“You’re a shadow of your former self!” a friend called in greeting to me. What? Oh, yeah, she means the 67 pounds I’ve lost.

For anyone who, like me, has been overweight since childhood, this is a tale of hope.

I was 9 when my mother put me on a diet for the first time. I blame it on the French. They created croissants, after all. It didn’t help that my parents thought sports were for people (actually, boys) who didn’t go to college. They considered physical activity dangerous.

Diets became semi-annual tortures — weeks of lettuce, cottage cheese, celery and sugar-free Jello. Yuck! Between diets, food was my comfort when I was down and my reward when I was up. I went to counseling and the 12-step program for over-eaters. I lost weight, then gained it back.

By last year, walking up hills made me breathless. I barely fit into an airplane seat and had to ask for an extension for the seat belt. My world was shrinking as I expanded.

I began looking into gastric bypass surgery. It seemed the only way I could possibly lose over 100 pounds. But I wasn’t eligible for surgery, because I had not (yet) developed diabetes or heart disease. I felt like giving up.

In Sept-ember, I decided to take Islander Kathy Abascal’s class about foods that trigger inflammation. For 15 years my back and shoulders were so painful that a light touch made me scream. Perhaps this program would help.

Kathy has her students refrain from eating certain foods for three weeks, including sugar, sugar substitutes, alcohol and wheat. When the three weeks ended, I didn’t want to go back to eating those foods. I felt liberated! I wasn’t obsessing about the next bowl of ice cream or pasta. I realized that eating sugar or wheat makes me crave more and more.

I adopted some new behaviors due to Kathy’s program:

• No grains for breakfast, only protein, vegetables and fruit. I usually have an egg scrambled with spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes. A little cheese, tofu or ham gets added occasionally.

• Instead of “grazing” all day, I eat three meals and two snacks at set times. Snacks are usually 10 almonds and a piece of fruit. Instead of buying lunch I bring it to work, saving money and calories.

• Every meal other than breakfast consists of equal thirds of protein, grain and vegetables and/or fruit.

• I used to have a big “bedtime snack.” Now I don’t eat anything after dinner.

• I rarely drink alcohol. Did you know alcohol has nearly twice as many calories per ounce as meat or potatoes?

• All food is fresh, not processed. Eating only organic food is too expensive, but I now grow five varieties of lettuce in window boxes.

My spouse Gary, who does the cooking in our family, jumped on board whole-heartedly.  Our kids, not so much, but at least the adults are modeling healthy eating.

Shape Up Vashon is another great resource. It costs only $10 to join and you get free classes and information on nutrition and health, a supportive group to cheer you on, an online program to track your progress and links to community members who you can join for walks, swimming or other forms of activity. I like the link to exercises for strengthening core muscles.

Key to my recent weight loss was having a short-term goal. After watching our daughter ride horses for a couple years, I got the crazy notion to learn to ride, too. I doubted I could do it at age 56 — me, the person who never exercised. But Emily Wigley of Fish Bowl Farm agreed to teach me. First, in fairness to the horse, I decided to lose 40 pounds.

While I was losing weight, Emily helped me shop for the “right” horse. Eventually we found Xena, my beautiful mare. Emily was an encouraging teacher, but I realized I needed to be stronger and more agile. I unearthed the treadmill that was serving as a clothes rack and started walking on it 10 minutes a day, followed by stretching. Slowly, I increased time and speed.

When I hit a plateau, I found an app for my phone to track the calories I’m eating and burning. A few weeks ago, I hit another plateau after losing 60 pounds. I joined a gym near my office and started working with a personal trainer. Another seven pounds gone!

In the mid-afternoons I used to feel like my head turned into a bag of cement that had to be laid down on the desk. Not anymore. As for my chronic pain, it’s barely noticeable now.

I’m not absolutely rigid about what I eat. On special occasions I may have dessert or a glass of wine, but frankly, most of the time it’s easier to abstain. Along the way I’ve realized this isn’t a diet, it’s a way of life. For the first time, the weight loss feels sustainable. The good news is, if I can do it, maybe you can too.

— Laura Wishik is a Vashon school board member and mother of two.

Helpful resources

Kathy Abascal: www.tqidiet.com

Shape Up Vashon: www.shapeupvashon.org

“The Rider’s Fitness Program,” by Dianna Robin Dennis, John J. McCully, Paul M. Juris

www.Livestrong.com: Online program with downloadable app for tracking calories eaten and burned.

“Anti-Inflammatory Foods for Health,” by Barbara Rowe and Lisa Davis