(Lynn Haraldson-Bering) Lynn Haraldson-Bering lost 168 pounds.
Woman Lost 168 Pounds To Be a Better Grandma
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NOVEMBER 03, 2009
MSNBC

“My daughters were in high school and I avoided many of their band concerts and games,” says 46-year-old Lynn Haraldson-Bering, who once weighed 296 pounds. “I stopped visiting my family in other parts of the country because I didn't want them to see me so heavy.”
Haraldson-Bering, the newest member of the Joy Fit Club, was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, causing her to go from 200 to 300 pounds in just a few years. Uncomfortable and depressed, she often went into hiding because she was ashamed to let people see her at such a large size.
It wasn’t that she ate bad food; just that she had too much of it. She recalls making a baked chicken recipe, only to eat the entire chicken.
Her diet typically provided enough food for four people. “My body became unrecognizable,” she said. “I allowed my weight to dictate how I lived my life.”
In fact, it wasn’t long before Lynn’s weight affected every aspect of her life – her family, her friendships, even her career. She quit her job as a newspaper writer because she felt unable to cope with the constant public interaction, “but it wasn't the public I was running away from,” she said. “It was me.”
Years of severe insecurities and depression took their toll. Lynn didn’t have a huge epiphany; she recalls simply deciding it was time to do something drastic: “I just said ‘something has to change,’ and I needed and wanted to be thin again.”
What finally put Lynn on the road to weight loss was a complete shift in attitude. She made a commitment to think about “everything” she put in her mouth, focusing on cleaning up her portions and diet staples.
She gave up her carbohydrate-heavy bagel and cream cheese breakfast for a lean, protein-rich egg white omelet with reduced-fat cheese. She used to devour a bowl of buttered popcorn topped with parmesan cheese roughly five nights a week; now she opts for a portion-controlled 100-calorie pack of microwave popcorn before bed.
Lynn also began walking regularly, before adding sessions on an elliptical machine six to seven times a week. Today she works out five hours a week, focusing on strength training and cardio. “I [exercise] in moderation and I've learned to listen to my body,” she explained.
It took Lynn two years, two months and 12 days to finally lose an astounding amount of weight: 168 pounds. She now weighs in at 128 pounds and wears a svelte size 6 – a change so drastic that neighbors often fail to recognize her in the supermarket. She regained her health and started writing again, for a diet and fitness blog. And she started reaching out to other weight-loss enthusiasts.
More than anything, Lynn is glad her new health and outlook permit her to join in family occasions again. “I missed out on so much of life when I was morbidly obese, but I'm making up for it now as a healthy, 46-year-old grandmother,” she said. Watch the video.
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Reproduced with permission of MSNBC, from She lost 168 pounds — to be a better grandma, November 392, 2009; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
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