Irma Toce arrived in America from Holland in 1987—healthy, fit, trim, and looking for adventure. Her goal was to work for 3 months, travel around the country, and go back home. The reality was that she fell in love, got married, and stayed in the United States.
And somewhere along the line, she gained 80 pounds.
While most of these dramatic life changes were a bit a of surprise, her weight gain was not. “I married into an Italian family that loves to eat,” Irma says. “And I stopped walking as much as I used to in Holland.”
By 1997, her weight had peaked at 240 pounds. She was depressed, had no energy, and hated what she saw in the mirror. It was a sharp contrast from Who she was the decade before. “I couldn’t believe what had happened to me,” she says. “I knew that I had to do something and make a change. A big change.”
With Dutch determination, she set her goal for 160 pounds, her wedding-day weight. But she kept her plan a secret. “I stopped eating cookies and started walking 5 days a week,” she says. “I didn’t tell anyone—not even my family.”
Within 2 months, she lost 10 pounds. People noticed. Unable to hide her efforts, she confirmed “diet” speculations. “The support that I got was unbelievable,” she says.
Clients and coworkers told Irma how wonderful she looked. A friend who baked cookies for her agreed to prepare just one special chocolate chip cookie a week. And she finally started eating three meals a day. “Before, I would skip breakfast, then snack my way through the morning and afternoon, stopping only for lunch and dinner,” she explains.
On sunny days when Irma didn’t feel like exercising, her eldest stepdaughter would encourage her to take a walk. When chilly fall weather provided another convenient excuse to skip her stroll, her husband bought her a treadmill.
Irma started to feel better about herself. Suddenly, everything changed for the better. “I even started to laugh at jokes again,” she says.
Three years later, Irma was down to 170 pounds. She’s still 10 pounds shy of her goal, but she’s confident that she’ll hit her wedding-day weight soon. Her advice to others who want to slim down is, “Stay positive, and don’t talk yourself down. If you blow it once in a while, get right back on track. Just take it one day at a time, and don’t be too hard on yourself. After all, you’re worth it!”
WINNING ACTION
Spread the word that you’re trying to lose. According to a University of Pittsburgh study, those supported by friends and family have a 95 percent chance of slimming down successfully. What’s more, they are twice as likely to keep the extra pounds and inches off.
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