- April 24, 2024
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The grocery-store checkout lines can be intimidating. It seems that slim, beautiful women are on every magazine cover, and each one promises tips for weight-loss and getting in shape.
But is it really possible for the everyday Palm Coast resident to make such a transformation?
I know a handful of people who have made such transformations, and I’m hoping to share their inspirational stories in the coming weeks. If you have some impressive before-and-after pictures, send them to [email protected].
When Nicole Rio, 34, goes to work these days as a custodian at Bunnell Elementary School, she turns heads. She looks like a new person, and she feels like one, too.
At 5-foot-5, she weighed 247 pounds just 11 months ago. But soon, she should be celebrating something she hasn’t seen on the scale in six years: 199.
As with many people who lose a lot of weight, she had a moment of truth that caused her to pick a system (easy) and stick with it (difficult).
It was January 2013, a tough time for Rio because it marked the 10th anniversary of the heart attack that took her father’s life.
“His eating was really bad,” Rio recalled. “He was diabetic, he was putting gravy on everything, eating McDonald’s every day. … My dad was the type to worry about other people and help them, but he forgot about himself.”
With her father on her mind, Rio knew she needed to lose weight.
“I know people would say I’m young at 34, but there were times when I was so overweight, I felt like I couldn’t play with my children,” she said.
Then she saw an unflattering photo of herself eating a roast beef sandwich, and she started thinking more seriously about taking action.
Still in January, she watched an episode of “The Dr. Oz” show, and he gave the TV audience a pep talk. He said, Get off the couch right now! Get your shoes on and start walking. Rio stood up. She walked into the kitchen, and, through her window, she saw an 85-year-old man riding a bicycle.
“I chuckled to myself, and I said, ‘If he can do it, I can, too,’” she recalled. “I went to put my shoes on, and I was crying. I was walking the neighborhood with a stick of celery, and I was crying. I wanted to lose weight so bad.”
She thought, “I want to make a difference in my life. I don’t want to die young. I want to do this for my kids — my father and my children. I want to live longer, to see them graduate.”
And Rio stuck with it. For the past 11 months, she has been taking a pill called ACE (email her at [email protected] to learn more). She has been going to the gym and eating healthy food.
“I did this not only for myself, but also for my children,” she said, referring to 13-year-old Cameron and 5-year-old Addison. “Every day, I wake up with a smile. I feel like I’m on top of a mountain. I feel so different. … I feel like I’m in my 20s. My children are doing sit-ups and stretches with me. “
And so, for those who know they need to lose weight but are intimidated by the women on the magazine covers, Rio hopes to show that it's not a hopeless cause.
“I don’t want people to wait until it’s too late,” she said. “I want us to become a healthier community, to start walks around Town Center. Not everyone can run a 5k. But people can be inspired. … People know me as the girl who walks the neighborhood.”
Congrats, Nicole Rio!
