Dena Dickmeyer has lost a lot during the past year.
But she doesn’t mind, because what she’s lost is weight.
The 53-year-old Valley resident has lost 101 pounds since April 2008. She’s dropped in clothing size from 26 to 16.
“It’s been a good year,” she said.
Dickmeyer said she began dropping those pounds after joining a Weight Watchers group that meets Wednesday mornings in Fremont. To celebrate, she brought 101 pounds of food to the meeting earlier this week as part of the corporation’s “Lose for Good” drive. Food items gathered at the local meeting went to the Low Income Ministry in Fremont.
Dickmeyer began wanting to slim down when she and her husband, Leonard, were spending the winter in Texas. While there, she went to see a doctor about a knee problem. He told her she needed to lose weight.
“He was saying that the only reason it hurt was because there was too much weight,” she said. “I was going to prove him wrong, that it wasn’t only my weight. There was something wrong with my knee.”
When she returned to Fremont, she joined the weight-loss group and began changing her eating habits. Weight Watchers uses a points system. She kept track of points assigned to food and beverages she consumed. She recorded what she ate and drank each day.
“I can just look at food and it will jump on my hips,” she said, laughing.
She learned to stay within her points allowance.
Dickmeyer also had to evaluate why she thought she was hungry.
Was she really hungry or just bored? Did she think she was hungry because she saw someone else eating something or because something on television looked good?
“Then I’d have to think, ‘Is it worth using up my points on this?’” she said.
She set goals of five-pound increments and faithfully attended the weight-loss group meetings at St. Timothy Lutheran Church.
Dickmeyer did other things, too.
“I chose the foods that didn’t have so much fat or so many calories and incorporated walking and in Texas (the next winter), I got to swim a lot,” she said. “I love chocolate and sweet stuff so I made sure I made my own chocolate and sweet stuff and didn’t restrict myself too much.
“My husband has been wonderful about eating what I cook and not complaining about it.”
And he’s lost about 20 pounds.
The most challenging part, she said, has been dining out with friends or attending family gatherings with food aplenty.
“I have to tell myself that I can only do this a little bit,” she said.
If she overdoes it a bit, she makes sure to get right back on track the next day.
“I tend to let the scale be my good friend,” she said. “It helps me keep on task. I’m so close to my goal.”
Dickmeyer already has begun seeing the benefits of weight loss.
“I feel a lot healthier and I didn’t realize that I was out of breath when I did anything physical until now, but now I can go up and down stairs with ease,” she said.
Dickmeyer wants to meet her goal weight and maintain it.
She considers herself on a journey that will continue even after she meets her goal.
“You head to the finish line, but know that when you’re there, you’re not finished,” she said. “It’s the beginning of your new healthy life and you start a new journey.”
In the past, Dickmeyer said, she’s stopped short of her goal, thus cheating herself.
“This time, I’m going to hit my goal,” she said, later adding, “It feels so right this time and that’s the main thing.”
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