Woman's faith, commitment help transform her body

After a lifetime of struggling with her weight, Stephanie Newsome's turning point came in February 2010 as she was catching her breath after climbing a few steps to get to her parking place after work.
"It was a little, short flight of stairs to get to my car. I got so out of breath, and I just felt like I was going to die. I thought to myself, ‘What am I doing? I have five children and a husband at home.What's going to happen? I could die young and leave my husband with five kids. He'll have to remarry, and she'll probably be some blonde-headed skinny girl,'" she said, laughing. "I didn't want some other woman to raise my kids. I wanted to be there for my husband. Right then and there, I made the decision to change my life."
Stephanie went home to her husband, Brad, who is now the pastor at Calvary Baptist Church, and told him about her decision to lose weight.
"We prayed about it and did some Bible reading. Philipians 4:13, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,' carried me many times," Stephanie said. "Brad was so supportive. He knew how bad I wanted to lose the weight, and he would even make dinner and portion mine out in Tupperware containers so that when I got home from work, all I had to do was heat it up."
Stephanie knew she had well over 100 pounds to lose to get to her goal weight, and she was prepared to make big changes to her diet. "One of the things I did right away was to cut out all sugars and carbs like potatoes and bread," she said. "I had always craved those things. When I had a little, I would just want more. I didn't have any for that whole first year - even at Christmas."
At first, Stephanie didn't count calories but ate lean meats, chicken and lots of vegetables. She lost 50 pounds, then the pounds started coming off slower and she began keeping track of her calories and tried to keep within about 1,000 calories a day. "That might be too low for some people," Stephanie said. "But, it worked for me."
Now 120 pounds thinner, Stephanie attributes much of her success to making herself accountable and making her weight loss program public.
"When I was losing weight, I weighed myself every day and wrote it on a calendar and posted it in my bathroom so everyone who came in our bathroom could see what I weighed and how much I lost. That was a big thing to me because before then, no one ever knew how much I weighed. Even my husband never even knew how much I weighed."
Stephanie said it helps to have others to talk to about weight loss. In addition to Brad, Stephanie's mom, Janet Chappell of Springfield, was also a big supporter of Stephanie's lifestyle change. "Mom and I are really close. and we'd text each other every day. She'd ask me how I was doing and tell me how proud she was of me," Stephanie said.
In October 2010, Stephanie and her mom planned a girls' trip to Chicago, along with several other members of the family. "My mom said if I lost 50 pounds by the time we went there, she'd buy me some new clothes to wear while we were there, plus she paid for my whole trip. She knew I was into losing weight for myself, but still, that was a big encouragement."
Now Stephanie and her mom are running races together - something Stephanie never thought would happen. "I always thought it would be so cool to be a runner, but I knew at my weight, there was no way I'd ever be able to do it," she said. "Well, after I lost my weight, the first race we did was in August 2011, Haley's Hope Hot 'n Hilly race in Springfield. Mom had started training before that and had done the Bass Pro half marathon because she wanted to train so she could be an encouragement to me. Toward the end of the race, Mom said, 'I can't believe it. You're the one dragging me through this race, instead of me dragging you.'"
Stephanie and her mom have run three races together now. "Our goal this year is do one race a month," Stephanie said. "We're going back to Chicago on June 9 to do the half marathon there. It's really kind of neat because now I have two aunts, an uncle and my cousin who have gotten involved and are going to do the half marathon with us."
Each time Stephanie runs a race, her time gets a little faster and the running gets a little easier. "Remember Hebrews 12:1: 'Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, '" she said. "If you want to lose weight and get fit, you can do it. You need to do it for yourself, not to please anyone else. I'm a mother to five children, I work a full-time job and I help my husband in full-time ministry. If I can lose 120 pounds, anyone can lose weight."