The 'Incredible Shrinking Woman' Reaches Her Goal
By Martha Slater

A mid-day walk around Randolph is one of three two-mile loops that the author walks every day. Here, she's wearing her brand new pair of sneakers-to replace the ones she wore holes in after two years of walking! (Herald / Tim Calabro) Martha 1

Two years ago last month, I spent a night in the emergency room at Gifford Hospital that I will never forget.

Two years ago last month, I weighed 377 pounds and I made a choice that changed my life.

Earlier that evening, I had pain in my chest, arms and legs that was so bad I could no longer ignore it. I was nauseous and had an awful headache. I struggled to breathe. I thought I was having a heart attack.

Too embarrassed to call the Rescue Squad because I was afraid they couldn't lift me into the ambulance, or even worse, maybe I wouldn't fit or I'd get stuck-I drove myself over the mountain in a pouring rainstorm from my home in Rochester.

There, the doctor on duty gave me the good news that I wasn't having a heart attack, but the bad news that I was having angina, which can lead to one. He added this life-changing remark:

"You've become so obese that if you don't lose a lot of weight, you'll be dead within 10 years!"

That certainly got my attention, and I went home determined not to let it happen. You know the expression, "I was scared to death?" I guess I was scared to life!

I wasn't a fat kid, but I became a fat adult because I didn't pay enough attention to my own health. I ate whatever I wanted and far too much of it, and I didn't exercise.

Life often turns out differently than you expect, and I ended up divorced soon after the birth of my third child. Suddenly, I was a single mom working two jobs outside the home, as well as raising three young children on my own. I don't drink or smoke, but I guess you could say food was a drug for me. When I got stressed out or depressed, I ate and felt better, but only for a little while.

I felt helpless to change. The fatter I got, the more it seemed like an insurmountable obstacle to overcome. I rarely felt energetic, or even comfortable. My joints ached, I had frequent asthma attacks, and doing everything was such an effort. I felt trapped in my own body and despaired of ever being able to change myself.

That night, as I sat in the emergency room, I was grateful to know that I wasn't having a heart attack, as I had feared, and I decided that God had given me a wake-up call. I also decided that I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired!

I was tired of worrying that I wouldn't fit into chairs when I went somewhere or that I'd break a chair or something else if I sat on it. I hardly ever went to the movies or to places like Chandler Music Hall because when I did, I had to perch on the edge of the seat-I just didn't fit! Two years ago, when I bought the car I drive now, I actually had to order a special seat belt extender, since I was too big for the regular seat belt. I didn't travel by airplane because I would have had to pay for two seats.

I was tired of being limited in what I could do physically and having to depend on others to do things I should have been able to do for myself, like mow my own lawn. I was tired of being short of breath a lot of the time. I was tired of feeling bad about how I looked and tired of having people judge me for that-as they often did.

I'm a hard worker and a determined person, so that night two years ago when I got home from the emergency room, I prayed and prayed, and I finally, at long last, found the determination to lose weight and improve the quality of my own life. I realized that eating myself to death was a pretty stupid thing to do and that I had a lot of reasons to live-my three children and my grandchildren were the most important ones. I decided to change for them, but I also decided to do it for myself.

I truly think my faith in God has been a big factor in giving me the strength I've needed to change. My community has also helped me. I grew up with parents who were involved in helping make their community a better place to live. I work on a lot of community projects in Rochester and I got used to putting my family and my town first, and myself last. While, theoretically, putting other people first sounds like the right thing to so, you also have to make time for yourself. I finally realized that I couldn't continue to do all the things I wanted to for my family and community, if I didn't take better care of myself.

When I started trying to lose weight, I told only my family and close friends, who were very supportive. Living in a small town and working in another one, I've gotten to know a lot of people, and as they noticed that I was losing weight, many of them took the time to make encouraging comments. That has meant so much to me.

Two years later, I've lost 227 pounds (no, that's not a typo!) and reached my goal. People often ask how I did it.

Making Changes

I didn't have any surgery, but I did change a lot of bad habits that I had. I like acronyms, so I decided to make up my own name for the changes I needed to make in my life. I called it ELMO, which stands for "Eat Less, Move Often," since I decided those were the two biggest changes I had to make.

Since it was covered by my health insurance, I had several appointments with Jennifer Stratton, a nutritionist at Gifford Medical Center. She gave me a lot of good information.

I'm a creature of habit, and I had to get out of the habit of snacking in the evening (my worst time to overeat) and into the habit of eating just three meals a day. At first, that was really hard for me, as was cutting down the portions of food that I ate. I decided that one thing I could live without eating was dessert, and I did that for over a year! Now, if I have dessert after dinner, I eat fresh fruit or some sugar-free, fat-free pudding.

I fill half of my plate at dinner each night with vegetables, either raw or steamed, and have learned to like eating them plain. I grill or bake the meat I eat, and trim any fat off it before I eat it. I don't give myself a calorie limit each day, but I've become a conscientious label reader at the grocery store.

Another good piece of advice Jennifer gave me was to pick a day of the week and weigh myself on that day every week-and only on that day. That way, I could see progress and not get discouraged. Boy, was I excited when I got below 300 pounds and could actually use a regular bathroom scale to weigh myself!

During my weight-loss journey, the "Friday morning weigh-in report" was always e-mailed to my three grown kids, and they e-mailed words of encouragement back to me. The weekly weigh-in is a habit I plan to keep up for the rest of my life.

Walking it Off

The second big change-"move more"-was actually harder for me than the first. I didn't grow up in a family of athletes and my favorite thing to do is read-a wonderful way to exercise your mind, but not exactly an activity that burns off a lot of calories!

One of my co-workers at the Herald, Sandy Cooch, who is in great physical shape, volunteered to walk with me every day at lunchtime, when I started. Back then, I could waddle around the corner from our office and get about four houses down Randolph Ave., then I had to stop and rest and get my breath before I waddled back.

Every day I pushed myself to walk a little farther, and gradually it got easier. The day I finally got to the end of that street and back to the office, I felt like I had won an Olympic medal!

I now walk briskly about two miles each day on my lunch break-part of the total of the six or so miles I walk each day. I do two of those miles on a treadmill each morning when I first get up, while I'm watching the news on TV. Many times, as I walk along, I carry a plastic bag and pick up trash. It's good for my waistline, and the roadsides look better, too. Last weekend, to celebrate reaching my goal, I bought a new pair of walking sneakers to replace the ones I got two years ago. I walked a lot of miles in the old pair and they had the holes to prove it!

When I first started, my boss offered to pay me $50 if I lost 50 pounds, and he's done that four times. My co-workers also threw me a surprise party when I lost the first 100 pounds. There were no refreshments, but I got a very nice card signed by everyone, which meant a lot to me.

I guess the most important thing I've learned over the past two years is that you do have the power to make decisions that can change your life, and stick with them. Life is all about choices. You choose how you react to situations and you choose to make healthy choices or unhealthy ones.

Deb Lary, who teaches health classes at RUHS, has invited me to speak to her students several times. It's rather astonishing to think of myself as a good example, but the kids have been great listeners, ask thoughtful questions, and always write nice notes to me afterwards.

People who haven't seen me in a while often do a double take or don't even recognize me at all. Some just gape in astonishment. Once, in my local grocery store, a man I hadn't seen in a while kept repeating in a loud voice, "My God! You've lost a TON!" Some people have actually asked me how much extra skin I have and what I plan to do with it (I tell them I'm going to make a purse!), and many others say wonderful, kind, complimentary things. One dubbed me "the incredible shrinking woman!" Some people ask me for advice.

No Magic Bullet

I can't tell anyone else what exactly will work for them-but I can tell them what worked for me when I finally got sick of the way I was. Although TV commercials would have you believe otherwise, I can tell you from experience that there is no magic weight-loss solution. You have to be determined to make changes, and stick with them.

Although doctors told me the odds against me actually losing the huge amount of weight I needed to lose were incredibly high, I'm living proof that it can be done. It's hard work and sometimes you have to force yourself, but the feeling of accomplishment is so worth it!

I can now mow my own lawn, walk all over town, wear clothing in "regular" sizes, (including my youngest daughter's jeans, although I had to shorten them six inches!) and not worry about fitting in chairs or theater seats.

I have energy and I no longer need any of the daily medications I used to take. I don't have to worry about taking them, running out of them, or (best of all) paying for them. The health problems I had, which included asthma, high blood pressure, and edema, all apparently related to my weight, are no longer an issue for me. I thank God every day for what seems like a miracle.

Last year, after I lost the first 150 pounds, I took my first airplane trip in over 30 years-and I couldn't help being thrilled when the seat belt fit me just fine! Suddenly, I feel free! I'm planning to fly to South Carolina after the birth of my third grandchild in December. Recently. I spent three days in Connecticut visiting my sister, my "oldest" friend, whom I've known since we were both babies; an aunt, and some cousins. Soon, I'll spend several days in Ontario visiting my son and his family for Canadian Thanksgiving.

Best of all is the fact that my family and friends are proud of me and often tell me so. I don't know if I'll live to be as old as my mother did (she was almost 91 when she died), but by working hard to achieve my goal of becoming healthier, I now have a much better chance of getting to see my grandchildren grow up. For me, that's the best gift anyone could ever give me-and it's a gift I'm giving myself. 

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