Success Story: I Lost More Than 40 Pounds and Got Super-Strong

Before: 186
After: 143

The Lifestyle
When she was in high school, Josie Maurer, now 41 and a mother of four, was a track and cross-country runner, as well as a competitive cheerleader. Since she was always moving, she never worried about the fact that she ate fast food or drank soda several times a week. In fact, the 5' 5" Delaware native maintained her 130-pound weight until she had her first two kids. "I know I gained the first 10 pounds after my first two kids were born by eating a bag of Cheetos after lunch every day," says Josie. It wasn't long after that when she began having "double lunches" because she was still hungry after the first.

Although there weren't any stressors or life events that she can pinpoint as causing her to eat more, the mindset that she could eat whatever she wanted carried over from high school, while her teenage metabolism did not. In the eight-year span between giving birth to her second and third child, Josie's weight slowly crept up to 186 pounds.

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The Change
Josie was slowly putting on weight, but she didn't really feel like it was a problem. "I thought, 'Hey, I still look good,'" she says. "I still had my confidence." But in 2006, the then-mom of three saw a photo of herself. "I thought, 'Oh my gosh, that isn't me,'" she says.  When she saw that picture, she was disappointed with how things had gotten so out of hand and decided to take control of her weight again.

At first, Josie didn't change up the kinds of foods she was eating—but she did start counting calories and tried to keep her daily intake at 1,500. Although she was eating less, she was still consuming fast food, packaged foods, and very few vegetables. "I think I just didn't know how else to lose weight," she says. "I thought that was all you needed to do." At the same time, she began walking during her hour-long lunch breaks at work. This combination helped her drop 20 pounds before she became pregnant with her fourth child.

Although she gained most of the weight back during pregnancy, Josie says she knew she needed to get right on track with her weight loss after giving birth in 2008. This time, she swapped calorie counting for eating fresh foods like fish and veggies—and traded walking at lunch for strength-training and cardio workouts five times a week. "I like the way strength-training makes my body look, and my weight loss has gone faster because of it." Plus, she dropped the idea that she needed to have a treat or dessert every day. "I was putting in so much work with the exercise, and I wasn't seeing the results because I was still eating sweets daily." Josie bought weights and equipment to work out at home, which she says is ideal since she doesn't have a ton of time to spend getting to and from the gym. By January 2014, Josie was down to 143 pounds.

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The Reward
For Josie, the best part of losing the weight is feeling lighter and having more energy. "I feel like I'm back to my sporty self again," she says. Josie's inner athlete comes out every time she strength trains, and she's recently set her sights on conquering the pullup bar. "I'm not the pullup queen," she says, "but there is such a difference with trying to pull your weight with extra weight [that she was previously carrying]." Today, Josie can do three pullups—very impressive!

Josie's Tips
Start with small changes. "It can be overwhelming when you're first start trying to lose a lot of weight," she says. "It's important to pick one or two small changes and perfect those things. I started walking every day during lunch and then counting calories. Once I created that foundation, I built on it from there."
Prepare your meals ahead of time. "Now I take the time to prepare food so that I have what I need for the day," she says. "The food I pack for my lunch is so much better than what I would get if I ran out and bought something. When you have meals ready for you, you can't say, 'I don't feel like cooking, so I'm just going to go grab something." It makes a huge difference because you're not just getting hungry and making impulsive choices."
Don't be afraid to strength train. "Strength training helped me challenge myself, and it helped me get past my weight-loss plateau. Once I started doing strength training with body weight and weights, I saw huge changes in my body in a shorter period of time."

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