WIN THE FAT WAR: HER “SMALL” SURPRISE WAS TOPS
In 1997, when David Zimmerman arrived home after a year of active duty overseas in the U.S. Marine Corps, he got the surprise of his life. His wife, Hope, was there to greet him—121 pounds lighter.
He didn’t recognize her. He’d never seen her so svelte.
“It was a big motivator for me, to try to shock him,” Hope says. And shock him she did. “He didn’t know who I was at first,” recalls the 31-year-old Leavittsburg, Ohio, resident. “After he hugged me, he stepped back to look at me and said, ‘Oh my gosh, how did you get smaller than me?’ That whole day, he kept touching me now and then, saying, ‘I just don’t understand where it all went!’
Hope had set out on her secret weight-loss mission after watching her obese grandmother struggle after breaking a rib. “She was so overweight that it took two people to move her out of bed,”
Hope recalls. “And she was so independent. I could see what it was § doing to her pride. I didn’t want that to be me one day.” So at 6 feet and 306 pounds, and with her husband far away, © s Hope joined TOPS—Take Off Pounds Sensibly Through the program’s sound diet-and-exercise program, she whittled her way to 185 pounds in just over 11 months.
Months later, still jazzed by her weight-loss success, Hope bought herself a sexy velvet dress. Her husband was on the phone with a relative when she walked downstairs to model it. He paused to lavish her with compliments, then described to the caller how fabulous his wife looked. “The reply was, ‘She’s not as thin as your brother’s girlfriend,’ Hope recalls. “I was devastated.”
Hurt and angry, she headed to the kitchen for some solace. But she stopped in her tracks, then went outside for a walk instead. Thirty minutes later, she returned home, calm and enlightened. “I let go of those hurtful words by focusing on the kindness that I received from others who supported me,” she says.
Eventually, Hope began strength training to shape and tone her body. Now a Zena-esque size 10 and 195 pounds, she no longer turns to food to heal those emotional blows. If she feels down, she bypasses the kitchen and heads out for a walk.
WINNING ACTION
Realize that you have weight-loss friends and foes.
When hurtful words hit you, consider the source. Understand that there will always be negative people in your life, but don’t accept their perception of you. Remember the title of the book written by Saturday Night Live character Stuart Smalley: I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!
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