Growing up in New England in the late 1980s and 1990s, Lisa Fuller recalls a childhood fueled by microwave meals and as she got older, her eating habits shifted to fast food and frequent dining out.
By age 30, Fuller was obese. An active day for her amounted to only 1,000 steps, and her lifestyle took a toll not only on her physical health but also on her mental well-being. She relied heavily on medication to manage anxiety, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
“In my forties, I gave up the notion that I would get better and just conceded that this is just how it goes with aging—I would just get fatter and unhealthier until I eventually die,” Fuller, a mom of one, told Newsweek.
In May 2024, she reached her heaviest weight of 253 pounds. With her 50th birthday approaching in August this year, she decided it was time to make a change.
“I suddenly felt an overwhelming drive to take back my life and really, truly, make sure I live in the time I have left,” she said. “I was tired of being the only fat person in the room, and I hated that my son was 24 and had never seen me healthy.”
Having never stepped foot inside a gym, Fuller was consuming around 5,000 to 6,000 calories per day. This included more than five cocktails a night. Combined with her history of mental health struggles, she knew she needed support. Living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, she turned to Ultimate Performance (UP), a global personal training company.
Her new routine involved two weekly weight training sessions with her trainer, Konstantinos Koniaris, and walking 10,000 steps per day. Several months later, she added an additional weight training session, increased her steps to between 15,000 and 20,000 daily, and incorporated 30 to 45 minutes of stationary bike cardio four times a week.
Her calorie intake has decreased massively, starting at 1,790 calories and eventually reduced down to 1,390 calories. Now it is 1,940 calories per day as she is focusing on building muscle.
Today, she rarely drinks alcohol and her diet mainly consists of meat, vegetables or salad, Greek yogurt and nuts.
She said: “I fully expected to fail at this. Because of that, I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it. Only a handful of people I worked with, and my spouse and son knew. I didn’t want anyone to know because I was sure I would give up, as I had many times before during the past two decades of being obese.”
But she didn’t give up. Exactly one year later, she had dropped 110 pounds, reaching a 143-pound, size 4 body.
“To be fit just in time for my 50th is truly unreal—like it doesn’t feel real,” she told Newsweek. “Even when I started this program, my goal wasn’t to get ‘fit’ because I thought that was impossible. My goal was only to be healthy enough that I wasn’t waking up in a panic every night afraid I was going to die.”
Although the physical benefits were a motivating factor, it’s the mental health improvements that have been most profound.
“I have a long history of anxiety, panic, and OCD. This became severe enough in the past that I was hospitalized for it in 2009. At that time, I was put on a whole variety of medications and some things worked better than others, but nothing ‘fixed’ me fully,” she said. “I didn’t want to live on psych drugs, so I made a big effort to wean off everything I could and do my best to manage what I could without medication.”
Just before she started the program, Fuller accidentally ran out of her prescription for Prozac, an antidepressant. Though it’s not advised to abruptly stop medication, she decided to continue without it since it was already nearly out of her system.
“I didn’t make a proactive, deliberate choice to stop Prozac because I was starting the program, but it worked out that way by accident. So, I decided to go as long as I could without it,” she said.
“I honestly thought at most I might make it to two months. And now, six months into my program, not only have I not needed it, but I also haven’t even thought about it.”
Even while on medication, Fuller experienced panic attacks and frequent nighttime awakenings.
She told Newsweek: “It used to take me around three hours to fall asleep most nights because my anxiety would be so high at the end of the day. Now I fall asleep almost immediately and only get up to go to the bathroom. And I don’t have panic attacks anymore—at night, or in the day.
“I never expected this outcome. It wasn’t even something I ‘hoped’ for because, honestly, I didn’t think it was a possibility. My focus was on my physical health. I expected I would, in general, feel better mentally, but I didn’t expect this. I truly feel like this has given me a second chance at life.”
The post Woman Wants to Improve Mental Health Before 50th, Then She Dropped 100lbs appeared first on Newsweek.
