would usually have a shake for breakfast, a bar for lunch, and then a healthy, portion-controlled dinner of fish, chicken or pasta with lots of veggies. I would add a couple of healthy snacks during the day such as boiled eggs, carrots or a couple of crackers. My nighttime snack was usually a low-calorie popsicle or something similar.

After losing 150 pounds, I switched to back to regular food and lost another fifty pounds. Today, my diet consists of oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, a salad for lunch and chicken or fish and veggies for dinner. I always snack in between on fruit and vegetables. The most important thing for me is portion control. I still enjoy food – and even splurge sometimes – but everything in moderation. When I go out for dinner, I will split dessert. I just try to make smarter choices.

When I first started with my exercise program, I started with about ten to fifteen minutes a day and kept adding minutes until I worked my way up to thirty minutes. At one point I was working out about forty or forty-five minutes, but that was hard for my to stick to, so I brought it back down to thirty. It wasn’t until I lost 100 pounds that I started running. I started slowly, and eventually I was running the full thirty minutes!

I was running thirty minutes, seven days a week for about a year, when an injury forced me to cut my workout down. Now, I have made peace with walking thirty minutes five days a week. When I first started losing weight, I was also doing weight training, but currently I do not do any weight training.

My advice is that it’s not about dieting – but rather about making permanent changes in your life. Find a program that fits your lifestyle and stick with it long enough to see some results. Plan meals in advance and always be prepared. This has been a long, difficult journey, but after losing 206 pounds, I know that it was definitely worth all of the hard work. Getting started was the hardest part. If you can just get started and believe in yourself, you can do it. Some days you might want to just pull your hair out and eat a whole bag of cookies, but it’s just not worth it. If I can do it, you can do it too.

Keeping Off the Weight Together

Dan Fleschner — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:45:00 GMT

(From Tina and Tim Morris, Joy Fit Club members)

Tina’s Story:

Hi, my name is Tina Morris. I am almost 37 years old and have been overweight for the last 16 years. Growing up I was one of those kids that could eat anything I wanted and never had to worry about my weight. I could eat entire pizzas by myself (and I am not talking personal or small size, either) and I even had a restaurant cut me off because I was eating too much all-you-can eat prime rib!

I was probably best known for my sweet tooth, though. I could eat candy bar after candy bar and if there was a cake in the house it would be gone by the end of the day. I could also eat nearly a whole half-gallon of ice cream in one sitting.

Probably one of the things that grossed people out the most was that I would often grab a container of cake frosting and eat straight from the container! I often woke up craving sweets and it wouldn’t be unusual to eat spoonfuls of ice cream or frosting as soon as I woke up!

Anyway, my family always warned me that my eating habits would catch up with me as I got older. I honestly thought I would be one of those rare people who would be able to eat whatever they wanted and I would never have to pay for it. Well, it turns out the family was right.

Tim and I started dating when I was a junior in high school. Food was at the center of all our dates. We live in a small town and at that time we didn’t have a lot of different restaurant options to choose from. So, we almost always ended up eating either pizza or fast food.

I first started noticing my weight gain during my freshman year of college. I chalked it up to the “Freshman 10” and just figured that would be the worst of it and I could always get it back off fairly easy if I tried. By the time I graduated college I was definitely “chubby” and becoming self-conscious about my appearance.

Tim and I were married immediately after I graduated college and we had a small outdoor wedding. It was a beautiful wedding, but I can remember being really disappointed because I didn’t feel skinny enough to wear a formal wedding dress. Instead, I opted for a long lace skirt with a fitted jacket. The wedding was not a formal affair and the dress I wore fit the mood, but I still wish I had worn the dress of my dreams.

The bigger I got, the less I wanted to socialize. It got so bad that I would purposely avoid people in a store who had not seen me since my weight gain. I did not go to my 10-year high school reunion because I was so humiliated by the way I looked.

Over six years of dating and 15 years of marriage (yes, that adds up to 21 years!), Tim and I have put the weight on together…with Tim’s peak weight being 360 pounds and mine 286 pounds. There were a few fad diets along the way, but nothing that we could stick to long term. We always talked about losing the weight but never did anything. We were always saying, “We will do it Monday.” Of course Monday rolled around and nothing changed.

Even though I loved to collect recipes, we rarely ate at home. We were always either too tired or too busy and I hated cleaning up the mess! We were eating out 5-6 days a week...sometimes all three meals!

Things eventually felt so hopeless for us that we even considered gastric bypass surgery. We had heard horror stories of people who had complications from the surgery so we never seriously pursued it. Plus, we knew deep down it was not a magic cure and that we still needed to learn how to eat.

The turning point for me was when Tim started coming home and complaining about how bad he felt or that he was having chest pains. He would even go so far as to say he felt like he was going to die. These kinds of comments had become so frequent they were happening on a daily basis. Even though I should have been afraid for own health, it took my concern for him to actually do something about it.

When my employer, RR Donnelley, announced they had partnered with Weight Watchers to provide At Work meetings, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to make a change. I went home and told Tim that I was tired of talking about losing weight and I wanted to do something because I didn’t want to die and I didn’t want to lose him. I told him that I could go to the meetings at work and come home and share what I learned with him and we could do this together. What was it going to hurt?

I started going to Weight Watchers meetings in September 2006. I was really focused right from the beginning and Tim was following along pretty well, but he was not as gung-ho as I was. In December 2006 I had lost almost 35 pounds and Tim started noticing that I was losing a lot faster than he was. I really think he believed since he was a guy, he wouldn’t have to be as strict as me. After he started to notice the change in me, he really got on board.

I currently weigh 162 pounds. I would like to get down to 155 and concentrate on my trouble spots like tummy, arms and thighs. Tim and I have made some huge lifestyle changes over the last year to get to this point. Today, Tim and I cook together and make time to eat at home six days a week. And because I love new recipes, we try something new about three times a week.

We have gotten really good at adapting our recipes and eating healthier versions of our favorite food. We have never felt like we have been deprived of any food and still have a splurge every once in a while. But instead of splurging the whole day, we splurge on one thing and try to do it only once a week.

We also track our food on a log and exercise together. The food log really opened our eyes to how bad we were eating before.

I have heard conflicting opinions on this subject, but we weigh on a daily basis. We feel this keeps us reined in and focused. We also do not drink diet sodas very much and drink lots of water instead. I keep a PUR water pitcher on my desk so I have filtered water handy all day long.

We made going to the local farmer’s market part of our weekly routine this past summer and really enjoyed ourselves there. We also grew a garden ourselves this year (really Tim did all the work, I just ate it). We had lots of corn, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and habaneras!

Tim worked so hard and babied those veggies so much. They were so beautiful and so much fun to eat! I am trying to talk him into growing asparagus and strawberries (for me) next year.

The holidays will soon be here again, and I will cook Thanksgiving dinner at our house like I have done for several years now. I remember being so proud of myself last year because I cooked dinner and managed to still lose weight! I still had my favorites by just scaling down the fat and did not feel deprived at all!

My sister, who is my biggest cheerleader (besides Tim, of course), and brother-in-law, are extremely health conscious and have suggested that instead of lazing around the day after Thanksgiving and eating leftovers we should go hiking! I think that will be a great new tradition!

Our family, friends and co-workers have been so supportive and we have come a long way with their encouragement and praise. Of course I could not have done this without Tim, who is the most wonderful husband and friend to me. I honestly could not have asked for a better husband and I am so lucky to have been able to do this with him...I am truly blessed.

We hope that our story will help inspire someone else out there to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Just remember you don’t have to make all the changes at once and you don’t have to be hungry! If you allow yourself to go hungry, your body will hold onto that fat and you risk wanting to binge.

Also remember you are NEVER alone in this struggle! I wish all of you the best…

By the way, I’m not going to miss my 20-year high school reunion in 2008!

Tim’s Story:

My name is Tim Morris and will be 42 years old in a couple of months. I have lost 119 pounds. At my heaviest I weighed 360 pounds and have lost 106 pounds since September 2006.

I can remember growing up as a child and visiting the store to buy blue jeans with my mother. It was not a pleasant experience and I can still here the saleslady telling my mother, “The husky jeans are upstairs.”

I also remember trying out for midget football and weighing too much to play in the league that my friends played in. Instead, I had to play in another league.

In high school, I grew a little taller and got a little leaner during my freshman and sophomore years. I stayed that way through high school, but I refused to eat breakfast and lunch for fear of getting fat. I truly think this was the beginning of my bad eating habits.

I really started to gain weight after I quit college and went to work. I was active at my job, but still eating large amounts of food and not exercising.

The heavier I became, the more I avoided people because I didn’t want someone I had not seen for a while make a comment about my weight (which happened quite a bit).

I have many wonderful friends and family whom I love very much. But sometimes even those that love you can do and say things that can be very hurtful.

An incident that I will never forget happened at work. Now, keep in mind that I work for a great company in the natural gas industry and the people I work with are like my second family.

One morning before work, my co-workers and I were sitting around waiting to go home and all of a sudden the metal chair I was sitting on buckled, and down I went. Of course I jumped and laughed along with everybody else like it was funny. I took the chair and put it outside.

The next morning I walked in the building and there sat the chair with my name written on the back with a magic marker. I ignored it and just walked on by. I knew I was going to have to watch where I sat down from then on so I didn’t have that happen again.

Despite the hurtful things that have been said and done to me because of my weight, I have tried to turn them around and make my life more positive. I realized my friends and family wanted me to be healthy but they just delivered the message in an abrasive manner.

I also remember the concerned friends who have had positive things to say, too. The friends who have had health problems themselves and tell me, “Take care of yourself. If you have your health you have everything.”

Speaking of health, I lost both of my wonderful parents to cancer. My father had bladder cancer and my mother died from breast cancer. My mother also had the beginning stages of diabetes and struggled with her weight most of her adult life. The doctor told me several years ago that I would almost definitely be a diabetic if I didn’t do something right away to lose the weight.

Although diabetes has not set in, I did begin feeling awful in the mornings when I woke up and I was feeling bad while I was at work, too. My feet hurt, my knees hurt, my lower back hurt, and my chest hurt! Over the years I had tried many diets, but nothing worked because it was not a plan that I could live with.

Tina and I had to get in the right frame of mind and do something that would last the rest of our lives.

So, as Tina started following the Weight Watchers plan I decided to join her. Even though I didn’t attend the meetings, I followed her lead. I didn’t track my food intake in the beginning. The first day I did I was shocked by how much food I was eating. I am not always diligent about the record keeping, but when I hit a plateau I pull out my notebook and start writing!

The scales will soon start moving. We have also learned that we don’t have to eat until we are miserably full and we don’t have to go hungry. There is a middle ground and that is what we aim for now.

After I began to be more comfortable with my healthy eating habits, I started to concentrate on becoming more active. We started out walking every night with our dogs, but I developed some pain in my Achilles' tendon and the walking became very painful. So I switched to bike riding and doing Pilates with my wife. It surprised me that I actually enjoy the Pilates. My advice would be to try something different and find something that works for you. I have taken small steps to get where I am today. So, I guess you could say I had to crawl before I could walk.

I understand now that I am responsible for my weight and myself. Nobody else decides what I eat but me. Never let anyone tell you that you can’t lose the weight or that you can’t be healthier because you can. It is never too late to make healthier decisions.

I have 50 or 60 more pounds to go and I will be challenged as winter approaches since I will not be able to ride my bike as much. The holidays will also be a struggle and I will allow myself a few indulgences, but I will also think about what I will do the next day to get back on track. Winter brings the urge to eat comfort foods. So I am going to rise to the challenge of finding healthier substitutes for those foods.

I am fortunate to have the love of my life by my side and we are able to share this journey together. She is my catalyst and my coach. If someone like me can do this anybody can. KEEP FIGHTING! You are not by yourself…ever.

A typical day of eating before I started making healthier choices was:

Breakfast 2 sausage McGriddles

Mid-morning snack 2 doughnuts and soda

Lunch Triple cheeseburger, super sized french fries, super sized
soda, leftover doughnuts from morning snack

Mid-afternoon snack Snack cake and soda

Dinner Fried chicken from KFC

Bedtime snack Potato chips and ice cream

Now I eat:

Breakfast ½ cup Fiber One cereal with sliced banana and ½ cup skim milk, coffee and large glass of water

Mid-afternoon snack Apple

Lunch Turkey sandwich on light wheat bread, All Bran crackers, apple and water

Mid-day snack Banana

Dinner Baked fish (Mahi Mahi, Salmon, or sautéed shrimp), brown rice, grilled asparagus

TV Time Barq’s Diet Root Beer in a glass with crushed ice and Weight Watchers ice cream bar. I now eat my nightly snack several hours before going to bed.

Learn more about the Joy Fit Club.

Personal tragedy inspires 100-pound weight loss

Jaclyn Levin — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:07:00 GMT

(From Carolyn Leonard, Joy Fit Club member)

My name is Carolyn Leonard and I am a 57-year-old widow living in Tampa, Florida. I have been heavy most of my life. Looking back at family photos, my weight problem started in the third grade. I grew up in a Polish/German household in Baltimore where food was always on the table and I was encouraged to “clean your plate”. So I did. And unfortunately, I took that food mentality to adulthood.

As a teenager, I was always the funny one since I felt that making people laugh would keep them from looking at my size. I was a size 20 in high school. I was popular but enjoyed the safety of socializing with groups.

I met the love of my life when I was 18. We met at work and starting dating. After two years, we were married. Living in Baltimore, we were big fans of the Baltimore Orioles and the Baltimore Colts. We were also big fans of eating out. We did it a lot and I gained even more weight until I reached my highest weight of 252. To be honest, my weight never really bothered my husband so it didn’t bother me. When I was pregnant with our son, Mark, I actually lost weight. I was dealing with morning sickness and couldn’t tolerate certain rich and greasy foods. While most women gain weight, I lost 35 pounds. I thought, finally the secret to weight loss for me…..stay pregnant!!!!!!

Over the years, I lost and gained weight. I always thought of a diet as depriving myself and my husband would always tell me that my weight didn’t matter and he loved me. We both started developing health problems that were weight related but continued eating the wrong foods. We were both meat and potato eaters, dessert eaters and what we referred to as “prime time” eaters – from 8:00 pm to bedtime.

In April 2005, we decided to start eating healthy foods. I had been diagnosed with Type II diabetes in 1990 and was taking oral medications. I was also taking medication for high blood pressure and pain. Simply walking was painful for me. All of my medications were for problems caused by my excessive weight.

On the morning of October 6, 2005, my life changed forever. Richard and I were excited about our upcoming vacation. We were going to California for his birthday on October 16th to spend a week as “tacky tourists” and celebrate our 35th anniversary early (November 28th), with tickets to see our favorite rock group, the Eagles. As he was preparing to leave for work, he turned around and told me that he loved me. I responded and then heard him fall. He died in my arms before the paramedics arrived. The cause of death was a massive heart attack. Our poor eating habits contributed to his untimely death.

For three months I was in a fog. I wrote post it notes that I carried with me that read, “Breath in and out” “brush hair and teeth”. Somehow I made it through our wedding anniversary in November and the Christmas holidays. I just don’t remember how.

During this time, I realized that I needed to change my diet and lifestyle. I wanted to be here for my son, daughter-in-law and two beautiful grandchildren. I started a journal to document what I ate, when and why. It was pretty eye opening. I made minor changes.

First, I gave up fried foods. I started to feel better. Next, desserts. It was tough giving up my peanut butter and chocolate ice cream. But when I read the label, the fat content was frightening. Next, the prime time eating had to change. So I stopped buying the foods that were packing on the pounds. If it’s not in the house, you’re not going to eat it. I had a friend tell me that it was easy for me since I live alone. But I reminded her that if it’s bad for her, it’s bad for her family. So why buy it. Going to the corner convenience store at 9 pm in your pajamas for that bag of potato chips or pint of ice cream won’t happen. Trust me. My prime time snacking now consists of single servings of low fat popcorn, single serving of pretzels or my chocolate fix – two dark chocolate miniatures. I still need my chocolate but I limit it to two pieces, not a bag and not every night.

This Saturday marked two years since my husband died. Today, I weigh 155. I have gone from a size 24 to a size 14. Finally, I’m the average American woman, and it only took me 57 years to get here. My goal is 138 and size 10. I’m realistic and I know that it will take me another four months to lose the last 17 pounds but it will happen. I have not gained any of the weight that I’ve lost.

My exercise routine consists of walking, cleaning and the elliptical machine. I walk every day. During my breaks, lunch and after work. While coworkers try to park as close to the office as possible, I park at the back of the lot. I’m known for cleaning and dancing. I clean one room every day while listening to – who else – the Eagles. Also, I spend 30 minutes a day on the elliptical machine. Ten minutes three times a day.

Being 57, the metabolism slows down and it is harder to lose weight. I have reached several plateaus and adjusted my calorie intake while increasing my exercise. But I’m a realist and I’m not going to start an exercise program that I can’t continue. I do enjoying shopping at the mall and park at the opposite end of my favorite department store so I have to walk the entire mall to return to my car.

My daily menu now looks like this:

Breakfast

Low fat cereal, granola or yogurt with fruit, coffee and juice

Lunch

Green salad with turkey, chicken, beef or fish

Afternoon Snack

100-calorie pack, pretzels or almonds (one serving)

Dinner

Fish, chicken, pork or turkey w/baked potato or rice and vegetables.

Total daily calorie intake 1200

I have definitely reduced the fat in my diet and eat lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. Also, I drink 5-16 ounce bottles of water in addition to unsweetened tea and my nightly before bed treat of hot green tea with fresh ginger.

The best part of losing the weight is that I am now off all medications. The money that I once spent on co-pays for prescriptions is now spent on beautiful new clothes. My doctor calls me her poster child. I’m healthier now and feel great. I need that energy to keep up with my grandchildren.

Everyday I think about how I wish we had started losing weight sooner. The motivation for my change was the death of my beloved husband. I hope that my story motivates someone to make the change NOW. Let ME be your motivation. I’m 57 years old. It’s NEVER TOO LATE. Start today. Don’t DIEt – LIVEit. I’ll see you at the mall.

For more on Carolyn's story and her fellow members of the Joy Fit Club, click here.

How I lost 162 pounds in 16 months

Jen Brown — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:00:00 GMT

Hello, I’m Jodi, a 41-year-old married mother of three.

I had been overweight since the age of 10 and tried numerous diets for 25 years. Losing a few pounds and then gaining those back plus more was a common occurrence. Add those extra pounds up over 25 years and that equals an obese person. I was at the point of believing that it was truly impossible for me to lose even 10 pounds, not to mention a miracle if I ever lost enough weight to reach my goal. When I read a magazine article or watched a television show that featured an individual who lost an enormous amount of weight, I thought that only happens to “other people;” it would never happen to me. I had given up hope.

Jodi, right, had given up hope of losing weight

Then “that” funeral – the one that made me realize that I had to find that hope again because not only was being overweight uncomfortable, it was life threatening, a thought I had avoided for my entire life. At the funeral I witnessed a 17-year-old boy looking into the casket of his mother. She was overweight too. I looked at myself and knew that I was carrying more extra weight on my body than she was. My heart felt fine, but I’m sure hers did too…until it was too late. Then I thought of my three children having to be in the same situation as her son. I realized a change had to be made, and soon.

You've got to believe
First, I learned to believe in myself and know I would succeed. I decided to change my lifestyle, as I knew diets just didn’t work for me. Instead of following any written plans, I decided to simply eat healthier by consuming good foods I could buy at the local store. I listened to my conscience instead of trying to ignore it like I had done in the past. It sounds simple but why should it be complex? Complex doesn’t equal success, as I had found through the years. Three healthy meals a day, keeping the calorie content around 350 per meal worked for me.

I needed to find my biggest weakness since that was a big contributing factor to my extra weight. Eating before bed was my biggest weakness, and I knew that if I did not allow myself something at that time, this lifestyle change wouldn’t last longer than a week or two. I craved salty items so I found that a bag of low-fat microwave popcorn or a small bowl of low-fat pretzels curbed my cravings. Yes, carrot sticks or celery would’ve been a healthier choice, but I’ve “been there, done that” before. For me, they were very boring, which resulted in unhealthy spur-of-the-moment food choices after a week or so.

A plan fit for me
This was a lifestyle change so it had to fit my life. Allowing myself to occasionally go to fast food restaurants and have cake/ice cream at birthday parties were other factors that contributed to my success. When my children and I visited a fast food restaurant I knew what items I could consume: a small burger plus a few fries (a few tastes the same as 20!). At their birthday parties I had the smallest piece of cake. If I would have never allowed myself to do this, I would have focused on not being able to have it, felt sorry for myself and splurged when no one was watching.

I also drank more water and enjoyed a couple cups of coffee in the morning, and still do. Green tea, hot or cold, with artificial sweetener and lemon is also a favorite beverage of mine.
One thing I need to mention is that I didn’t weigh myself often. Losing 2 to 3 pounds a week was a healthy loss, so if I weighed myself every day would I see any measurable results? Not really, maybe a few ouncesPlus, when I did weigh myself every three months or so, I saw a 30-pound weight loss. That was very measurable!

I realized that I needed to burn the fat off with some form of exercise (a word I hated!). But I couldn’t spend money on fancy equipment and didn’t want to join a gym. (Wearing spandex at size 24 is NOT what I wanted!) So I decided to walk. I didn’t want to walk too far because then I might dread doing it, so I kept the route short at 1.5 miles. Walking briskly while imagining my house was on fire with my children inside and having to get to them is what kept up my pace. I did this every day, NO EXCUSES! If it was raining, I used an umbrella. If it was cold, I wore a coat. If I was too tired, I simply relaxed when I was finished.

Success!
My prize was my 162-pound weight loss! Going from a size 24 to a size 6 is worth millions to me! In fact, I can’t think of one item I could purchase that would give me as much happiness as being thin!

Jodi with her father this summer

I’m real, a real person who was overweight for 25 years and lost 162 pounds in 16 months by eating healthy foods, walking once each day and believing in herself! It’s do-able! I did it and so can you!

Can Mandy maintain after losing 170 pounds?

Jen Brown — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:04:00 GMT

Mandy Muniz, the first member of the Joy Fit Club, lost over 170 pounds in just over a year and is sharing her journey with TODAY. TODAY nutritionist Joy Bauer talked to Mandy about her current lifestyle and then gave her assessment of Mandy's chance of successfully keeping the weight off....

Joy Bauer: While losing, did you ever fall off the wagon and if yes, how did you motivate yourself to get back on your weight loss plan?

Mandy: Occasionally, I would go with friends and family out to eat and have some extra wine or a dessert, but I never got back into binging. What kept me going? For one, the accountability of weighing in three times a week with a counselor. There was no time to cheat. I’m traditionally a people pleaser and loved the praise when I did well (each visit, I’d show my counselor my food logs and step on the scale). The last thing I wanted was a negative session. And I never cancelled or postponed a meeting… partly because of monetary incentive… LA Weight Loss Center offered to give me back half my start up money (about $320) if I didn’t miss one single meeting.

Joy Bauer: In the past, you say you thought about food 24/7. Do you still have an intense relationship with food?

Mandy: Yes… you can definitely say that. I’m still focused on food but now it’s all about health. I do a lot of planning, thinking ahead, and continue to log my food and exercise on a daily basis.

Joy Bauer: Do you ever allow yourself to indulge in old favorites?

Mandy: Yes, sometimes….about twice per month. I love sweets! Chocolate Mousse.

Joy Bauer: Do you have “personal trigger foods” .... foods that are off limits because once you start eating you cannot stop?

Mandy: YES….Any sweet or dessert that’s not personally portioned or measured out. In other words, if I measure out half cup scoop of ice cream, I’m in complete control. BUT once I dip my spoon into the large container I’m in big trouble. The same goes for pastries, cookies and cake.

Joy Bauer: A lot of people think that once they lose weight they can loosen up and be much more liberal with their food plan. BUT I can see from your portion controlled, healthy menu that you’ve figured out this is a lifelong commitment.

Mandy: Absolutely! I know firsthand that I’ll gain weight if I’m not careful with my food choices. It’s happened and it makes me nervous. This is a lifelong commitment, but well worth it the payoff.

I’ve learned that when I really splurge, … I swell up, retain water, feel lethargic, heavy and can gain up to 14 pounds (in one day!). Obviously it’s a lot of water weight, but it still makes me feel horrible. It’s crazy to think I used to eat like that everyday.

It only happens occasionally….the key for me is to not let it snowball into several days. Instead, I shake it off the next morning and start right back on track.

Joy Bauer: What gives you the day-to-day will power to stick with it?

Mandy: How terrific I feel! Plus the accountability of the scale. I weigh myself every morning – and it’s my reality check.

Joy Bauer: Have you thought about having kids? After losing such an amazing amount of weight, does the idea of gaining weight for a pregnancy get you nervous?

Mandy: It does. I didn’t want to get pregnant when I was so heavy. I knew that it would be dangerous for both me and the baby. Now that I’m thin, I’d like to enjoy my new body for a while…. But eventually plan for a family and yes, the weight gain makes me a bit nervous. Although, I’ll work hard to be super careful and gain an appropriate amount.

Joy’s thoughts on Mandy's current menu:
In terms of her new menu, she’s found a great rhythm that works for her.
It’s about 1600-1800 calories, and combines appropriate portions of high quality carbohydrate and lean protein at each meal. This plan enables Mandy to maintain her exercise level, socialize, dine out, and enjoy a glass of wine and even low-fat ice cream. She also allows herself a splurge twice a month – but is careful to not let it snowball. Because her personality needs control, measuring and pre-portioning her food helps keep her focused (she no longer counts calories). She definitely thrives on the private accountability of her scale, as well as logging her food and exercise each day.

How I maintain my figure after losing 170 pounds

Jen Brown — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:00:00 GMT

High school drama teacher Mandy Muniz lost over 170 pounds in just over a year. This is her daily maintenance routine...

5:00 AM - Get up. Take a multi vitamin. Eat a hard boiled egg. Drink an 8 oz glass of water.

5:10-6:00 AM - Ride stationary bike on varied settings totaling approximately 7-8 miles for 50 minutes. Drink a 16 oz glass of water. (I added my exercise routine after I had already started to lose weight with LA Weight Loss. With LA, I was losing weight without exercise but gained energy so I started this program. I started at 10 minutes every other day and over the course of weight loss and stabilization I worked up to my current routine. They even customized my program once I started losing weight.)

6:00-7:00 AM - Work out to Denise Austin’s Fit and Light or Daily Workout on Lifetime for 30 minutes. Work out to celebrity trainers on My Workout Powered by Pod Fitness.com. Workouts consist of combinations of Yoga, Pilates and Cardio-Strength/Interval Training with weights, kickboxing, step aerobics, toning and stretching. (The workout changes each day to target different areas of the body. Drink 16 oz glass of water).

7:00 AM - Drink a cup of caffeine-free herbal tea with Splenda. Eat a slice of toast with margarine, an apple sprinkled with cinnamon and Splenda and an 8 oz glass of fat free milk. Drink another glass of 8 oz water.

8:00 AM - Leave for work

8:45-9:39 AM - Teach 1st period then eat my LA Lite Bar and drink a 8 oz glass water

9:45-10:34 AM - Teach 2nd period

10:40-11:29 AM - Teach 3rd period

11:35 AM-12:24 PM - Conference period. Eat a snack (i.e. handful of almonds) and a 16oz glass of water. If I finish all work, I take a walk around the campus.

12:30- 1:19 PM - Teach 5th period and drink an 8-16 oz glass of water.

1:25-2:14 PM - Lunch period- Eat a spinach salad which includes turkey and tomatoes with fat free dressing. Also eat a piece of bread and an orange. Drink a 8-16 oz glass of water

2:20-3:09 PM - Teach 7th period and drink an 8-16 oz glass of water

3:15-4:05 PM - Teach 8th period and drink an 8-16 oz glass of water

4:05 PM - Eat snack, piece of bread with margarine

4:15-6:15 PM - Rehearse Play with students and drink an 8-16 oz glass of water

6:30 PM - Home preparing dinner

7:00 PM - Eat dinner- 6 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast with cooked squash and baby carrots. For dessert, an 8 oz light and fit yogurt with a peach. Drink 8-16 oz glass of water.

8:00 PM - Pack lunch for the next day and clean kitchen.

9:00 PM - Drink a cup of caffeine free herbal tea with Splenda and watch news.

9:30 -10 PM - Go to bed.

Life after losing 170 pounds

Jen Brown — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:07:00 GMT

Mandy Muniz is documenting her weight loss journey with Joy's Fit Club on TODAY. After years of living an unhealthy lifestyle, she went from a size 24 to a size 2 in just over a year. Her life changed immensley...

I know I will stay faithful to this healthy lifestyle because I feel so much better. My confidence is up, my willingness to try outdoor activities has increased and I am so excited about the changes in my health. My blood pressure, cholesterol and risk factors are all reduced, and I am in the healthy category for patients. I am eager to make my yearly exam because I know the report will be excellent.

So many changes have come from the weight loss. I was recently asked to speak at a Theatre conference at the University of Texas and many instructors commented on the change in my appearance and vitality. People who had never heard me speak before were impressed by my lessons and the physical activities I was able to demonstrate. I have received several calls from people wanting to hire me to come and teach workshops for their students. I have also re-entered the professional acting world. With my new look, I am playing younger roles and I have more opportunity to be cast.

My students are thrilled with the change in their teacher. They constantly call me an “inspiration” and enjoy having me up and participating in the class activities. I encourage them to move and stay healthy through eating right and exercising. My co-workers have been inspired and several of them have joined the program. They stop me in the hall to ask about cooking or exercise tips and we all carry our large bottles of water to stay hydrated through the day.

My idea of fun with my friends and family has also changed dramatically. I can shop with my mother who has always been thin, and I am not embarrassed to ask friends to go shopping with me because I know we can go to the same stores and I will be proud to step out of the dressing room and show off the outfits. This summer my husband and I visited friends in New Mexico and where before the weight loss, my focus for the trip would have been eating and sleeping, this time I was ready to experience the adventure of the trip. We hiked two petroglyph sites, played in the sand dunes of White Sands and toured Carlsbad Caverns. I remember thinking during the whole trip, “the old me couldn’t have done these things- look what I was missing out on!”

I was so inspired by the trip and all the new things I had experienced that I looked into passes to all the national and state parks here in Texas. Since we have been back, my husband and I have hiked Government Canyon and Enchanted Rock here in Texas. It is great for us to be able to connect and enjoy outdoor activities and wildlife together. I am so grateful for this weight loss, and I look at it as a second chance at life.

I feel like nothing stands in my way. There are no excuses. I am free to live my life, enjoy the world and all the activities it has to offer and I have peace of mind knowing that I am healthy and am relaxed in knowing I have brought balance to my life. The plan was always simple to follow and made sense. I feel healthy and educated about the food and lifestyle choices I have and I feel confident in knowing that I have created a solid foundation that will keep my weight under control and my body in shape. With a healthy body, I am more motivated than ever to pursue my goals and make the most of my life.

Want to know how Mandy maintains her weight? Check back tomorrow for her secrets.

Going from size 24 to 2 was 'easy'

Jen Brown — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 11:00:00 GMT

Mandy Muniz is chronicalling her weight loss journey as part of TODAY's Fit Club.

Yesterday she wrote about hitting rock bottom when she realized she was 5'5'', 298.6 pounds. She decided it was time to change her life...

I felt awful and ashamed, and knew I had to do something. I looked at the card for the gastric bypass clinic, but I just couldn’t think of trying the surgery without fully committing to a diet and exercise plan first. I had seen ads for L.A. Weight loss on TV and knew that the program involved real food so I decided to try it. I was almost crying as I steadied my defense mechanism in order to call L.A. Weight loss. At 293.8 pounds, talking about my weight was difficult and I remember uncomfortably laughing when the woman at the Bandera Center asked me how much weight I wanted to lose. I was pretty sure she was going to say, “You’re too heavy, you need to see a doctor about surgery.” Getting ready for her response, I chuckled and said 100 pounds. I was taken aback by her response : “Ok, come on in and let’s get started.”

The first week I couldn’t believe the energy I felt, and the ease at which I took to the program. I was eating more food than before and watching the weight come off quickly. People noticed right away that my attitude was more positive, and I found myself eager to try new things that contributed to an active lifestyle. I started walking, riding a stationary bike and even jogging around campus to run errands between my classes. It quickly became apparent to me that my lifestyle was adjusting. I started to love the smell and look of fresh fruits and vegetables, and I started to really be turned off by the look and smell of the fatty fast foods I used to eat with frequency. I learned to make healthy meals quickly and with my new energy, I was getting chores done quickly and without the usual sluggish dread that used to accompany the idea of cleaning house or doing laundry.

I used to come home from work before the weight loss and just crash. I would pick up something to eat for my husband and myself on the way home and plop in front of the TV completely exhausted. A typical day would start with me skipping breakfast entirely or on the weekends eating a bean and cheese and potato, egg, and cheese breakfast taco with two large glasses of orange juice and six slices of bacon. By mid morning, I would have consumed two Cokes and a Snickers bar or bag of M&Ms. For lunch, I would grab fast food like a super sized quarter-pounder with fries and a large shake or hit a Chinese buffet for three or four platefuls of food like fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, fried shrimp and dumplings. For dessert, I would have five almond cookies, a large soft-serve ice cream and, of course, my fortune cookie. I would go to bed at 10:00 but would fight the alarm clock in the morning because I had no desire to get out of bed.

As soon as I started the program, I had energy at night to fix dinner, complete tasks, spend some quality time away from the TV with my husband, and, most amazing of all, I was getting up before my alarm went off with energy. I hit 100 pounds lost with ease and chose to adjust my goal to lose the rest of the weight I had carried all my life. I reached my goal of 140, and currently through maintenance I weigh 126.6.

Frankly, I am amazed at how easy this transformation has been. I started the program 4/22/05 and reached my overall goal on 8/4/06. I have also lost a total of 71.25 inches over my entire body. My thighs no longer rub together; for the first time in my life, they don’t even touch! In a little over a year, I have taken my body from the worst condition it has ever been in at almost 300 pounds and I have transformed it into the best shape I have ever been in. I am smaller than I was in high school going, from a 24 to a size 2-4.

Check back tomorrow to find out how Mandy's life has changed since losing the weight.