Sarah Costello happily shared with me that her latest BMI calculation showed she is no longer morbidly obese, and this is a huge milestone, considering she says she has been overweight, obese, and then morbidly obese for her whole life. Specifically, Sarah says she began struggling with weight as early as elementary school, and did not begin to change her lifestyle until her 30^th birthday.

A few weeks before turning 30, Sarah started meeting with Bobbi, one of our wonderful RDs at Rebecca Bitzer & Associates. With her encouragement, Sarah began training for and later completed the Baltimore Half Marathon, but it was only after running this race a second time that Sarah had her “ah-hah” moment. She had previously made a goal of cutting her time by 30 minutes, but after an injury, she was unsure if she would be able to do this. However, she not only met her goal, but surpassed it, and beat her previous time by 37 minutes! “I was excited! I think that success gave me a boost of confidence that I could set goals and reach them!”

Since her “ah-hah” moment, Sarah has not slowed down. In fact, she is now training to complete a triathlon, which will be her second after finishing the Iron Girl this past August, and will also do a Half-Full Olympic next year. She has the support of a team, the members of which often believe in her capabilities more than she does; their insistence that she can go out and complete these unbelievable races push her and build her confidence.

So how did Sarah go from a morbidly obese woman to the fitness machine she is today? Sarah credits a dedicated exercise regiment and something unique: taking a picture of her fridge every Sunday. Sarah began doing this in order to show Bobbi what she had prepared for that week. This now continues to encourage her to stay accountable for cooking healthy meals in order to take the best care of her body. Even though Sarah is currently on her “off-season” in terms of races, she still swims every Thursday with her team, and continues to go for walks despite her hurt knee. “Just because you’re injured, that doesn’t mean you can’t move and exercise. There are lots of different types of exercise options and so many modifications if needed. Before, I used injury as another excuse. Now, it may limit what I can do, but it doesn’t stop me.”

I also asked Sarah if she had any advice to give our RBA family for staying healthy over the holiday season. She suggests writing down your goals and posting them somewhere visible. Be realistic in that you might want some treats at a party, but go into every event with a game plan. Don’t let the winter weather be an excuse for not moving! Get to the gym or watch a workout DVD at home. Finally, Sarah shared that she created a poster for her 2012 goals; the pictures included some of her niece and nephews, races she is signed up for, and inspirational quotes. Sarah reminds herself often of all the people who are on Team Sarah- those people that will continue to support and push her throughout her journey. Take it from a true champion; “There are a lot on your team, too! You. Your RD. Me.”

Check out one of Sarah’s favorite recipes!

“I didn’t have parsley and I don’t do garlic. I didn’t have bread crumbs so I crumbled up my own piece of bread. I made the meatballs, baked them for 15 minutes and then put them in the Crockpot for 2 hours with the tomato sauce! They were delicious!

I think the key is to just go for it! Give it a try. If it turns out: awesome. If it doesn’t, think about how you could make it differently.  Explore the website above. Look up other recipes.  Try new things.”