Woman sheds 220 pounds, gets ‘Joy Fit’

>> she said she would do it for the entire hour if we went -- if we met our goal.

>> of 25,000 pounds, and we did. so we are going to induct our newest member into the joy fit club . she's a 47-year-old stay-at-home mom from lubbock, texas, lost a whopping 221 pounds.

>> her name is christy . let's take a look at her story while joy continues to jump rope .

>> hi. my name is christy and i have spent most of my life fighting with my weight. for so many years, my weight won the fight. i grew up in an italian family and developed a love for cooking from my grandmother. after i had a baby in 1995 , my weight soared. i was told by several doctors that my yo-yo dieting had caused my thyroid glands to stop functioning correctly and that i would probably have a difficult time losing weight . three years ago, i attended both my niece's sweet 16 party and a family union. when i looked at myself in the photos from those event, i could actually see the pain in my eyes. my weight had reached 325 pounds. i realized i wanted to be free of the pounds that were preventing me from truly living my life . i decided my will was stronger than any analysis and i began counting calories, keeping a food diary and exercising. a year and a half later i had lost a total of 221 pounds. i still love to cook and i spend lots of time in the kitchen, but now my relationship with food is a love affair and not a fight. nothing is stronger than a strong will. and nothing, nothing tastes as good as that feels.

>> oh, wow.

>> before we bring her out, we're going to talk to joy, who's hyperventilating.

>> i'm going to try to get this out. this is a phenomenal transformation, really. i think one of the things that really stood out to me, is breakfast. before she had 400 calories worth, which is not that much.

>> right.

>> of pure carb.

>> cream cheese.

>> it made her ? hungry an hour later. now she has a high-protein, nonfat greek yogurt with fiber-filling fruit so it keeps her full for hours.

>> i love it. you run half marathons and you're hyperventilating. this is a difficult exercise.

>> i had no idea how tough jump roping was going to be. saturday morning one hour long i thought. five minutes in i was gasping.

>> amazing.

>> here's christy 's before picture. all right. christy , let's see the new you!

>> wow.

>> whooo!

>> that is just not possible.

>> but it is.

>> a year and a half?

>> year and a half.

>> that's it?

>> yes.

>> didn't just fall off.

>> started doing the right things?

>> yes. i ate very little and tried to eat all the right things and exercise. the pounds fell off.

>> the doctors were wrong about your thyroid.

>> yes.

>> you showed them.

>> good.

>> i like how you said it turned into a love affair . you're fighting with food versus a love affair . everything changed.

>> i loved to cook and i didn't want to let that change. you know, you have to be.

>> how about exercise like what joy's doing? do you do some?

>> every day.

>> she's going to join me.

>> yeah. jump for joy.

>> she doesn't have sneakers.

>> congratulations.

>> this is miraculous story.

>> i'm almost done!

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