On her bad days, back when she tippedthe ol’ Toledo at 208 pounds, Bonnie Hersch-miller used to sit on the couch, eat chocolateand cry.

“I was disgusted with myself,” says the Ed-monton mom, who stands just under five-foot-four. “I like to feel pretty. I’m a girly girl.When you’re fat, you don’t feel girlish atall.”

The New Brunswick native says she wasalready about 30 pounds overweight whenshe got pregnant in mid-2003. She thenpacked on another 60 pounds while “eatingfor two,” a strategy that landed her in RoyalAlexandra Hospital during her third tri-mester with severe high blood pressure.

“That’s what I’ve always heard – eating fortwo. I just ate and ate,” she recalls, adding adoctor put her on medication and bed restfor her high blood pressure.

After giving birth to son Brett in February2004, Herschmiller set her mind to taking offher excess cellulite and lowering her bloodpressure. But she quickly discovered it waseasier said than done.

“It wasn’t coming off at all,” she says. “Iwas exercising and everything, but it justwasn’t coming off.”

Herschmiller’s struggle continued forabout a year until she saw a TV commercialfor LA Weight Loss Centers. Desperate to re-claim her girlish figure, she signed up at a lo-cation on Edmonton’s south side.

“I was just sick of myself,” she explains. “Iwasn’t used to being that heavy. I just gotthere so quick. I really needed to lose theweight because I had high blood pressure.”

Through a meal plan designed specifi-

cally for her, Herschmiller began eating sixsmall nutritious meals a day. She also boughta Pilates DVD and began doing the exercisesfor between 30 and 60 minutes a day.

Suddenly, Herschmiller became the in-credible shrinking woman, losing eightpounds in Week 1 and around 3.5 poundseach subsequent week. After six months,she was 94 pounds lighter, at a trim 114.

Herschmiller has maintained that weightby continuing to eat wholesome foods whiledrinking eight eight-ounce glasses of waterdaily.

“It’s not just a diet, it’s a way of life,” saysthe bubbly and energetic 27-year-old. “It’s allabout how much you eat, what you eat andwhen you eat.”

Herschmiller, who allows herself occa-sional treats like a McFlurry from McDo-nald’s, also keeps up her Pilates workouts.Plus, she gets plenty of exercise chasing hernow two-year-old son around.

“I love life now. There’s a happiness in-side me,” she says, adding her blood pres-sure is back to normal.

Indeed, Herschmiller has plenty to behappy about. And so does her husband,Clark.

“He has never seen me this thin and sexybefore,” she says. “It has made our sex lifefun and adventurous. It’s never been better.”

Shortly after Herschmiller hit her goalweight last September, word spread abouther success story – all the way to the U.S.-based head honchos of LA Weight Loss Cen-ters, who made her a company poster girl.

Herschmiller now appears in print andTV ads across the world for the interna-tional chain. She doesn’t get paid for it, butshe hopes to become an LA Weight Losscounsellor when Brett starts school.

“I want to help others. If it works for me,it can work for anybody,” says Herschmiller,who’s slated to be featured this fall in Look-ing Good Now magazine and the NationalEnquirer.

– Do you have an inspirational story for Keeping Fit?E-mail Cary Castagna at ccastagna@edmsun.com

E D I T O R : S a l l y J o h n s t o n P H O N E : 4 6 8 - 0 1 1 5 F A X : 4 6 8 - 0 1 3 9 E - M A I L : s j o h n s t o n @ e d m s u n . c o m

T H E E D M O N T O N S U N • Thursday , Ju ly 20 , 2006 l i fes ty le 63

CARY CASTAGNA

LEFT: Edmonton’s BonnieHerschmiller tipped thescales at 208 pounds fol-lowing the birth of her son,Brett, in 2004. RIGHT: To-day, Bonnie is a svelte 114pounds and a poster girl forLA Weight Loss Centers.She hopes to become aweight-loss counsellor af-ter Brett starts school.

Weight loss asa way of life

– BRENDON DLOUHY, Sun

– Supplied photo