Deana Langham of Houston, Texas —  This grandmother refused to let personal heartache keep her from reaching her goals.

For 34 years, I was in a very abusive marriage and by the time I divorced in 1997, I had lost all self esteem and purpose. I felt that my life was over and that I had nothing to offer anyone. I spent the next four and a half years doing grief work and seriously looking at myself.

By 2002, I felt that spiritually and emotionally I was a new person, but my physical self had turned into someone I didn’t know. I was a couch potato and I weighted 150 pounds! My efforts at dieting never resulted in more than a 10-pound loss—because I considered myself “too fat” to go to the gym. When my mother had a heart attack and stroke last summer, I weighed 164 ½ pounds and I realized I was well on my way to developing her age and dietary-related diseases. I decided that I either had to change my lifestyle or resign myself to becoming old.

I used my approaching 62nd birthday as my benchmark and decided it was time to do an “about face.” I can now ride bikes, play ball and swim with my grandsons. The first time the 8-year-old saw me in a bathing suit he said, “Nana, you look good,” that was priceless! In the last 12 weeks, I have received 42 years worth of affirmation from people in the gym to total strangers at the store. I now have a purpose in life and that is to help other women in my past situation to know that they too can re-define themselves and the person they want to be! I am living proof—at the young age of 62.

Before
Weight: 154 lbs.
Body Fat: 32%
Lean Mass: 105 lbs.

After
Weight: 136 lbs.
Body Fat: 12%
Lean Mass: 120 lbs.

--Lost 32 pounds of fat. Gained 14 pounds of muscle.--

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