Healthy lifestyles weight management: Suburban woman drops 90 pounds; Trades her size 22 for a size 10

Titania Harris is one of those people that can do it all. She’s a wife, mom and highly sought-after tennis instructor at the Homewood-Flossmoor Racquet Club. She walks, runs and took up roller-skating about a year ago. But there’s one thing the 44-year-old Country Club Hills woman couldn’t figure out how to do on her own...lose weight.

For years, Titania struggled with excess pounds, which began taking a toll, eventually causing high blood pressure, chest pains, difficulty breathing and around-the-clock fatigue.

“One thing led to the next, and I found myself in the hospital at Thanksgiving (2015),” she explains. “At my highest weight, I was 286 pounds.”

At 5 feet, 7 inches, Titania had a body mass index (BMI) of 45 – landing her in the severely obese range – and putting her at risk for serious health problems.

Frustrated and frightened, Titania turned to her primary care physician Mohammed Shamshuddin, MD, who didn’t mince words. “He told me, ‘You don’t know how to eat,’” she recalls.

“Obesity can lead to diabetes, stroke and heart issues,” Dr. Shamshuddin explains.

So he referred Titania to Ingalls’ 12-week Healthy Lifestyles Weight Management Program designed for adults who want to lose weight, improve their overall health, and increase physical activity. Through weekly group classes led by registered dietitian Kim Kramer, RD, CDE, participants like Titania learn the basics of nutrition, the importance of regular physical activity and the behavioral changes necessary to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Added benefits include tips on managing stress, a complimentary cooking class, a grocery store tour, and invaluable education from a personal trainer who discusses the importance of aerobic exercise and weight training. 

“Kim Kramer was very supportive and made it simple,” she said. “I learned how to read food labels and what foods to avoid.”

But most important of all, Titania found a new passion that has made all the difference in the world: roller-skating. One of her “classmates” invited her to try it out at a local rink, and it became a turning-point in her weight-loss journey. From the moment she laced up her skates and hit the floor, she was hooked! She began taking lessons; now she skates five days a week. She loved the sport, and she loved the results she was getting: it helped tone her arms and legs, and the pounds started falling off.

“Roller-skating changed my life,” she explains. The key was finding something that made her happy. “If you focus on the happiness, you will lose the weight.” A year later, Titania’s lost 90 pounds and dropped to a size 10 from a size 22.

“I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and I’ve got a lot of energy,” she said.

“It’s not too late,” Dr. Shamshuddin added. “There are tremendous benefits to losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight. It’s never really ‘done.’ It’s a journey not a destination.”

(Titania and Dr. Shamshuddin recently were featured on WGN’s Living Healthy Chicago about her amazing transformation.)

For more information about Healthy Lifestyles Weight Management, call the Ingalls Wellness Center at 708.915.8850.