Diet and exercise helped Jan West lose 45 pounds, lower her blood pressure significantly and increase her bone density.

Jan West, 49, began her exercise program two years ago after a routine doctor’s visit, and she discovered her blood pressure was 140/90.

“I used to exercise, but then I sprained my ankle and got out of the habit,” said West. “But after that doctor’s visit, I knew I needed to get active.”

West joined Silverdale Fitness in June 2002, and works out there every morning before work. Her workout includes the treadmill, the elliptical trainer, and weight training.

Since she started working out again, West has lost 45 pounds, her blood pressure is down to 110/70, and her resting pulse is 60.

“I’ve never been like that,” she said. She also noted her bone density score, which was at the bottom of normal on the scale, is now in the middle of normal, just with exercise.

“Working out gets me energized for my whole day,” she said. “I’m not on a diet, per se, but watching the calorie count on the machine makes me more aware of how hard I have to work to burn off the things I eat.”

“It’s good to be turning 50 and know I’m more healthy than when I was 45,” she said.

Ursula Petters, 41, was also inspired to get fit after a doctor’s visit.

“I felt terrible,” she said. “My cholesterol was really high, and I was borderline diabetic. My doctor said that I could expect to have diabetes within two years if I didn’t make some lifestyle changes.”

Petters joined the Bremerton Tennis and Athletic Club and started exercising diligently last June.

“I actually joined the year before and had played around some, but last June I got smart about it.”

Petters original plan was one hour of exercise a day, every day, doing anything she chose as long as she was moving. Her current workout includes water aerobics three times a week, lifting weights three times a week, and 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. She drew on her past as a body builder to design her workout.

Petters also changed her eating habits by cutting out about 80 percent of sugar from her diet. She tries to limit her carbohydrate intake to 40 grams a meal, eating five small meals a day.

“You really have to read the labels and you really have to learn portion control,” she said.

Petters has lost 50 pounds so far.

“There have been set backs,” she said, “But the key is consistency, and to keep going. This is a decision I make every day.”

Tori Edwards, 37, joined Curves in Poulsbo in June 2003.

“I had hit a weight high and I realized I needed to get fit,” said Edwards.

In September she started following the South Beach Diet’s induction phase, and now follows a modified version of the low-carbohydrate diet.
“I don’t follow the diet exactly, but when I eat carbs, I try to eat complex rather than simple carbs,” Edwards said.

Since beginning her workout program, Edwards has lost 65 pounds, and 50 inches overall. She was recently inducted into the Curves “Four Foot Club,” which recognizes members who have lost more than 48 inches overall.

“I love the support of Curves,” said Edwards. “Kim and Mary, the owners, are fabulous people.”

When Edwards began her fitness program she worked out three to four times a week. Now she usually works out about three times a week.

Bairn Kroeger, 44, is also a Curves member, at the Silverdale center. She joined with several co-workers two years ago. Curves specialized exercise program was her inspiration.

“I wanted to be healthier and lose weight. I saw an article in the paper about Curves. The workout, spending 30 seconds on each machine in series, only takes half an hour, you don’t have to figure out how to use the machines, it’s a no-brainer,” said Kroeger. Now she works out three to four times a week during her lunch hour.

At first Kroeger didn’t make any changes in her diet, but after about six months of working out, she started eating more healthily.

“Before Curves, we went out to lunch almost every day,” said Kroeger. “So just bringing lunch to work has made a big difference.”

Kroeger has lost 40 pounds and says that working out regularly is now part of her life. “It’s a new lifestyle for me,” she said.

Marilyn Mathews, 53, was a long-time fitness enthusiast who reached a plateau she couldn’t break through until recently. Starting at a gym in 1995, Mathews worked out diligently, five times a week, doing cardio every day and strength training three times a week.

“I was healthier, really fit, and I lost 60 pounds,” Mathews said. But after losing that 60 pounds, she stopped losing weight, no matter what she did.“The scale was not my friend,” she said.

Cindy Bockelman of Bayview Fitness in Poulsbo did body composition workups for Mathews, and suggested that Mathews was not eating enough for the amount of exercise she was doing. But Mathews didn’t want to believe it.

Then a friend of hers went to a hypnotist, and lost weight. Mathews was intrigued, but before she could pursue it, last summer, she became gravely ill with pneumonia.

“I felt ill for months, and during that time I couldn’t exercise at all. The medication I was on caused me to gain weight, although at the time I didn’t realize that,” she said.

Finally in October 2003, her doctor said she could resume limited exercise, but nothing that involved heavy breathing. So she went back to the gym, for a severely limited work out: five minutes on a bike. But to her surprise, she lost some weight.

Mathews began visiting the hypnotist, and in January 2004 began taking yoga classes at Bent on Yoga in Poulsbo.

“I got totally back on track,” she said. “I was on this trek now.” Through yoga and work with the hypnotist, Mathews learned to listen to her own body, and the weight kept coming off.

“The hypnotist taught me how to stop when I’m full,” said Mathews. “I believe it and it’s working for me,” said Mathews. “I don’t even work out in a gym any more, and I haven’t hit a plateau yet.”

Mike Jackson, 49, started working out seriously six years ago, not to lose weight, but to combat pain from a back injury. Concerned about surgery, and dissatisfied with differing opinions given by doctors on the best course of treatment, Jackson recalled a piece he had seen profiling someone using intense exercise to control chronic back pain.

Starting with one hour, three times a week, Jackson built his routine up over a six-month period as his regimen got results. His current schedule includes an hour to an hour and a half of cardio in the morning at Poulsbo Athletic Center, and then back to Poulsbo Athletic Center at the end of the day for an hour to hour and a half of strength training.

“I always shoot for seven days a week,” said Jackson, “But something always comes up, so I usually get in five or six days.”

Being active in athletics in high school gave him the background he needed to design his own fitness program, but he says not knowing should not be a limiting factor to others who want to get fit. “I went in pursuit of health and I found it,” he said.

Dr Phil’s Ultimate Weight Loss Challenge inspired Susie Schulmeyer, 41, in January 2004.

“I just had to do something,” she said. “I had to get over the denial of my looks and health.” Using Dr Phil’s books as a guide, she followed his step-by-step program for the first five weeks, and then continued to use his eating guidelines. “It’s very balanced and easy,” she said. “You don’t have to measure or weigh anything.”

For her workout at the Bremerton Tennis and Athletic Club, Schulmeyer likes to get to the gym as early as possible, usually about 5:30 a.m., five days a week. She spends 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer, 10-20 minutes weight lifting, and spends one hour a week on yoga. She has lost 18 pounds so far, and is about half way to her original weight loss goal.

“I’m not really worried about the pounds anymore,” Schulmeyer said. “The inches have dropped so fast. I’ve gone down two pants sizes, my blood pressure’s dropped, my heart rate’s dropped, and I sleep better.”

Dan Estes began his weight loss program at the end of September 2003. He was inspired by two events. “A very good friend confronted me about his concerns with my weight,” said Estes. “It was kind of weird, because the next day I was volunteering at a soup kitchen in Port Orchard, and some of the other volunteers were talking about being on Atkins.”

So Estes began following the Atkins diet, for the first week relying on what he had heard about the program, and then buying the book to use as a guide. He is now following a modified version of the Atkins program.

“The average person eats about 300 grams of carbohydrates a day,” said Estes. “I was eating about 1,000 a day and most of it was junk food.” Now Estes’s daily carbohydrate intake is around 20-50 grams.

“I avoid as many carbs as possible, but I do eat fruits and vegetables,” Estes said. “And I don’t shoot myself for going to the movies and ordering the buttered popcorn.”

Late October 2003, Estes began going to Olympic Fitness in Port Orchard for weight training three times a week. Later he added step aerobics twice a week, and now also plays volleyball for three hours a week and will be adding yoga to his regimen soon.

Estes is an Atkins success story. To date, he has dropped 110 pounds, 40 pounds shy of his original weight loss goal. “I’ve lost not quite a third of me,” joked Estes.