Tag Archives: half-marathon

Michelle Moran Lost 213 Pounds and Her Binge Eating Habit, “I Only Trusted Myself to Buy Enough Groceries for One Day.”

It’s been three years since Michele Moran tipped the scales at almost 400 pounds. Overweight as a child, Michelle adopted a habit of binge eating that only got worse when she moved out on her own. Now, with a new healthy outlook on food and a weight loss of 213 pounds, Michelle is looking forward to a bright future – and maybe even a triathlon.

Ginnie Wade Lost 55 Pounds When She Stopped Looking for the Quick Fix

After years of looking for the weight loss “quick fix,” Ginnie Wade realized there was no shortcut, just hard work. Instead of joining an expensive gym or eating pricey organic food, her journey to a healthier life started with a ten dollar DVD. Now, 55 pounds lighter, Ginnie says she’s learned a lot and “really enjoyed the journey – mostly.”

Tell me when your weight struggles began. I started to put on weight when I was working as a dog groomer in my early 20’s. I didn’t get much exercise and would go home exhausted and eat whatever I could find or stop and get fast food. Then I had my first child and gained about 60 pounds. I stayed home with her and found myself around food all day. When I was bored, I would eat.

I was able to lose most of the weight at a local gym, but not long after I got to my goal weight, I started putting the weight back on. I only changed temporary things and went right back to my old lifestyle.

What caused you to realize you needed to change? One day my sister and I went shopping for a dress and nothing fit. I couldn’t understand why. That day my sister gave me painful but needed advice, “You’re fat and you need to do something about it.” I had been hearing the same thing from my doctor. After hearing it from my sister I knew I finally needed to make some changes.

How did you lose the weight? I purchased a 9.99 fitness DVD at Walmart. Even though the DVD had been there collecting dust for a year, I brushed it off and popped it in the VCR. I started slow and did what I could, aiming for three days a week. I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app on my phone. That helped me stay on track eating real food.

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Posted on October 5, 2023 by Dani Stone

Kristy Brock Lost 93 Pounds after She was Diagnosed with Celiac Disease, and Started Running

Kristy Brock remembers the day she saw the scale hit 300 pounds. “I felt like I had hit bottom,” she admitted. “I had no where to look but up, and I came to a place where I realized I had to surrender. I let go of the food issues. I wanted to be an example of self-control, love and life, not loss of control and laziness.”

Kristy Brock used a combination of “real food” and running to lose an amazing 93 pounds.

Andrea Green Lost 136 Pounds by saying “You are Not a Dog. Do Not Reward Yourself with Food.”

“The kids used to say ‘Look out, Pudge is having a big mac attack, get out of her way.” Andrea Green can still recall the cruel taunts from her childhood. Considered almost morbidly obese from a young age. Andrea grew to be an adult who lived in her body, but didn’t live for it. Then, a scary health diagnosis for her husband and an inspiring chance encounter at a wedding convinced her to change her lifestyle.

Now, 136 pounds lighter, Andrea is doing things she never thought possible, like completing a short course triathlon.

I lost 10 pounds the wrong way by under eating and over exercising, which damaged my metabolism.

Over the years, Andrea tried to lose weight on her own, but she pursued the quick fix instead of the long haul approach. By the time she married her husband, she’d gained another 90 pounds. “I used being busy as an excuse to eat takeout and convenience food,” she admitted. “I used to work two full-time jobs. I never packed meals so I ate out twice a day. Then when I got married, we ate a lot of pre-packaged foods.”

Before when I saw people succeed at this kind of weight loss, I thought they were somehow super human, had personal chefs or didn’t work.

When Andrea’s husband was diagnosed with diabetes, she realized that both their diets needed a huge overhaul. To lose weight, she considered gastric bypass surgery, but then she remembered the friend she had seen recently at a wedding. He was also busy with work and famil, but still managed to lose 100 pounds just by changing his lifestyle.

Before having the surgery, Andrea decided to give herself five months to see progress on her own. In that time she lost 60 pounds! (more…)

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Dani Stone

Sara Kolling Lost 85 Pounds After Leaving an Abusive Relationship

If you’ve ever been in an abusive relationship, you know how it drains you of your spirit and self-esteem. Today, our true weight loss story focuses on Sara Kolling, a woman who had the courage to leave her abuser and for the first time in a long time, devote herself to her own well being. After losing 85 pounds, Sara feels stronger than she has in years, in more ways than one.

Though Sara admits she was always the girl who was picked on and teased in school about her weight, she acknowledges that the pounds really started to pack on during the first year of her marriage. Once the abuse began, Sara became an emotional eater and says she just ate, “no matter what.” After three years, Sara finally sought a divorce.

The first thing I changed was no more diet soda, and no more eating after seven p.m.

On her own again, Sara finally got serious about wanting to lose weight when she got tired of her clothes being too tight, not being able to keep up with the students she worked with, and feeling like she couldn’t do even the simplest workout routine. She started by eliminating all the sugary, processed and junk food from her diet. The book, The Eat Clean Diet, by Tosca Reno was her first guide.

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Posted on July 27, 2023 by Dani Stone

Lacey Raul Lost 100 Pounds and Completed a Half-Marathon. Weight Loss Done Right!

When Lacey Raul was growing up, no one held her accountable for what she ate, urged her to exercise or explained the future ramifications of a sedentary lifestyle. After trying to lose weight the “wrong” way for years, Lacey shifted gears, lost 100 pounds and kept it off, the right way. In May, she completed her first half-marathon and finished with a very respectable time of 2:24.

Crystal and Lior Collins Lost A Combined Weight of Almost 200 Pounds – “We Finally Found the Perfect Balance”

Sometimes in life you meet that special person who fills your heart in all the right places, and you find that you want to be with them all the time. It didn’t take long for Crystal and Lior Collins to find this cozy place. Unfortunately, cozy became sedentary, and they both resumed old patterns of unhealthy eating.

After an embarrassing party epiphany, they decided to take the weight off the way they had put it on, together. Now, they have a combined weight loss of almost 200 pounds.

Crystal admits she and her husband, Lior, both struggled with weight problems in middle and high school. “Separately we were able to lose weight,” she said. “So when we started dating in 2003, we were finally under control in the weight department.” Unfortunately, the couple spent their free time focusing on what Crystal calls their only hobbies, “eating and drinking.”

The Wii Fit Voice Is Harsh

The pair knew they were eating too much and not getting enough activity but nothing spurred them into changing their habits. In 2024, while visiting with friends, Crystal became fascinated by their new Wii Fit gaming system. Eager to try it out, Crystal stepped on the pad, only to hear the machine say, “Oh. You’re obese.” Lior wouldn’t go near it.

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Posted on June 28, 2023 by Dani Stone

Taryn Denton’s 135 Pound Weight Loss. No Ah-ha Moment. Just Major Results

A few months ago, Taryn Haley-Denton happened to see one of our weight loss rock stars, Eli Sapharti, do a shout out on Facebook, asking for people who had lost at least 50 pounds to raise their hands if they wanted to be featured for our True Weight Loss (TWLS) segment. Taryn, contacted us immediately. After losing 135 pounds in 2 years, it’s easy to see why.

Usually our TWLS participants can pinpoint one instance that made them want to get serious about weight loss, but for Taryn, there wasn’t one specific catalyst, “I wish I could say I had some romantic moment where I had the whip cream can in my mouth and heard a divine voice say, ‘Taryn, this is not the life for you,’ she explained. “Mainly the reason I started getting healthy is, well, that’s what you do when you’re heavy – you think about losing weight and being thin, yet never really think you will.”

But she did! Spurred on by the thought of looking better, feeling healthy, and conceiving a future child, Taryn made a complete lifestyle change. “Theoretically, it was very simple,” she said. “I ate less, ate healthy, and exercised more. No secret pill, specific diet plan or premade meals.”

I modified my diet, that’s all.

By restricting her intake to a minimal amount of fast food, processed foods, refined flour sugar and grain, Taryn began to lose 10 pounds per month. “I eat five to six small meals per day that include a wide variety of vegetables (I dress them up with different spices and sauces), and lean protein (chicken, fish, turkey, egg whites, greek yogurt, and cottage cheese).”

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Posted on May 3, 2023 by Dani Stone

Kelly Therieau Lost 113 Pounds But She’s Not Focused On The Number – “I’ll Stop When I’m Healthy.”

There is not a specific number that I am shooting for – I’ll stop when I’m healthy.

Kelly Therieau isn’t striving to reach a magical number on the scale, she just wants to be a better, healthier version of herself. After losing 113 pounds, she’s well on her way. Today, Kelly opens up about the “light bulb” moment that created clarity for her “cold turkey” weight loss, and the way she’s using her journey to help others.

At almost 300 pounds, Kelly knew she was headed into dangerous territory. When diabetes, liver issues and heart distress made her a weekly visitor to her doctor’s office, she felt her health spiraling further out of control. Her doctor confirmed this when he sat her down and told her if she didn’t make a huge lifestyle change, she wouldn’t live to see 40. She was only 36.

She had often joked that she was still carrying 19 years worth of baby fat, but sitting in the car after that appointment, she remembers having a, “huge meltdown.” At that moment she knew it was time for the jokes and excuses to end. A lifetime of bad eating habits and inactivity had taken their toll.

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Posted on April 12, 2024 by Dani Stone

No Love for Georgia Race Bandit Who Crashed a Marathon for Selfies

Last week Kelly Roberts ran a New York half marathon and quickly became known as the runner who took selfies with hot guys. Inspired by the silliness, a Georgia woman decided she would do the same thing, only, oopsie, she snuck into the marathon and then bragged about it. A collective, “oh no she di’unt” was heard throughout the running community.

Selfie shenanigans may be tolerated but “banditing” will not.

The Georgia Race Bandit snapped this pic at the beginning and titled it, “The ‘Waiting to Start the Race in a Corral You Snuck Into Because You Don’t Have a Bib Number’ Selfie.”

Beware the Bandits

In runner’s lingo, a “bandit” is someone who participates in a race without paying the entry fee. Some latitude will be given to those who jump in for a few minutes of jogging encouragement, but make no mistake, they’re still being watched. Spend too much time on the course and daggers will start shooting from the eyes of legit bib-wearing runners.

Frankly, I was surprised by the backlash. I figured people would write the Georgia Bandit off as a copycat trying to mimic a fun idea that had already been done. Since I’m a mediocre jogger, not a runner, I didn’t realize that within this fit band of brothers and sisters their lies a code. Thou shalt not bandit a race and bogart the swag. I’m paraphrasing, of course.

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Posted on March 27, 2024 by Dani Stone

Dani Holmes-Kirk Lost 82 Pounds and Completed a Half Marathon on Her Birthday

Dani Holmes-Kirk has a smile that is infectious, and a personality that exudes so much happiness, it comes right through her emails. I’ve never met her in person, but I’d like to think we would get along famously, until she tried to make me run. Dani is a runner, a marathon-er and blogs about her adventures at, “Weight Off My Shoulders.”

It’s hard to believe that a few short years ago she led a sedentary lifestyle and battled an eating disorder. Today, Dani is 82 pounds lighter and she’s keeping it off thanks to smarter food choices and her rekindled love of running.

This is Dani’s true weight loss story –

When did your weight struggles begin? For as long as I can remember I was overweight. I can look back at a certain picture of me on the beach in my bathing suit when I was maybe 3 or 4 and thinking, wow, I even had a little belly then. I remember being made fun of in 7th grade and getting MOOed at by a passing car. The overweight mentality was burned into my brain for a long time.

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Posted on February 22, 2024 by Dani Stone

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