'Former fat girl doing the Ironman' has lost 160 pounds

[Guest guest]

This article might be an inspiration for many.

Ralph Giarnella MD

Southington Ct USA

'Former fat girl doing the Ironman' has lost 160

pounds

By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2007-04-01-wlc-crawford_N.htm

Bonnie Crawford, 29, of Beaverton, Ore., is convinced

that if she can lose weight, anyone can.

Four years ago, she weighed more than 350 pounds.

Since then, she has shed more than 160 pounds and now

participates in triathlons — running, biking,

swimming. Her husband, Preston, 32, has lost 150

pounds.

Crawford is one of more than a dozen readers selected

to be profiled as part of the fourth annual USA TODAY

Weight-Loss Challenge. This year's challenge, which

runs every Monday through May, is focusing on

weight-loss champions in the hope that their stories

will inspire others.

PHOTOS: Crawford crosses the finish line

Before she started on her weight-loss journey,

Crawford didn't believe she had a prayer at slimming

down. " My family has a long history with weight

issues, and I really didn't think anything was going

to work for me, " says Crawford, a project manager for

a marketing services company.

She always had struggled with her weight, even though

she was a competitive swimmer in high school and

college. Her weight gain accelerated after she entered

the workforce.

" I was still fueling to do varsity swimming, but I was

working in an office surrounded by food. It was lack

of exercise and coming home and ordering a pizza and

then eating the whole pizza. "

At 5-foot-7, she weighed 358 pounds and was " bursting

out of size 34 " in October 2002 when she decided to

try the Weight Watchers Flex Plan. " I followed the

program to the letter the first week, and lost 9.6

pounds. "

She ate plenty of fruits and vegetables each day and

allowed herself occasional treats. She also joined a

gym and started walking.

The real mental turning point for her came on New

Year's Eve that year. She weighed about 323 pounds at

the time and decided to try to walk a 5K race, which

started at midnight. " I kept getting farther behind

the group. When I got to the finish line, I was just

ahead of a man pushing his wife in a wheelchair. I

felt like I was on the verge of cardiac arrest just to

stay ahead of them. I thought to myself: 'I have to do

better. I am only 25.' "

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A couple of months went by, and she did another walk

and finished 10th from last. Someone suggested she

consider doing a triathlon. So Crawford began swimming

again, only 50 yards or so at first, and she started

biking a mile or two.

" In four months, I trained, and I finished the

triathlon. It was an amazing experience. I'll never

forget that first race. I didn't finish close to last.

I finished in front of 500 people. " She weighed 280

pounds at the time.

She has done numerous other triathlons since then.

Right now, she is training for an Ironman triathlon in

June — her first. It involves 2.4 miles of swimming

and 112 miles of biking followed by a marathon of 26.2

miles.

When she is preparing for this kind of event, she

works out one to two hours a day, and on the weekend

she trains for three to six hours. " Since losing

weight, I love to exercise. And it enables me to eat

more fun foods.

" Anyone can do what I have done, " she says. " Anyone.

There was no magic bullet. "