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" Stats: Karen Ebbesmeyer, 42 Heaviest Weight: 270 Current Weight: 144 Time It Took: 2 years My Story: When I was in nursing school, I started gaining weight because I&amp;#039;d be up late at night studying \u2014 and snacking. Later, with four kids in the house, eating takeout became the norm. Vegetables were practically nonexistent. My husband would say, &amp;quot;We need some veggies on this table,&amp;quot; and I&amp;#039;d say, &amp;quot;Go open a can!&amp;quot;  Worst Moment: I walked into a nice clothing store to buy my friend a gift card \u2014 but before I could say anything, the salesperson looked at me and said, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m sorry, but we don&amp;#039;t carry your size here.&amp;quot; It was so hurtful. To this day, I still can&amp;#039;t bring myself to go into that store.     Turning Point: When I turned 40 two years ago, I decided to get a physical because I have a family history of diabetes. The tests showed that my cholesterol was dangerously high and I was borderline diabetic. My doctor put me on blood pressure medication and said, &amp;quot;Karen, if you don&amp;#039;t lose weight, you&amp;#039;ll never see your youngest graduate from high school.&amp;quot; My little girl was 8 at the time. That was a real eye-opener. How I Lost It: There was a Weight Watchers meeting near my home in O&amp;#039;Fallon, MO. The team leader made everything seem so doable that I knew I could win this battle. That first weekend, I got rid of all the junk food in our house and told my husband he&amp;#039;d better not bring any Valentine&amp;#039;s Day chocolate home! I started to keep a journal of everything I ate, and that&amp;#039;s when I realized how quickly those bites, licks, and tastes add up. At the grocery store, my family now buys only healthy, low-cal food. Our taste buds have gotten so used to the lighter versions that my daughter once thought something was wrong with the sour cream until she learned we&amp;#039;d accidentally bought the full-fat kind.  Favorite Tricks: When I&amp;#039;m dining out, I always ask the waiter for a &amp;quot;to go&amp;quot; box before I start eating. That way I can split my portion in half immediately, so I&amp;#039;m not tempted to overindulge. As a bonus, there are tasty leftovers the next day!  What Keeps Me Going: I carry a laminated &amp;quot;before&amp;quot; picture in my purse. Whenever I get a craving for, say, french fries, I look at that photo and think, I can&amp;#039;t go back to that. If I just can&amp;#039;t resist buying the food, I&amp;#039;ll take one bite and trash the rest.  Biggest Payoff: I recently went back to the doctor \u2014 and he took me off the blood pressure medication! Email us your success story! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a12429/diet-success-ebbesmeyer-0807/?src=shelter_footer>