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" Stats: Maria Pappas, 37 Heaviest Weight: 268 Current Weight: 135 Time It Took: 4 years My Story: It all started when I lost my first child. He was born with fluid in his lungs, and I only had him for one day. That began eight months of depression; I hardly uttered a word to anyone and spent a lot of time eating. Then I got pregnant again, piled on more pounds, and gave birth to a baby girl, Olivia, who&amp;#039;s now 8. Even though I was thrilled to finally be a mother, I kept on bulking up. My husband brought tons of junk food into the house, so that&amp;#039;s pretty much all I ate. Worst Moment: I had always wanted to try horseback riding, so one day I went to a stable. But as I was about to get into the saddle, a staffer came running over and said that I couldn&amp;#039;t ride. He explained that I would be a liability because I weighed too much. I was so hurt, I cried for the rest of the day.    Turning Point: After I&amp;#039;d gotten into an argument with my husband, I went out with some pals in Philadelphia, where I live. I was confiding to a friend, who told me that I deserved much better treatment and that I was beautiful. I said, &amp;quot;Are you kidding? I&amp;#039;m 260 pounds!&amp;quot; He replied, &amp;quot;It doesn&amp;#039;t matter; you have a great heart, you&amp;#039;re a great mother, and you&amp;#039;re a fighter.&amp;quot; I felt so encouraged that the very next day I started exercising.  How I Lost It: Someone told me that jumping rope burns more calories than jogging, so I tried it. In the beginning, I could only do 10 skips. Now I&amp;#039;m up to around 2,500 jumps a day, which takes less than an hour. (The best part is that I can do it indoors when the weather&amp;#039;s bad.) I also cut out junk food and started eating fruits, veggies, meat, and whole grains. Breakfast is my biggest meal \u2014 a couple of times a week, I&amp;#039;ll even eat a steak. (It gives me energy all day.) I was slimming down, but things with my husband kept getting harder; we divorced about a year later. Even so, I stuck to my healthy-eating plan.  Favorite Tricks: Moderation is my best weapon. When I&amp;#039;m out at restaurants, I don&amp;#039;t order a heaping bowl of pasta, and I don&amp;#039;t stuff myself with bread (even if it&amp;#039;s whole wheat). Exercise is crucial, so you have to find stuff you actually enjoy doing (the more fun it is, the more often you&amp;#039;ll do it). Personally, I love to turn on disco music and dance around the room.  Biggest Payoff: Knowing that I&amp;#039;m setting a good example for my daughter.  Email us your success story! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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