Now & Then: Katie Clark

Like many people, the transition from school to the work world took its toll on Katie Clark. Instead of having blocks of time between classes to work out and train (she ran the 2002 Twin Cities Marathon), Clark, 32, was faced with the fast-paced career world of a trial lawyer after her graduation from law school in 2003. “I didn’t know how to cope with being a professional and having a healthy lifestyle,” she says. “I was at work all day, and the last thing I wanted to do was work out.”

Coupled with her decline in exercise, Clark began eating whatever was most convenient. Her day would often start at the drive thru in the morning for breakfast, which normally consisted of an Egg McMuffin, and end with bar food at happy hour. “I had a high-fat, red meat diet because it was so accessible,” she says. In May 2007, Clark’s weight topped out at 196 pounds, almost sixty pounds more than when she graduated law school.

Reality Check
Before she joined LifeTime Fitness’s T.E.A.M. Weight Loss in May 2007, Clark experienced two major life changes that were catalysts to change. “During Christmas of 2006, my mom had a reoccurrence of her breast cancer and went through a lot of health issues with that,” she says. At the same time, a good friend from law school was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and passed away within approximately three weeks of diagnosis.

“A lot of things were going on around me that made me more conscious of my own health and the fact that I was taking it for granted,” Clark says. “We only have one shot at being here, and you have to take advantage of that. Having those things happen around the same time made me aware of the things you can do and living to your fullest. If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to do anything.”

Although the health issues were a major contributing factor to Clark getting motivated to get back in shape, she also wanted her confidence back. “I didn’t want to go out with my friends because I was embarrassed,” she says. “You lose your confidence and start to change your plans because of your weight.”

Clark even stopped shopping due to her weight. “I was a size fourteen or sixteen, depending on the brand,” she says. “After a certain point, I stopped buying clothes. The fourteens were probably tight, but I didn’t want to go up any more. I didn’t want to go out of the average section.”

Finally, she began to look for ways to make a change in her life. While on her way to work one day, Clark saw a sign in Butler Square in downtown Minneapolis advertising LifeTime Fitness’s new T.E.A.M. Weight Loss. “A clerk of mine was familiar with it and said that people got results,” Clark says. So she called the club, found out about the program, and decided to give it a try. “The first thing they do is weigh you in and find out body composition,” she says. “That was the worst I felt because I had to look at numbers.” Clark weighed in a 196 pounds and had a 40.5 percent body fat count.

The “team,” a group of individuals who signed up for the class, met three days a week for twelve weeks, where they would work out, learn about nutrition, and chart their progress. Members received a nutrition journal, and instead of calorie counting, trainers taught them how to understand correct proportions. “Once a week, the trainer would look at our journal and make sure we were getting all our exchanges; they were not only concerned with people overeating but eating the right thing,” she says.

Seeing Results

“My goal was twenty pounds.” By the end of the program, Clark lost twenty-one pounds. That fall, she joined the T.E.A.M. Fitness program at LifeTime (a program that concentrates more on getting in shape than weight loss), which helped her lose more weight in a group setting. In May 2008, Clark regained her pre-working world weight of 139 pounds and 17 percent body fat.

Today, Clark works out on average an hour a day, five days per week. She admits that finding time can be tough, but she makes it a priority, no matter how busy she is—even by doing early-morning workouts so that she can go home after a long day in court.

“It is funny,” she says. “When I set out to lose weight, I was thinking about how I would end up looking and what I would buy. But the most rewarding part is really how you feel and the confidence you gain. What I have gained was stuff I am not sure I even planned on, including new friends and more confidence in my job.”

If you have a great weight-loss story and would like to be profiled, please e-mail Jane Di Leo at jdileo@mspmag.com.