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Pamela Langford, 50, of Ypsilanti, Mich., had a simple reason for wanting to lose weight and get fit.
"I wanted to live," she says.
VIDEO: Hear innovative strategies from dietitian Edith Hogan
Langford was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer several years ago and had a couple of cancer scares after that. Langford talked to her doctors and realized that her high-fat diet and sedentary way of living might have contributed to the disease, so she was determined to turn things around. "I promised God that I was going to get to a healthy size so I wouldn't have to deal with a whole lot of weight-related diseases, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. I promised God that if he showed me the way, I would continue to do this." Langford's story was selected by a panel of experts to be featured in the fifth annual USA TODAY Weight-Loss Challenge in the newspaper and online at dietchallenge.usatoday.com. This year's challenge, which runs every Monday for two months, focuses on weight-loss champions who have inspired others to lose. She first went to a hospital-based weight-management program and later to Weight Watchers. She gave up fried chicken, french fries and other deep-fried foods and quit drinking lots of soda. She now has a low-fat, low-calorie diet filled with fruits and vegetables. On top of that, she works out six days a week for almost 90 minutes each time. No, it wasn't easy to lose 130 pounds over four years, says Langford, who investigates unemployment fraud for the state of Michigan. "The weight loss has been a journey," she says. "You have to have the determination." Her husband, Leonard, has been supportive and encourages her to select healthful choices at restaurants and go to the gym. "As Christmas presents, he subscribed to fitness and health magazines for me," she says. "I have so much energy now. Before, I would get tired and sit down. I used to not walk far at all because it was so hard on my knees and my legs. But now I can walk up or even run up four flights of steps without huffing and puffing." Exercise routine "My day starts at the gym at 5 a.m. six days a week. I do the elliptical machine (level 4) for 50 minutes and strength-train different muscle groups for 30 minutes. "If I don't get my exercise, the day is just ruined. It's very important to me. Even when it is 11 degrees and snowing this winter, I make it to the gym. It takes a severe snowstorm or I have to be really sick to keep me away." Providing inspiration Langford inspired co-worker Teresa Burns to lose 53 pounds since January 2007. "Pam is the reason that I joined Weight Watchers," Burns says. "I watched her for months in the office, and she just kept getting smaller and smaller. "She was working out every day and following the program. Finally, I went to a meeting and joined. It's encouraging to see her and know how far she's come. She's inspiring a lot of us at the office." In her own words "Remember that losing weight is a very slow process. A healthy weight loss consists of losing 1 to 2 pounds a week."
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