A whole new attitude

Shape, Sept, 2004

LAURA'S CHALLENGE

Laura Connolly started dieting when she was 16 years old. "I was a chubby girl, and I wanted to do something to change that," she recalls. She began starving herself, eating just 800 calories a day, and quickly shed 40 pounds. "When I hit 90 pounds, I was just skin and bones," she says. Laura's mother, friends and teachers were very worried about her health, but she refused to listen to anyone until her doctor told her that she needed help. "Then I got scared into eating normally again," Laura remembers. "But I never learned a healthful way to eat." By age 23, Laura had packed on 90 pounds, and her weight peaked at 180 pounds.

HER TURNING POINT

Seeing a photo of herself in a bathing suit on vacation in the Dominican Republic made Laura take a hard look at her weight problem. "I was out of shape and unattractive," she says. "I didn't want to look that way for the rest of my life."

HER WEIGHT-LOSS & EXERCISE PLAN

Laura decided to join Weight Watchers since she didn't know where to start. "The first meeting was a wake-up call," she says. "I learned that watching portion sizes was just as important as counting calories and fat grams." Laura began using measuring cups to ensure she was eating the right amount of food. She also began a half-hour walk/run program outdoors four or five times a week.

MAKING SUCCESS HAPPEN

After just two weeks of her new eating and exercise plan, Laura noticed a difference. Her too-tight size-13 jeans had a little more wiggle room. "My face was slimmer, and I felt more energetic," she says.

To compensate for smaller portions, Laura emphasized more variety in her diet and began to experiment with foods that were new to her, like avocados and asparagus. "I tried a new fruit or vegetable each week," she recalls. "When I realized such foods could fill me up without a lot of calories and taste good, I was hooked."

Laura began to cook more and often adjusted recipes to prepare one or two servings, instead of four or more. "That way I didn't have any leftovers tempting me to overeat," she says. When Laura craved something sweet, she treated herself to lowfat frozen yogurt, pudding or a couple of lowfat cookies. However, she continued to watch her portion sizes. "I never ate a snack straight out of the bag or box," she says.

As she became lighter, Laura began enjoying her workouts even more. "I could run longer and faster," she recalls. She joined a gym to start a weight-training program and soon began to see muscle tone in her arms and legs.

A year later, Laura was 45 pounds lighter and went on a vacation to Greece. "I wore a bikini and lots of sundresses," Laura says. "I love the way I look in photos from that trip. The struggle was long and hard, but it taught me that I can achieve anything I set my mind to."

* To submit your own Success Story, go to Shape.com/model.

RELATED ARTICLE: LAURA CONNOLLY, 29, ONTARIO, CANADA

* Height: 5'6"

* Pounds lost: 45

LAURA ON ...

* HER SECRET WEAPON "I work as a paramedic, and thanks to my strength-training workouts, I can lift and move patients more easily, and I have more energy during my 12-hour shifts."

* SWEET TREATS "Cheesecake is my all-time favorite dessert. Instead of cutting it out of my diet, I treat myself to a bite-sized cheesecake square. It satisfies my craving without damaging my waistline."

* FAST FOOD "If I get stuck and need to eat a meal on the go, I opt for a turkey sub or a mandarin chicken salad with lowfat dressing."