Here’s a story that will motivate you to get off the coach and put down that bag of chips. A Colorado couple, Robert and Jessica Foster, who both were battling obesity finally had enough and decided to do something about it. It all started with Jessica, she was turning 30 in March of 2012. She signed up for Zumba classes and lost 14 pounds in two weeks, then she got on to treadmills and bikes at the gym. The weight continued to come off.
Robert was slower to make changes. He didn’t like the idea of running, so he started playing tennis, and stopped getting second helpings at dinner. They added other physical activities like hiking and swimming with their children.
“I adore my kids and I love my husband very much, but there was that point I hated myself so much. I wasn’t giving them the full me because I was disgusted,” Jessica told Fox’s KDVR. “You have to look in the mirror and say, ‘Am I going to allow this to continue or am I going to stand up and make those changes?’ A light turned on upstairs.”
Robert and Jessica participated in their first 5K race in December. Robert walked as much as he ran, and Jessica finished way ahead of him. “The race environment and the high fives and the feeling of accomplishment became addicting to me,” Robert said. “After that day, I swore I would work to run a 5K without slowing to a walk.” Robert said the more he ran, the more he felt he needed to run. “I felt like my whole life was skyrocketing upward,” he explained. A few months after his first 5K, he ran his second race, this time without walking. Then he did his first 10-mile run. In May 2014, he ran his first marathon. By then Robert was 160 pounds lighter!
Robert and Jessica used a calorie-counting app to keep track of the food they ate. They wanted to break their unhealthy habits and teach their children to eat right. They added more fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and fish, and made all of their food from scratch, including breads and sauces. After months of eating whole grains, vegetables, and lean meats, Robert and Jessica decided to go vegan for health, environmental, and ethical reasons. Robert said, “Our whole philosophy towards food was adding good things. What we found was, the more and more good things we added, the less we craved the garbage.”
The changes they’ve both made have also had an impact in other areas of their lives. Robert, a former branch manager at a bank, has gone back to college to pursue a bachelor’s degree in integrative physiology with a goal of entering medical school. After 5 years as a stay-at-home mother, Jessica re-entered the workforce in July 2013. She’s now down to a size 10 from size 24.
Congratulations Robert and Jessica! Way to go!
