SOUTHERN UTAH – From growing up as the daughter of a forest ranger, to best-selling author, to being a regular on The Today Show, Dian Thomas has just about done it all. And now, she’s going to do it again. Thomas has broken into the weight-loss industry with a new book “Tipping the Scales in Your Favor,” which went to the publisher just yesterday.
For Thomas, her real journey began many years after being a guest on the Johnny Carson Show, after being a regular on the Home and Family Show, and even after designing a successful workshop and series on “How to get a Million Dollars of Free Publicity.” It began after she weighed 326 pounds. It began at the age of 60.
Thomas knew the constant traveling and eating out had taken its toll on her health. She knew she wanted to do something about it, but she didn’t know what or how. That’s when she got the call from Jackie Keller, a fitness and weight loss trainer that worked with celebrities.
“I coached with her for five years and lost 125 pounds naturally,” Thomas said.
Thomas said she does it by eating three meals a day and three snacks a day. She pre packages her own snacks; so when she’s on the road, she doesn’t have to stop at fast food restaurants. She also brings her fold-up bike with her when she leaves town. In the 20 minutes of spare time she had before her interview with St. George News, she burned calories by walking quickly through Walmart.
“It’s a lifestyle change,” she said.
She is often asked how she has the willpower to make such a drastic lifestyle change.
“Is it willpower or willingness?” she said. “It’s willingness to do the small things that make a difference in your weight, your health and your fitness.”
Thomas said she doesn’t believe in diets and she definitely doesn’t believe in the “lose weight quickly” campaigns that are so popular.
“’Eat less, exercise more.’ ‘Lose weight in 30 day.’ It’s far more complicated than that,” she said. “You have to turn the ship around. You have to replace your bad habits.”
She said when she wanted to get a quick snack, she would stop at McDonalds and sometimes eat one, two or three hamburgers. Now she has snacks in her car that she always has with her. In the long run, it saves her time and it saves her money.
“I used to think if I could be 250 I’d be happy, but now I’m 200 and even happier,” she said. “I do things in my life that I never did before. I worked so hard on The Today Show that I got depressed. Food became my friend instead of figuring out what my problems were and trying to solve them.”
Thomas’ new book is available on her website, www.dianthomas.com, for preorder. Those who preorder will also get a code to access 40 of her blogs that talks about weight loss and the journey to being healthy.
Up next for Thomas is a trip to China, which she makes every year. She said she will continue to write her columns and blogs for the Deseret News. And someday, she hopes to write a book that will take the No. 1 spot on the bestseller list. In 1974, her first book, “Roughing it Easy” – a guide to cooking in the outdoors – was beat out for the No. 1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list by “The Joy of Sex.” Thomas said someday she’ll write a book called “Sex in the Woods” to get that No. 1 spot.
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