Karen celebrated a huge victory today. She met her Jenny Craig goal, having lost 76 pounds since November 2006.
Now, none of us find weight loss to be easy, but this has been a special challenge for Karen. Her “profession” since middle school has been competing as an elite track and field athlete and weightlifter. Among her many accomplishments are four national powerlifting records, being a 4-time All-American, school record-holder in the shot put at athletic powerhouse USC, and taking 9th place in the 2004 Olympic trials. As one famous shot putter said, “you can’t fire a cannon ball from a PT boat.” In other words, to be good at her chosen sport, Karen had to be big.
When Karen retired from track in 2006, she had to relearn ten years of eating. Instead of mountains of steaks and eggs, she switched to fruits and vegetables. We joined Jenny Craig together in November of 2006, and had many a laugh about the portion sizes (“Did you see those pancakes this morning?!?!”). I don’t know if I would have had the courage to lose my weight without her support.
Karen realizes that her new profession, public relations, might just be the most image-conscious one on the planet, and that part of managing her own “brand” is to present the most attractive, professional image possible. We are so proud of her for taking such a big step in this direction.
Not content to lose 76 pounds, Karen has set an additional goal. She likes the idea of losing 100 pounds even. Knowing her focus and determination, I think we’ll be reporting her success in this new goal very soon!
