Kathie Lapcevic looks in the mirror and still has trouble believing that the person looking back at her, is half her previous size. In 18 months, Kathie has shed 108 pounds and she’s currently no more than a side salad and a jog around the block from her goal weight.
As a writer and teacher with a passion for gardening, canning and other do-it-yourself endeavours, Kathie was not a stranger to discipline or hard work, except when it came to her own health. “I was overweight my entire life,” she said. “The girl who got made fun of, the girl who always wanted to figure out a better way but didn’t know how to begin.”
Recently Kathie spoke to us about her weight loss journey, future goals and where she finally got the determination to lose the weight.
What caused you to realize you needed to change? A rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. The doctor told me that every extra pound above my knees was four extra pounds of pressure on my toes. I wanted relief, so I knew I had to make some changes.
How did you lose the weight? I counted calories pretty obsessively for a while and walked at least 5 days a week.
What diet and exercise methods did you employ? Counting calories didn’t put me on a diet but it did help me see and understand (finally) how to feed my body in a way that was healthy, filled me up and gave me more energy. For a long time, walking was my only exercise. I started with about a mile and a half and eventually increased to 3 miles, 5 days a week. I’m now running and doing some toning videos, but it took me years to want to do that.
Did you have any “ah ha” moments along the way that really made a difference in your transformation? It came from other people, not friends or family so much as the gal at the grocery store who asked if I’d been losing weight or the person whom I hadn’t seen in a while and didn’t recognize me. I couldn’t see the change until I started seeing through other people’s eyes. It took me a long while to look in the mirror and not see the 231 pound me looking back.
Biggest struggle in your journey? Biggest triumphs? Biggest struggle has always been the amount of time it takes. It took 18 months for me to lose the majority of the weight. Biggest triumph? Losing the weight and keeping it off for over 9 months. Also, feeling fit enough to jog.
Current/future goals? I want to run the Bloomsday 12k in May 2024.
Advice you’d give to other people struggling to lose weight? Keep on, keeping on. It takes time for change to take hold but if you just keep it at you’ll notice that you want to walk or eat salad and you’ll see just how crappy you do feel if you indulge a little too much.
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