Michigan Woman Sheds 300 Pounds

Michigan woman sheds 300 pounds
Diet guru Simmons’ weight-loss plan helped clerk get trim for cruise

By Associated Press

KALAMAZOO—Mindi Miller says she learned a lot about herself after using a diet-and-exercise regimen created by weight loss guru Richard Simmons to shed more than 300 pounds.
Miller, a financial clerk for Kalamazoo Public Schools, weighed 515 pounds in December 1999 when she, a sister and an aunt decided to trim down for a September 2000 cruise.
Miller, 33, started on Simmons’ weight-loss program, which couples daily exercise with reduced portions of a balanced diet.
Unlike her previous attempts to lose weight, this time she started seeing results.
Thin until about age 6, Miller steadily put on weight through her school years. By the time she was a senior at Kalamazoo Central High School, the 5-foot-6 teen weighed more than 300 pounds and continued to gain weight after graduation.

About six years ago, Miller began a doctor-supervised liquid diet and lost about 60 pounds on 500 calories per day—but paid a heavy price.
“I started losing my hair and just didn’t feel healthy,” she said. Miller ended the liquid diet.
When she and her relatives took the cruise, Miller had been on Simmons’ program for nine months and had lost about 150 pounds. She took a Simmons-sponsored cruise to the Bahamas last April, at which time her loss had totaled 280 pounds.
In July, Simmons invited Miller and nine others who had lost weight with his program to California to appear in a new exercise video to be released in January. They exercised for 11 1/2 hours during the taping.
“I lost 4 1/2 pounds that day,” said Miller, who was invited back to California later this month for another taping.
Now that she weighs 198 pounds, Miller believes she’ll reach her goal of 158. She plans to undergo surgery to remove some excess skin left over from the dramatic loss.

Source: http://www.detnews.com/2001/health/0...c16-292980.htm