BY STEPHANIE NAVARRO (Special to the Morning News)

After Gina Sims missed out last year, nothing was going to keep her from joining Florence’s Biggest Loser this year.

“I saw the program in the paper last year, but by that time it was too late to join,” Sims said.

When registration for the 2015 program opened, Sims was one of the first people to sign up. A self-described stress eater, Sims said she always found an excuse for why she was not healthy.

“I always said I had to get home to take care of my kids, but then I look up and my son is 21 and my daughter is 26, so I had to really question myself,” Sims said. “It’s just so easy to gravitate to excuses.”

After gaining 50 pounds during nursing school and developing other unhealthy habits, such as starting the day with a Coke, Sims did try to lose weight.

“I have tried so many other diets, but I always quit and then gain more back,” Sims said. “This is the longest I have ever stuck with something.”

The group trainings – which provide what Sims calls “lean-on power,” the motivational components and the accountability of the Biggest Loser program – are reasons she believes she has been more successful.

“I feel like I’ve really done well and that I’m learning instead of just changing what I do temporarily,” Sims said.

Some of her new habits include going to bed earlier, being conscious of everything she eats and being satisfied with smaller portions.

“I also no longer drink a soda every morning,” Sims said. “It was like it was an addiction I had to break, but now I have a bottle of water in my car. It’s really made a difference. I feel so good.”

Sims says, however, that the road is very challenging.

“It’s so easy to get lazy and to get discouraged,” she said.

Last Thursday, the day the Biggest Losers completed their weekly weigh-in, Sims had not lost as much as she thought she would.

“I wanted to be really depressed, because you work so hard and don’t see what you think you should,” Sims said. “But I knew I couldn’t think like that. I had to think positive and tell myself that I didn’t gain. I try to focus on other positives, like that my clothes feel loose and that everyone says they can see that I’ve lost.”

Her family has also become a great support system.

“When I told everyone I wanted to join Florence’s Biggest Loser, no one believed I would do it,” Sims said.

Now, however, her whole family has joined her on the journey.

“Each Thursday, I text my children, my husband and my sister about how I did,” Sims said. “They expect those texts now.”

Sims also convinced her daughter to join McLeod Health & Fitness Center so they can work out together.

After the program, Sims hopes to maintain her new healthy habits and to continue to lose weight, but she stressed that she understands this does not mean being perfect.

“I focus on small changes,” Sims said. “I realize I may not ever be able to ignore my husband’s homemade macaroni and cheese, but I can at least have less. And maybe I can work a little harder at my next workout.”

With four weeks left in the competition, Sims said she is looking forward to having more fun with her teammates and working out with her trainer, Reena.

“I don’t care about winning the competition,” she said. “I just want to be standing at the end.”

 

Read the story at SCNOW.com!