BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Remember those goals you set like a few weeks ago? How are those going?
Specifically talking about fitness goals, losing or maintaining weight. The middle to end of January is when people start to slip on those commitments, but 7 News is helping you stay on track.
We're giving you the tools from several voices:
- Lois O'Malley, who lost 100lbs in one year
- Robbie Raugh, local health and fitness expert
- Dr. Samuel Shatkin, who can answer questions about medications to help lose weight
- Donna Herberger, Owner of Ideal You
The Inspiration
Five years ago, Lois O'Malley decided it was time to make a change in her life.
"It was hard, really hard. All my life I had been overweight, pretty overweight. I think my highest I was at a little over 300 pounds," said O'Malley.
She's a mother and a teacher and wanted to be able to do more.
"You see these before and after pictures and it's like 'Oh it's great for them,' and here I am, but it just really hit that point where it's like, 'It's time, I have to do this,'" said O'Malley.
So she did and now she's living the after picture. She lost more than 100lbs in a year. We asked her what the toughest part was.
"Sticking to it. For sure. Going out, parties, friends everyone's drinking and snacking and I'm over here with my water," said O'Malley.
But she did it with the help of a DNA test that showed her the right way to diet for her body, a little weight lifting and accountability.
And now she finds sharing her story has inspired others to start journeys of their own.
The Health and Fitness Expert
Robbie Raugh was the one to hold Lois accountable a few times a month. She's spent decades helping Western New Yorkers with their health and fitness.
She says there are three things that get people stuck on this journey:
- What to eat
- How to exercise
- How to push through the tough days
She says there's no one diet that works for everyone, but the fewer labels you have to read, the better.
"You eat whole foods that don't have ingredients in it and you're not eating out of a box or a fast food window," said Raugh.
For exercise, she says you should work out most days of the week for an hour with a combination of aerobic activity, strength training and flexibility.
Here's her motivation to keep pushing.
"You can't take care of anyone else. And yesterday you said tomorrow, but nothing changes if nothing changes, just start," said Raugh.
She runs a health seminar through February 27th for wellness and weight loss.
The Doctor
Losing weight is a hot topic at the Aesthetics Associates Center in Amherst where they help many people start the journey.
Dr. Samuel Shatkin also fields questions about semiglutide medications that have gained popularity recently like Ozempic. He answered our question about how they work.
"It can reduce your appetite and help your metabolism and change the way you absorb food, so that it makes it easier to lose weight, but it's not for everybody," said Shatkin.
He stresses that this is not your first solution, but lifestyle changes should be round one.
His office has been helping people with these medications for the last year or so.
"Semiglutide is not the answer for everybody...with that being said there are some individuals that have some metabolic problems that have some metabolic problems that just can't lose the weight on their own and that's where something like these medications and or something like that might be helpful," said Dr. Shatkin.
The cost? $450/month for 6 months for a total of $2,700.
The Ideal You
Losing weight can be costly, but Donna Herberger from Ideal You says it's worth it and will balance itself out.
"They get off medications, medications get reduced. They don't have those copays, copays are expensive," said Herberger.
The they she's referring to is the thousands of people she's helped lose 380,000lbs.
"I'm like the proud mother, I could look at that slideshow all day long. A lot of these people I personally coached.">
Ideal You helps you with what to eat, using a food system with red, yellow and green light foods. Red being the big treat items, limited to one per day, yellow in the middle and green being low calorie.
How do you know your ideal weight? 7 News' Taylor Epps found out the hard way by getting on her body analyzing scale that tells you everything from fat percentage to metabolic age.
Apparently, being big-boned is not a thing, Taylor's bones only weigh about five pounds.
But that analysis helps Donna get her clients on track to reach their goals.
"By Mid-January they're getting discouraged, we actually get busier at the end of January and early February," said Herberger.
She says try giving up one thing at a time and take it step by step.
For more information Ideal You, click here.
Join the conversation and tell us about your progress over on Taylor's Facebook Page.
