Geaux Health & Fitness Magazine June 2014 | Page 24

geaux healthy

FLAB TO FAB
Never was Wendy Dolan truly happy with her body weight, which
fluctuated between 160 and 175 pounds. Dolan realized that
she had to make a change, however, soon after giving birth to
her first child. At this point, she weighed her heaviest at 190
pounds.
“I was really unhappy. I didn’t feel like myself,” she explained. “I tried working out, but I never felt like I could
deal with [the weight].”
Her husband, who had recently started using My Fitness
Pal to watch his calorie consumption, lost 40 pounds and
encouraged his wife to use the program.
“It opened my eyes to how much I was eating,” Dolan
mentions of the app. Instead of dieting, however, she
decided to make a lifestyle change. She bought a food
scale to measure portions, started using My Fitness Pal,
and ordered a subscription to Cooking Light magazine.
“It needed to be something that was sustainable. I
wasn’t going to go anywhere and buy some special
weird food,” Dolan explained.
After a year of tracking her food intake, Dolan surBEFORE
passed her goal weight of 160 pounds. Now she maintains a weight of between
135 and 140 pounds. She gives herself a five-pound range to help keep her goals realis