THE TURNING POINT: I really had a problem. It started affecting my health and I had high cholesterol and I just felt like that was not taking care of the body that God gave me. Just bending down to tie your shoes or just daily activities were just more difficult.

GETTING A MOVE ON: I started walking around the mall to begin with because it was in the fall, it was starting to get cool. I started once it warmed up going to local parks. I would keep track of my 10,000 steps and if I had not made that, I would just walk around the house or, you know, and just try to get it up, and it was usually pretty close by the end of the day. I used exercise DVDs. I still do Faithful Workouts. I tape it and I have an exercise ball and bands and weights and things that I use with the DVDs.

FAITH WAS BY HER SIDE: Christ can give you strength and you can — I mean if you’re obedient and you just keep on track – you can lose weight. He gave me the strength and the power just to keep going. I have a tendency to want to overeat and overindulge and he just gave me the strength to resist that temptation.

A NEW LEASE ON LIFE: It’s so much easier to find clothes in a slimmer body and I can just do so many more things that I just didn’t have the energy to do before. I really used to enjoy exercising and walking and things and I really had missed that because I really wasn’t in any shape to go hiking or walking.

FAMILY AFFAIR: My husband is real proud of me and very supportive. He’s changed his eating habits as well, everybody just — my children also just got on board with you know eating healthier. I think they are all eating healthier. My husband actually has lost about 15 pounds as well.

KEYS TO MY SUCCESS: A pedometer to track daily steps. Faith in the Lord. A prayer group and friends that offer support.