Two years ago, Debbie Heyer weighed more than 350 pounds. She struggled to walk up staircases, gasping for air with each step. She ate thousands of junk food calories every day. Well aware of her obesity, she resigned herself to the fact that she would probably die from it. Until she decided to change everything and live.
The beginning
On March 1, 2007, Heyer began a diet with Jenny Craig.
“Tired of being emotionally frustrated and physically tired, I came to the realization that if I continued as I was, I would die young,” Heyer wrote in a “Dear Jenny Ideal Size Challenge” letter.
Determined to lose weight, she hired a Jenny Craig consultant, embraced the company’s “volumetric” diet program, and — on her own — began working out, studying nutrition and changing her lifestyle completely.
Within 17 months, Heyer lost more than half of her body weight. Today, she is a slim 125 pounds and has never felt livelier.
“My eyes open in the morning and I spring out of bed,” the 43-year-old said. “I have boundless energy. There isn’t anything I can’t do.”
Losing more than 200 pounds and adopting a healthy lifestyle reshaped Heyer’s world.
In the past, Heyer would gorge herself in sweets to “feel better,” and only end up feeling worse. Her self-confidence was sapped, her life restricted by obesity.
Today, her happiness stems from early morning runs, baking sugar-free cookies sans guilt and shopping with confidence for a flattering size 2. But more than anything, Heyer finds happiness in sharing her story. And thanks — once again — to Jenny Craig, her story is being shared with the world.
Last December, Heyer was announced the winner of the 2008 Jenny Craig Ideal Size Challenge; an honor that carries national fanfare. Heyer’s story has been picked up by Entertainment Tonight and In Touch magazine — among other media — and awed over by women across the country.
Since winning the Ideal Size Challenge, which she entered with the encouragement of friends, Heyer has become an inspiration for American women — and men — praying to lose weight. And there is more to come.
In April, the Islander will appear in a nationwide Jenny Craig commercial alongside company spokeswoman and actress Valerie Bertinelli.
Heyer has already met with Bertinelli, who she describes as “a bubble of energy,” several times. Together, the two women have become the inspirational faces of Jenny Craig. Heyer, not shy in the least, relishes this new role.
“I love motivational speaking. It’s my calling,” she told the Reporter, after returning from a Jenny Craig National Conference in San Diego. “There’s not a nervous bone in my body when I’m up there talking because I’ve traveled this journey. I’ve walked the walk.”
A new lifestyle
A resident of Shorewood Heights, Heyer spends most of her free time working out in the apartment complex’s small gym. On warmer days, she will go for a run or take a long bike ride. She lifts weights twice a week, practices yoga, escapes to the mountains to hike and welcomes any other athletic activity. Health and fitness are now her life, and she refuses to let this go.
“Wellness — body and mind; it’s the focus of my life now,” she said.
Heyer is no longer on the Jenny Craig diet. She has taken her health into her own hands and knows how to move forward. She is currently working on a book about her success story and hoping to make a career out of motivational speaking.
Confident that she will never slide back, Heyer explains that losing a large amount of weight — and keeping it off — is not as difficult as some may think.
“Mostly, it was about pushing myself,” she said, adding that Jenny Craig was the first diet she had ever tried. “I bought a book on nutrition and I set goals. Every day I had to do better. The hardest phase was never. I never felt deprived. I was never hungry.”
Heyer went from consuming more than 10,000 calories a day to less than 3,000 on the Jenny Craig diet. She completely cut out processed, sugar- and sodium-filled foods. With the help of Jenny Craig, Heyer replaced these empty calories with natural vegetables and fruits, protein-filled dinners and fiber-rich snacks. After time, she stopped craving junk food. Now, she craves brussels sprouts, fresh salad or vegetable soup.
“This program — the food, it changes the chemistry of your body. I can’t go back to processed foods. They make me sick now,” Heyer said.
Meredith Gilbert, a clinical psychologist on Mercer Island who specializes in binge-eating disorders, applauds Heyer for her personal triumph. Yet most severely obese women, she points out, need more than a diet to improve their health. Often, the root issue is psychological.
“Most people can’t sustain the motivation that [Heyer] has. They need help. They need to understand the underlying problems of why they’re overeating, which are often anxiety, depression and relationship conflict,” said Gilbert.
As long as Heyer is consuming enough calories so that she does not feel deprived, Gilbert added, there is no reason why she should not be able to continue her healthy lifestyle. In the end, the Ph.D. emphasized, it comes down to self-motivation.
“I think it’s wonderful what she’s done and hope she can maintain this motivation over a long period of time,” Gilbert said.
It is a challenge that Heyer is determined to live up to, not for others but for herself.
“It’s a lifestyle change. It’s forever,” she said. “When you take control of your health, your destiny is whatever you want it to be.”
Heyer can be contacted at www.debbieheyer.com. Dr. Meredith Gilbert can be contacted at
232-2898.
