Weight Watchers, lifestyle changes help Freeport nanny lose 200 lbs.

“I was probably in fifth grade when I realized I was always bigger than the other kids,” Beth Weick says. And as an adult, every Monday was the beginning of a new diet for her.

Looking at photos of herself at the beach in 2007, Weick says she cried and knew she didn’t want to be that person anymore. “I would tell myself that I was healthy, but I couldn’t say that anymore. I was 40 years old, on blood pressure medication and my doctor said I was one office visit away from cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes prescriptions,” Weick says.

In January 2008, she went on what she called her five-day-a-week diet: two healthy meals a day Monday to Friday, and then whatever she wanted on weekends. She also drank water and started walking. She did that for three years and lost 70 pounds, enough to get her off medication.

But her weight slowly crept back, and Weick realized that diets don’t work for her. She needed a new lifestyle.

She turned to Weight Watchers in July 2011 and got rid of unrealistic goals and deadlines. She dedicated the next month to learning a new, healthy lifestyle and getting serious about exercise. She came to enjoy walking rather than looking at it as something to just get through.

By July 2015, she reached her current weight and found a sense of freedom. “It wasn’t until after I lost weight that I discovered how much food and weight controlled my life,” Weick says.

Her joy moments include going to church and not having to enter the pew sideways. And shopping for clothes? “I used to think I was frugal. I was just fat!”

Breakfast is fat-free Greek yogurt with sweetener, vanilla flavoring, blueberries, banana and wheat germ. Lunch can be turkey on whole wheat bread with mustard, lettuce, tomato and onions. She has cucumbers, peppers and a yogurt on the side. Dinner is grilled chicken, turkey or fish and a saute of zucchini, peppers and onions. She also has brown rice, potatoes or cottage cheese. Snacks include an apple or plain popcorn.

Weick goes to the gym two mornings a week and walks three miles on the treadmill at a brisk pace. During the rest of the week, she takes every opportunity to get steps in and averages 15,000 a day.

“Don’t quit. When people ask how I lost weight, I tell them I didn’t allow myself to quit. I knew I had to change myself. I now say, ‘I didn’t lose 200 pounds. I changed myself and lost 200 pounds along the way.’ ”