Erin Day, 38
Glenelg
With her pack-a-day cigarette habit and excess weight, Erin Day says she once couldn't keep up with her young daughter, Skylar, now 7.
"We would go outside, and she wanted me to chase her, and I just physically couldn't do it," Day remembers."Honestly, anything was a challenge. If we were walking the boardwalk, I'd want to sit down."
In late 2013, the Glenelg resident started taking dance classes at Curves in Towson to get in shape. Day then picked a spot closer to home, Brickhouse Cardio Club in Ellicott City. She started taking several classes to build her muscles and get a full body workout. She also knew she had to stop smoking if she wanted to get through the intense workout routines.
She has since lost more than 35 pounds and dropped from a size 18 to a size 12. The nearly 6-foot-tall Day now weighs 197 pounds, down from 235.
But Day wasn't obsessed with the scale or her dress size. Her goal was not to focus reaching a magic number but to improve her overall health.
"All my life I've been up and down with my weight," she says."I've tried dieting. Sometimes I'd eat one meal a day. It never worked. This time, I knew something just clicked with me. I realized it can't be a diet. It has to be a lifestyle change."
Day began drinking vegetable-laden green smoothies and eating nuts, seeds, fish and other lean proteins while cutting out fried and processed foods.
She is continuing her fitness transformation by attending a weekly weight-loss challenge and keeping up with the exercise classes at Brickhouse.
Being a good role model for her daughter has been her motivation, Day says. "I wanted her to see me active and make healthy choices."
Kenneth Kelly, 65
Elkridge
When Kenneth Kelly was told he had an arrhythmia in 2011, the 377-pound Elkridge resident knew it was time to pay more attention to his health. While his doctor didn't order him to drop the pounds, Kelly knew that the excess weight was taxing his body.
"It's burdensome when you have that much weight," says Kelly, who is 5 feet 11 inches tall. "Common sense says that the healthier you are, the longer you're going to live."
Newly retired in 2010 and newly married in 2011, Kelly wanted to enjoy his free time with his wife, Paula.
He made a number of lifestyle changes, including working out six days a week and cutting out fried foods.
"I probably had fried chicken or fried potatoes three times this year, whereas before I wouldn't hesitate to eat fried foods [regularly]," he says.
He started to eat brown rice instead of white rice and four small meals a day rather than three big meals. For breakfast, he now drinks a shake with kale or mustard greens, vegan protein powder, an egg white protein powder, chia seeds, wheatgrass and a peach or a banana. Breakfast used to consist of three eggs, a couple of pieces of sausage and an English muffin.
Kelly is now down to 299 pounds after losing 78. He says his goal is to get down to 250 and he has been losing about 4 pounds a month.
His workout routine includes 39 Minute Fitness — a mix of cardio and kettle bells — a TRX Suspension Training class and going on a five-mile walk Sunday mornings with Paula.
"I'm better able to do things," he says."I don't feel the effects of exercise as much. I can do a couple more push-ups than before."
His advice to others who want to lose weight is to stay dedicated: "Make a commitment to yourself that this is what you want to do."
Rachael Farkas, 35
Ellicott City