A Colorado couple have lost 280 pounds combined after aiming to be positive role models for their four children.
Back in 2011, Jessica and Robert Foster, of Boulder, Colorado, had been battling obesity for years, with Jessica weighing 287 pounds and her husband 327 pounds.
The couple’s addiction to junk food had taken a toll on their lives. They couldn’t take their four daughters to the park. They always felt tired and unhealthy.
In March 2012, just before Jessica's 30th birthday, they decided that they had to make a change.
“I adore my kids and I love my husband very much, but there was that point I hated myself so much. I wasn’t giving them the full me because I was disgusted,” Jessica told KDVR. “You have to look in the mirror and say, ‘Am I going to allow this to continue or am I going to stand up and make those changes?’ A light turned on upstairs.”
Jessica signed up for a Zumba class and quickly dropped 14 pounds in her first few weeks at the gym. Robert was less inclined to exercise, calling the idea of running “unappealing to the point of agony.” But he started playing tennis and gradually changed his diet.
By the time summer 2012 came around, the couple added hiking and recreational swimming with their kids and friends. They became “addicted” to healthy living and started training for their first 5K that December. The couple finally broke their family’s cycle of unhealthy eating and helped their kids develop healthy habits for life.
“It got to the point where we realized it didn’t matter what we fed them,” Rob told CNN. “If we weren’t eating the same way or if we were overeating, they were going to follow our example.”
Before
After
Today, both weigh 167 pounds, meaning they shed an incredible 280 pounds together. Robert lost 160 pounds and Jessica lost 120 pounds, dropping from a 24 dress size to a size 10. They have changed to a vegan diet and are avid runners, with Rob finishing his first full marathon in May 2014.
“I love myself. I like what I’m seeing in the mirror,” Jessica said. “I know there’s some work to still be done, but I’m such a different person than I was before.”
