Every year in People Magazine, they do a special on a dozen or so people who have lost over 100 pounds. I’m not People, but I do know someone who matches that description — and I’m proud to tell you about her today!
Anne Vilchuck is one of my best friends from high school. We met when we were 16 and have tons of fun memories — proms, boys, parties, college — and plenty of long conversations about life, love and other mysteries as well 🙂
The Tipping Point
Anne has struggled with her weight in the past — but things took a more serious turn for her mentally after she gained 80 pounds during pregnancy and wasn’t able to lose it afterward. Like many women, she suffered from post-partum depression issues and felt trapped in a bad cycle.
Thankfully, she did have a beautiful baby boy and and a wonderfully supportive husband. But it took over a year before she found the courage and tools she needed to begin getting her weight under control.
As she tells us in the video interview in this post, she weighed 253 pounds and felt miserable. She saw a photo of herself at her son’s first birthday party and it upset her greatly. Soon after, she saw something in a mom’s support group on Facebook about a workout/healthy meal program for busy moms.
In an attempt to be pro-active, Anne signed up for the program and ordered the workout DVDs. They sat unopened and unused for weeks. One day, a friend came over and encouraged her to try one of them out. That was the day it really all began to change.
Soon after, she was using the DVD’s everyday and began measuring the food according to the program she bought. It was a day-by-day journey that led her to eventually lose 130 pounds in less than 2 years.
Even after losing a significant amount of weight, Anne was hesitant to share her progress online for fear of losing control. She lives far from most friends and family so it was easy to conceal. Eventually, though, she decided to get brave and tell people about her incredible success.
Helping Others
She was so motivated, she even became a coach with the program that originally drew her in. As a Beachbody coach now, Anne hosts challenge groups and helps other moms in the same place she was. She’s a living, breathing inspiration — and daily lives out the healthy lifestyle and mentality with the women in her group.
She’s received much praise from friends and family now that she’s decided to share her journey — and she’s providing inspiration to those who have a long way to go still. Even to me, someone who has never had a weight problem, her progress is something I use as a template to continue making good decisions.
As someone who has struggled with emotional eating (and still does at times), I could really resonate with Anne’s mention of food addiction and using food to deal with emotions. Since doing this program, she’s learned to deal with her feeling in more healthy ways — even just talking about a problem instead of bottling it up. And she uses her Facebook challenge groups to help quell temptation every day, often posting if she needs support or asking others what they need.
I’m so incredibly proud of her, as I’ve known her struggle with weight for many years. It’s amazing to look at my friend and see the freedom she has found in this. Of course, it’s scary and never easy to think about maintaining this for a lifetime. But it takes courage to commit, to tell the world what you’ve accomplished and keeping trying day in and day out.
I hope you will find some inspiration from her story as well! She’s lost a total of 130 pounds and aims to help as many other women as she can do the same in their own ways!
If you have any questions, please leave them here and we’ll get back to you!