Northeast Ohio resident loses 130 pounds, shares success story with weight loss group
.jpeg "Brenda Robinson was born in Salem and now lives in Alliance. She’s lost over 100 pounds.")
Meet Brenda Robinson, an Alliance resident born in Salem, celebrating a major accomplishment in her health journey.
Take Off Pounds Sensibly
By changing her eating habits, Robinson lost 130 pounds at 69 years old, with the support from a local weight loss group.
Robinson had diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
“My body was riddled with aches and pains and lots of inflammation,” she said. “I researched foods I should eat to naturally lower or get rid of my issues. After months of research and combining foods, I saw it boiled down to absolutely no processed foods, no white flour products and, of course, no sugar.”
She adopted this style of clean eating and felt the difference right away.
“The weight just started falling off of me,” Robinson said. “My aches and pains went away, along with my inflammation. I no longer need cholesterol or high blood pressure medicine and my A1 C level is 5.4, while 5.5 is considered non-diabetic. I feel amazing.”
Robinson also joined a group called TOPS, which stands for Take Off Pounds Sensibly.
“I have a very good friend Sue Ellen Kennedy who is the leader of my chapter who persistently invited me for over two years to join TOPS before I finally decided to take her up on her offer. She never gave up on me and believed TOPS could help me,” said Robinson.
Being in the group meetings helped Robinson adopt a new mindset toward nutrition and healthy eating.
She said the weekly meetings and having to be accountable on that weekly basis kept her on track.
“I needed to change how I think about food, how I reacted to it and to find solutions and act on them in a way that I could live with for life,” she said. “I was at my highest weight ever and at my lowest low mentally when I realized I wanted the help and support that I could receive from TOPS and the others in my chapter that are all there for the same reason.”
In the program, TOPS leaders celebrate members who lose the most weight in each state.
This year, Robinson was named chapter queen for her accomplishment, as well as first place division winner for the state of Ohio and across all chapters internationally.
Take the power away from the food
Robinson’s advice to other people currently on a weight loss journey comes down to staying in the moment and “making one choice at a time.”
“One Saturday at my TOPS meeting we had a surprise visit from a past member who came and did the weekly program for us,” she said. “It was about making choices. She explained how to make one choice at a time. Never tell yourself you can’t have anything. That makes you feel like your depriving yourself and sets you up for failure. She suggested that you stay focused and be in the moment.”
Then ask yourself to choose to eat it or not. By choosing yay or nay, it takes the power away from the food and gives you the power,” Robinson said. “I still do this today everyday for any food situation I’m in.”
Robinson said she doesn’t always choose to stick to the healthiest options, but learned it’s all part of the learning experience.
“For every good choice I made, I’d pat myself on the back, which encouraged me to make another good choice, then another. Over time my good choices became a habit. I will choose me over food every time now. I will forever be thankful for TOPS,” said Robinson.