Meet Our Bloggers: Sue Billhardt

Sue has struggled to maintain a comfortable weight her entire life, yo-yoing up and down, as so many of us do. "It seemed," she says, "like I was on a continual diet."

She finally reached her goal weight shortly before her 50th birthday, when she underwent a hysterectomy for endometrian cancer. The procedure, of course, put her into instant menopause.

While she was recuperating from her surgery, she discovered a lump in her breast which turned out to be breast cancer. In January 2007--a month shy of turning 50--she underwent a double mastectomy, followed by a full course of chemotherapy. After completing chemo, she was put on a medication called Arimidex, which stops the body from producing estrogen.

Through it all, Sue attempted to keep up with her running regimen. But she was still putting weight on. "I began to have problems with my hip," she says, "and it turned out that I needed a hip replacement." Needless to say, that was the end of the running, and Sue continued to put on additional weight.

In September 2009, Sue had her hip replaced and was told not to run for at least six months. By the time January 2010 rolled around, Sue weighed more than she ever had, except when she was pregnant. "I was really afraid that if I didn't do something, it would just keep coming on," she says. "I still had two more years of taking the Arimidex ahead of me, and I was afraid of how much more I might gain. I had to quit making excuses and do something about my situation."

It was at this point that Sue found out about a weight loss contest sponsored by a local newspaper, The News-Herald. "I just knew I could lose the weight," Sue says, "but I had to drastically change how I was eating."

Sue was successful and lost 22 pounds in 6 months--her exact goal. "But it's been three months since the contest ended," Sue says, "and I've begun to 'slip off the wagon.'" She's gained back six of the twenty-two pounds she lost, and is very afraid of the potential to gain even more.

Sue is now working with a nutritionist in addition to attending the monthly meetings of Dr. Berkeley's Refuse to Regain Maintainers group. She looks forward to losing the six pounds she gained, while learning how to keep the weight off permanently, and to sharing her journey here on this blog.