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CNN Live At Daybreak
Philadelphia Looks to Shed Excess Weight
Aired July 04, 2001 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we told you yesterday about efforts by the mayor of Philadelphia to get residents there to lose 76 tons in 76 days. The final weigh-in is over and the results will be tallied later today.
"Men's Fitness" magazine in 1999 ranked Philadelphia the fattest city in the country. Well, let's talk right now with the woman who lost the most weight in that big campaign. Naomi Williams received a certificate and a miniature liberty bell for trimming up, and she joins us from Philadelphia.
You look great, Naomi.
NAOMI WILLIAMS, PHILADELPHIA RESIDENT: Thank you very much.
LIN: I think you should have gotten more than those prizes. You deserve a -- you lost the equivalent of a small child. How many pounds?
WILLIAMS: Well, altogether I've lost, since I originally started before -- because I started a little bit before the challenge actually began in February, and since that time I've lost about 85 pounds.
LIN: Wow.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
LIN: That's not a small child, practically a teenager. You brought a picture in. I think it gives us an idea of what you looked like before.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
LIN: There you are -- a world of difference. How do you feel?
WILLIAMS: I feel fantastic.
LIN: Well, how did you do it?
WILLIAMS: Well, you know something, what happened is that, as you can see, I have braces now. And that was the start of saying that I wanted to do something different. I wanted to change my physical appearance because I had lost weight before, and then I started on the roller coaster of losing, gaining it back, you know, lose 10 and gain 15 back, and I didn't want to do that anymore.
And so I said, well, let me start going to the gym, because I knew that I had enjoyed going to gym before, but I had totally stopped, and once I stopped, I just ate anything. And I knew that going to the gym would give me that type of structure again.
So that's when -- so in January, looking at those pictures now, with my niece, and I couldn't even play with her on the floor. I had to play with her with her being on my lap. I now can run around the house with her and run around the house with my active goddaughter, who's two years old, and I couldn't do that before. And I know that a lot of it has to do with this -- with losing weight and with this challenge also.
LIN: All right, well, what can you eat today? I mean, can you eat three square meals and still feel full and lose weight?
WILLIAMS: Oh, yes, I mean, I can eat three square meals, and for me, a lot of things I just don't eat anymore. I don't eat bread unless it's a special occasion. I don't eat pasta. I don't eat rice, and I don't miss those things.
LIN: I bet you miss something, though?
WILLIAMS: Vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream.
LIN: Can you have that once in awhile? Can you give yourself a treat and still stay on the wagon?
WILLIAMS: Yes, I can, Carol, yes, I can.
LIN: What's the best advice to people who are looking to you as an example, you know, people who have gone on that roller coaster, as we all know how that feels. What do you want to tell them?
WILLIAMS: I would first say to just look and to compare yourself with yourself. Not to look at what somebody else's weight loss and say, oh, I don't have the stamina to do that. Oh, I can't do that. To look at yourself and say, you know what, instead of me eating that whole box of cookies, I'll just eat one or two. And then I can cut down that way.
I don't have to be -- I don't have to look at someone and say, I have got to be that size by a certain point. So I would say to someone, just compare yourself where you are right now, and to be conscious of those times when you eat the most. It may be a family affair, it may be during times in which you're under stress, it may be during times in which you're very happy. So to be aware of those times, and to say to yourself, well, you know something, I'm not going to try to change myself. I'm going to try to adopt a different lifestyle and make a choice.
LIN: There you go.
WILLIAMS: And that choice being that I'm going to eat less this particular meal. Just for today. LIN: Not total denial. You hit it right on the head. Not total denial. Maybe a few teaspoons of that strawberry ice cream.
WILLIAMS: Exactly.
LIN: But not the whole pint. All right, thank you so much. Naomi Williams, you look great. Congratulations.
WILLIAMS: Thank you so much, and thank you so much for allowing me to speak with you today, and thanks so much for Mayor Street and the health czar for all of their initiatives too, because that really did help me.
LIN: Yes, absolutely. Inspiration counts. Thanks so much, Naomi Williams.
WILLIAMS: Yes, thank you so much.
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