Brenda Hardy

My name is Brenda Hardy. During my high school days, I was so active in sports that I didn¹t have to worry about what I ate. After I was married and had children, my lifestyle changed, thus beginning the battle. After my second child was born I found myself thirty pounds overweight, with no time to exercise, enrolled in Weight Watchers with my mother. I lost the weight but I felt that I was missing out on the things I really wanted to eat. I knew that when I got off the ³diet² I was going to eat the food I had been deprived of, and deserved!

Consequently, I got off and gained back more weight than I had lost. I became very discouraged and felt like a failure. I resigned myself to living a life as an overweight person because of one excuse after another.

Thank goodness for Jyl Steinback and her message of Fat Free Living! In January of 1996, my friend told me about an opportunity she had to go on the local news program, and do a weight loss experiment. I almost declined because of my previous experiences and failures at weight loss, but she was persistent and convinced me to join the group. At the news station we were given a Fat Free Living Cookbook, a wheel to help us calculate fat calories, and motivation to begin a new lifestyle. I took the bait! I used the suggested menus in the back of the cookbook to get started. I began with a 1500 calorie diet keeping my fat calories below 20%. Every other week the group had to return to the news station for a weigh-in. I began losing weight immediately. I felt better, but most of all I didn¹t feel deprived of anything. I reached my goal weight in four months, losing 45 pounds, but best of all, I now know I am not a failure and I am not predestined to live as an overweight person. I am in control. Now my lifestyle includes biking to work, and racquetball at least twice a week. If I can succeed at this lifestyle anyone can. Go for it!

Brenda Hardy,

Phoenix, AZ