"What a Loser!": Meet Lisa

In this debut installment of "What a Loser!" I am pleased to introduce you to Lisa Gomez. Lisa has lost more than 60 pounds in her weight loss efforts! I'd like to share her advice and inspiration with you.

First of all, Lisa has a great motto: "Believe and Achieve." Isn't that just a perfect weight loss attitude? To think it all started in traffic one day: "A long time ago I saw a bumper sticker with that saying and it has always stuck with me," Lisa said. "I absolutely believe with all my heart that once you believe something will be, regardless of what it is, it will be yours."

This battle cry reflects Lisa's great attitude. This attitude and her sheer determination have helped her lose a total of 61 pounds since this past January. She still has around 29 more pounds to go, but she is well on her way! But those numbers aren't the only way Lisa knows she is succeeding; she also tracks her BMI. Lisa says, "How I look and how I feel are important as well."

She's also keeping something in the closet! She asks, "Should I mention those dinky jeans way back in the closet that I continue to try on?" How many of us ladies can identify with that? The dream jeans! I am convinced every woman in the world has a pair of these! :-)

Lisa says the greatest part of losing weight has been liking what she sees when she looks in the mirror and loving how she feels. "I feel healthy, I can move easier and I can wear my old clothes," she said. "You see, I never threw them out because I knew once I put my mind to it, I would be healthier and slimmer once again!" There's that great attitude again!

Lisa has also experienced some great side effects to losing weight like lowering her cholesterol and blood pressure. What is Lisa's favorite result? "I'm no longer on my thyroid meds. That is the best news of all."

So how did she do it? Lisa restricts herself to 20 fat grams a day. "I went to a diet doctor a couple of years ago and that was the plan he taught me," she commented. "I used the same limitations and it helped me lose the first 40 pounds." Then Lisa hit a slow-down at which point her weight stopped coming off as steadily. Her solution came in the form of cutting down on carbohydrates. She says, "That has done the trick for me so far."

I asked Lisa to tell me some of her favorite healthy foods: "I toss diced chicken breast pieces onto a green salad and top it with Wishbone's Just 2 Good dressing and some hot picanté sauce." She also enjoys Healthy Choice rocky road ice cream, sugar free Jello and caramel flavored popcorn cakes. Lisa's favorite guilty pleasure is eating cookies.

As for exercise, Lisa has deemed herself "The Tae-Bo Queen!" She did the beginner's tape of the popular martial arts aerobics program for only two months before she moved up to the advanced tape! Lisa said, "I find them constantly challenging because I can always improve my form or kicks." Lisa is also fond of one of the ab-flattening machines you've seen on television. "After three caesarean sections, my lower abs were a mess, but in the last two months, the AbSlide has worked off two inches in that area." Sometimes she will do an aerobics show from t.v., but no matter what, she always exercises.

Please join me in congratulating Lisa on her success and wishing her luck in her continuing progress and maintenance. Visit Lisa's Weigh to learn more about her weight loss journey. Her great before and after photos will make you a believer too. In closing, I asked Lisa what she wishes someone would have told her about weight loss when she started. Her reply: "How great success feels." What a loser!