Cape woman keeps 2017 resolution and then some, loses 117 pounds

Like a lot of people, clothes were on Amy Essner's Christmas wish list this year.

Unlike others, however, her list was born of necessity. The need arose from losing 117 pounds in 2017, and her wardrobe is a work in progress.

"I'm working on it," Essner said. "I got to where I had to. I couldn't keep my pants up."

Essner entered the year with a familiar resolution, vowing to lose weight.

"I'm a good not-stick-to-my-resolution kind of person, if that makes sense," she said. "That's been probably my resolution every year."

Submitted photo by Amy Essner

However, this time she was resolute.

She entered the year 37 years old at 254 pounds, suffered from high blood pressure and knew the consequences. She had lost her grandfather, who was overweight, at the age of 51 after a stroke.

Essner said she has struggled with her weight ever since graduating from Puxico High School in 1997, and she had not seen a scale dip below 200 pounds in nearly 10 years, and that was despite having lap-band surgery three years earlier. The surgery ultimately had to be reversed after much stomach illness and the loss of just 30 pounds.

Her weight had reached an all-time high of 264 pounds in 2011, and for good reason: She was pregnant with her only child, daughter Emma.

As it turned out, Emma, the pride of her and husband Randy's lives, was a good reason for her mom's resolution and power to stick with it in 2017.

"My main reason to lose weight was for my family, my husband, my daughter," Essner said. "Because I want to be around and I want to be an active part in her life. ... There were some things I physically couldn't do, like climb around on playground equipment and things she wanted to do. The time had come."

Essner, a nurse, also received motivation from a co-worker, who had lost around 70 pounds on a diet. Essner said the woman not only looked better, but also noted she was feeling better. It gave Essner further incentive and confidence she could control her weight with the same plan.

The strategy included a daily habit of reporting her weight and logging what she ate, which included specific amounts of lean protein, vegetables and fruits laid out by the Becking Clinic. She also became mindful of drinking plenty of water, part of building better lifestyle habits, something which Eric Becking, the clinic owner, said is instrumental in weight loss, along with desire and support.

"No. 1 is there's got to be something deeper than just how you're looking," Becking said. "There's got to be a genuine, heartfelt need to get a result."

Rather than calling it a diet, he refers to it as a change of habits.

One of the habits Essner had to confront was eating, an essential to living but also one woven into other aspects of life. Food can be found at birthday parties, weddings and even funerals, and it's always in the kitchen. It was also something she said was like an addiction, "a substance" she turned to when she was upset.

Her awareness of her tendencies and situations that might trigger bad choices helped her stay on course, along with support.

It's a behavioral approach, Dr. Melissa Odegard-Koester, a licensed professional counselor and interim chairman of the psychology department at Southeast Missouri State, said is necessary for change to occur. It's a process she said starts with recognition of a behavior and a desire for change. Support and accountability are big factors in achieving the desired change.

"I think that definitely increases the likelihood of success when you want to change or meet a goal," Odegard-Koester said.

She said positive reinforcement also plays a role.

Essner encountered those positives on a physical and emotional level as she shed the pounds. She lost her first 40 pounds in 40 days.

She found herself feeling less stiffness and pain in her joints. She also had to get better at receiving compliments, something people tossed her way when noticing the change. There also was the feeling of being able to shop with friends in a "regular clothing store" instead of feeling embarrassed because the clothes that fit were elsewhere.

And there was the totally remarkable day of Aug. 30, when she climbed to the top of a large rock at the playground at Capaha Park. It felt like a mountain: It was Emma's fifth birthday, and also the day she had lost 100 pounds.

She still had 17 pounds to go, and made it with the help of family, citing her mom as a big support throughout the year.

The journey, however, was hers.

"It's internal. Nobody can make you do it." Essner said. "If you're not motivated to do it ..."

Odegard-Koester credits marketing with the uptick in resolutions that accompany the start of the New Year. She's not a fan of setting specific goals for weight loss, citing feeling healthy as the ultimate goal. But she's not opposed to our culture's penchant for resolutions.

"Hopefully it can be positive," Odegard-Koester said. "I try to look at it as, 'It's a good reminder that I need to reflect on what's important to me,' and so when I think about this season, and we all come from different walks of life and have different values and beliefs, as humans I think it's a good opportunity to take a look at ourselves and maybe weigh in on this year. 'How did it go? What was I appreciative about this year? And what can I do to improve my relationship with the people that I care about?'"

For Essner, the changes are seismic.

She may find a frozen mocha appealing, but eats peppers of all colors, likes asparagus, and even craves it among other vegetables.

Her initial goal for her diet was to weigh 199.999 pounds. It's part of an incremental mindset she tells others they need to possess when they're trying to lose weight.

"I didn't gain a hundred pounds in a month or two months, so I didn't expect to lose it in that time," Essner said. "And just because you mess up on one day, it doesn't mean you can't start over again tomorrow."

She's no longer trying to lose pounds. Her BMI is 22, down from 41, and she wears a size 6, no longer a 20. She said she wouldn't have believed those numbers could have been attained without surgery at the start of the year.

She has another resolution for 2018: Maintain.

"I think my outlook on life is a lot brighter. I think I smile more. I'm happier," Essner said. "I can do more things with my daughter I couldn't do. That's the biggest thing."