Karrie hopped from one diet to the next. She tried pills, powders and weight loss programs, but the results were the same every time. She rarely lost weight, and when she did manage to lose a few pounds Karrie would just gain the weight back again.

“There have been so many that I can’t even remember the number of times I have tried to lose weight and the amount of diets that I have tried,” Karrie said. “Over the years I have tried pills, powders, weight loss centers and read countless books; I literally spent thousands and thousands of dollars. Every time I lost weight it always came back, plus more. One time I even tried sprinkling this stuff on my food that was supposed to cause me to lose weight!”

As frustrating as that was for her, Karrie didn’t give up, and eventually she found the answer.

What was Karrie’s secret to losing 90 pounds?

Karrie got to a point where she weighed more than when she was pregnant. It forced her to really examine her past weight loss efforts.

All along she had been looking for a plan, program or quick fix that would allow her to live her current lifestyle.  The funny thing is she didn’t like her lifestyle.

“I had no energy and I was always in pain. My feet, back and legs hurt the worst,” Karrie said. “I was miserable all the time.”

Her weight made it difficult to enjoy the things that she loved.

“I couldn’t even play with my kids without quickly becoming short of breath,” Karrie said. “I love to go to amusement parks, but as I waited in line I never knew if I was even going to fit on the ride. It was very stressful and I became depressed. I even became irritable toward the people I loved.”

In all of her past attempts to lose weight, she never exercised. So Karrie’s first step in her new plan was to begin working out, and in January of 2012 Karrie joined the LA Fitness in Lansdowne, Maryland.

Still, it took some time for Karrie to get used to the idea that exercising was to be part of her daily life.

“Even though I signed up in January, I didn’t go (to LA Fitness) much until about March,” Karrie said. “Working out was very hard at first. For the first few months I would only do the elliptical and only for about 10 minutes before I couldn’t do it anymore.”

As hard as it was, Karrie had gotten to a place in her life where she knew she couldn’t give up.

“Eventually, I got up to doing 35 to 40 minutes (on the elliptical), but that is all I would do,” Karrie said. “I started to make some friends at the gym, and they began to call me ‘the cardio queen (laughs).’”

It was a good start, but the weight wasn’t coming off.

“I wasn’t losing any weight but my clothes felt better,” Karrie said. “I knew I needed to change my eating habits. So I started eating a healthy breakfast and lunch, but I still ate whatever I wanted for dinner. Before, I was eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted all day long; so this was a big change for me. It was really hard trying to balance what I should eat with what I wanted to eat.”

It worked…for a little while anyway. Between her cardio and the changes she made with her eating habits Karrie lost 20 pounds, but the weight loss eventually slowed down.

Changing up her workout routine was something Karrie needed to do if she wanted to continue to lose weight. Luckily, Karrie found a workout buddy, Meg, who helped her take her workouts and weight loss efforts to the next level. Meg helped Karrie become comfortable with the idea of getting off the elliptical and adding strength training.

“I don’t like change, so it was very hard for me to do anything else besides the elliptical,” Karrie said. “Now we do different cardio routines, strength exercises, machines and intervals we call ‘shredding.’”

Karrie also dialed in her eating.

“Six days a week I eat a very healthy breakfast lunch and dinner,” Karrie said. “I make better choices now and just eat ‘junky’ foods one day a week, but I really don’t crave junk food that much anymore. For me, success has come from keeping things in moderation and knowing how hard I have worked to lose weight.”

A year and a half after she made the decision to lose weight and join her local LA Fitness, Karrie has lost a total of 90 pounds.

Though she still wants to lose 10 to 15 more pounds, she has her sights set on a new goal. Something she never even dreamed of….To run her first race ever, a 5K, in a series of endurance races that will lead to her running a marathon!

Is Karrie dreaming too big, or will she cross the finish line and get hooked on the adrenaline rush that comes with participating in endurance races? Follow Karrie’s story to find out how she does in her first race ever!

To learn how to effortlessly follow Karrie’s story CLICK HERE.

Be sure to come back for more inspiring REAL STORIES and helpful TOP TIPS every week. Simply CLICK HERE to learn how you can instantly receive each article as soon as they are published so you don’t miss a thing!