With exercise -- and a little help from Weight Watchers -- Corinne has emerged triumphant from her weight loss problems

Date: August 3 2007

Corinne Crabtree

-City & country: Nashville, Tennessee, USA
-Age: 33
-Weight before diet: 250 lbs.
-Weight now: 136 lbs.
-Target weight: 150 lbs.

Struggling with negative thoughts was the hardest part of Corinne's efforts to lose weight. But with her determination to become physically fit and with help from Weight Watchers, she has achieved her target weight -- has gone beyond it even. Now she helps other people become healthier by being a weight loss coach. Read on for more on how she reached and maintains her "happy weight."

-What finally made you decide to start with a weight loss program?
When my son turned a year old I decided I wasn’t going to be an unhealthy, uninvolved, tired mother. My lifestyle was so bad and I just hated putting an image of lazy, depressed, and out of control in his mind. I needed to be healthy in order to raise him healthy and that's what motivated me to get started.

-What type of weight loss program did you follow?
At first I just started with exercising. I lost nearly 70 lbs that way. I finally hit a brick wall and joined Weight Watchers to lose the last 30 lbs.

-Why did you choose this weight loss program?
I liked the flexibility of being able to eat a wide range of foods while teaching myself portion control.

-How long were you on your weight loss program?
About six months to lose the last 30 lbs. The first 70 lbs took a year.

-What kinds of physical activities do you like doing to maintain your weight and to stay fit?
I am now a weightloss coach online who focuses on strength training and eating to fuel your body. My typical workout day is about 45 min. of strength training combined with 20-30 min. of cardio. I love incline walking and stairmaster for awesome glute work. I hope to get back to my running in the fall.

-What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome or are still overcoming?
My own mind was the biggest obstacle. It has taken me a long time to shed what I call Fat Girl Thinking. Often I would or currently get caught up in negative thoughts about my abilities, my physique, and mywill power. Just moving past the "I can't do it" attitude into the "How can I do it better" attitude has been the biggest struggle and triumph.

-How did you keep yourself motivated?
Blogging. I put my schedules, food journals, and thoughts out there for the world to see. By committing to my readers I find myself less likely to backslide. They also motivate me when they tell me that they were able to achieve something because of something I said or did.

-Do you have any weight loss tips for our readers?
Journal everything…workouts, foods, and emotions. Your written history is what tells you of your progress, your patterns, and what does and doesn't work for you. It's THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do for yourself.

-Do you think it will be easy to fall back into your old lifestyle pattern? How do you prevent this from happening?
At this point I've been maintaining for over two years. It would be hard for me to go back but not impossible. I weigh every day to keep an eye on my weight. If it creeps up, I eat in a deficit range until it goes back down and then I go back to maintenance eating. By facing the truth every day I keep within a five pound range of happy weight.

-Do you have a favorite Web site or blog that helped or inspired you to lose weight?
www.freewebs.com/loggies_mom
www.weightwatchers.com
www.precisionnutrition.com
www.shapefit.com