Last fall, Kim Emert ran the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon and finished with a time of 4:35:39. It was her second marathon and she did it with a 23-minute personal record. For Kim, the event was another milestone in her weight loss journey and proof that all her hard work over the last few years is paying off. The 34-year-old wife and mother from Tennessee has lost 86 pounds, and she did it the way you might expect a runner to, by pacing herself and taking one step at a time.
“I was average and active as a child,” Kim explained. “My weight struggles began later in life. After marriage, kids and my first sit-down desk job. I made poor food choices, overate and made excuses about why I didn’t exercise.” Like many women, Kim lost a significant amount of weight after her first child, only to gain it all back during her second pregnancy, which put her back at square one. “This wasn’t my first time on the weight loss wagon,” she said. “It wasn’t until my son was 2 that I decided to do this for real and for good because my kids and family needed me. I wanted to be healthy and active for myself and them.”
Kim has been successful with her weight loss because she started with the right mindset. Instead of using starvation tactics or falling for the get-skinny-quick promises of some diet programs, she simply relied on, dedication and determination saying, “I cleaned up my diet and started hitting the gym. Once I got into a regular routine I took up running and signed up for my first 5k. I haven’t looked back!”
I never lost sight of my goals and stayed focused.
After experiencing so much success, Kim admits one of her biggest struggles has been pushing through the plateau periods and getting past the days when she stepped on the scale only to realize she’d gained back a few pounds.
Biggest triumphs? New clothes! Also, the satisfaction she received from knowing she said she would do it, and she did. “Some of my biggest triumphs were realizing I could do this (the weight loss) and so many other things like running a 5k, 10k, half marathon and even a marathon.”
Kim is still a few pounds away from her ultimate weight loss goal but she’s slowly chipping away at it. She knows eating right and exercising are the new norm, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Her advice to other people struggling to lose weight, “Never give up and take your journey one day at a time.”
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