http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/02/fn.veronica.noone/index.html

Newborn inspires mom to lose 71 pounds
By Steve Almasy, CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Veronica Noone is an iReporter and weight loss success story
* She has lost about 70 pounds and kept most of it off for four years
* She says her newborn son inspired her to make healthy eating choices
* This strategy, instead of a strict diet, caused the weight loss, she says

(CNN) -- Veronica Noone had been a little overweight since her teens, and,
like many people, had spent the better part of her life trying different
diets, whatever was popular at the time.

Having a child changed that, she says. After she had her baby, she decided
to lose the post-baby weight and the extra pounds she'd been carrying years
before that. Dropping about 70 pounds in seven months, Noone's maintained a
healthy weight for almost four years now.

Name: Veronica Noone, 33, an online interactive designer at University of
Maryland-Baltimore County who lives in Perry Hall, Maryland.

Background: She was a very normal child but her weight struggles began
after puberty. She was probably 10 to 20 pounds over the weight she thinks
fits well on her 5-foot-9 frame. It struck her hard because in her group of
friends, she was one of the chubby ones. She started to yo-yo diet to try
to fit in.

After college she gained more weight, topping 200 pounds. She became what
she calls a "serial dieter." When she and her husband decided they wanted
to have a child, it was a decision that changed her outlook on life and her
self image.

How much she lost: On June 30, 2005, she weighed 206.8 pounds. She reached
her goal weight of 149 on January 19, 2006. She eventually got to 135
pounds, but finds 145 to be a more comfortable weight.

How she lost it: After her son was born in 2005, Noone started to eat in a
different way. "I found that when my focus changed from trying to get thin
to trying to be healthy and a good example [for my son], all of a sudden
the weight started coming off," she says. Her preoccupation with her body
image disappeared and she became more concerned with what were the best
food choices she could make for her son.

But just as important, she came to another realization. "I didn't have to
be perfect," she says about her plan to lose weight. Before, she would
hammer herself if she broke with the diet and had a doughnut or something
else that made her feel like she had failed. "Every choice I make is an
on-plan choice. If I choose to eat a doughnut, that's fine. I'm going to
eat that doughnut. It doesn't mean I'm off my diet. I'll account for that
in a later meal. Or I'll have a lighter dinner."

How she's keeping it off: She's maintained her weight for about four years.
She credits her Twitter account, where she enters what she eats like it's a
food journal. "It makes me stay conscious of what I am eating," she says.
She did keep up with her Weight Watchers points for two years, but felt a
little restricted by tracking them.

She always cooks dinner for her family and the leftovers become lunch for
the next day. She also says she likes to bring snacks to work like soup,
yogurt, apples and pudding cups.

iReport: Share your weight loss success story

Advice to others: If you just had a baby, don't put any pressure on
yourself to lose the weight, Noone says. Instead, make a decision to eat
healthier the moment you get home from the hospital. The goal should be to
be conscious of what you eat and to not take the easy way out because you
are frazzled or short on time. "A lot of women don't think about themselves
at that time; it's all about the new baby and it needs to be," she says.
"But if Mom's not feeling good and taking care of herself, then the child
is not going to be happy either."

Noone believes the outside motivation of having a child made it easier for
her to lose weight because she was also being healthful for her son. She
also incorporated her son into her activities. One of the fun things she
liked to do was to dance around the house with her child, getting down to
everything from kid's music to rock 'n' roll to alternative music to
hip-hop. "The little guy," as she calls him, is going through a Linkin Park
phase, she says.

She also blogs on a Web site called greenlitebites.com where she shares
recipes she and "the little guy" like to create.