Heather Burczynski, 32, of Nashville works right next door to a YMCA, but she had a membership for a year before she had the courage to step through the door.
When she finally mustered the nerve to go inside, she went directly into the bathroom and sat there for 10 minutes, worried that people would stare at her and think she was too heavy -- at 280 pounds -- to work out. "It was very frightening," she says. "But that's actually ridiculous, because if anything, people would be thinking, 'Well, good for her.'"
Burczynski began walking on the treadmill for 20 to 30 minutes a day, and after a few months, she was walking an hour a day. She ate smaller portions, made better choices and lost 130 pounds in two years.
Her story was selected by a panel of experts to be featured in the fifth annual USA TODAY Weight-Loss Challenge in the newspaper and online at dietchallenge.usatoday.com. This year's challenge, which ends next Monday, focuses on weight-loss champions who have inspired other people to lose weight.
Several of Burczynski's friends have been inspired by her, including her best friend, Ronda O'Boyle, who has dropped 47 pounds since January 2007.
Burczynski says she was motivated to lose weight after her nephew was born in Boston in October 2004. She went to visit him and says: "I looked at that little guy and was overwhelmed by the love I had for him. I decided when I got back from that trip to make a life change."
As she began to lose weight with exercise, she quit eating out at almost every meal, which she says "not only helped me with the weight loss but with my finances."
After several months, she split her workout routine into two parts. "Instead of going out to eat lunch, I started getting in a 30-minute workout. That way, after work, I only had another 30 minutes to finish."
In that first year, Burczynski lost 80 pounds. The second year she started strength training and dropped another 20 to 30 pounds. But then she hit a plateau and knew she needed to fine-tune her diet.
She began following Weight Watchers, using materials she had from a previous attempt, and lost more weight. She now weighs 150 pounds and says, "Now that I'm at a healthy weight where I am comfortable, I want the same for other people who are unhappy with their weight."
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