Canton resident wins Weight Watchers contest

Canton resident Jamie Kotkowski Pratt was overweight growing up. She describes herself as someone who was always the heaviest student in her classes at school and recalls avoiding the seesaw at playgrounds because she was afraid of being told that she was too heavy to be another child’s partner. Her motivation to lose weight and begin a healthy lifestyle came about through her love of fashion, specifically shoes.

Kotkowski Pratt is pictured above after losing 93 pounds.

Pratt had a pair of shoes she loved: Giuseppe Zanotti peep-toed red stilettos in a zebra print. She needed to have the shoes repaired and took them to a shop.

“The cobbler took one look at me and then back at the shoes and simply stated, ‘There is no use in fixing these until you lose weight. You are too fat,’” Pratt said.

She took her shoes, ran to her car, and began to sob. She thought about what the cobbler told her and made a decision that changed her life.

“It was that day that I chose to, instead of labeling him a grump who had no idea what he was talking about, heed his blunt advice and look in the mirror,” Pratt recalled. “I was nearly 100 pounds overweight and I needed to make some changes.”

Pratt lost 93 pounds, the majority over the last 18 months, and was recently named one of 100 first-prize winners of Weight Watchers’ annual Celebrate Success contest. She was honored for her motivational efforts to lose weight and develop a healthier lifestyle.

Pratt credits Weight Watchers’ Points Plus program and clean eating for her successful weight loss.

“It’s very clear to me that working out, walking is 20 percent of the battle and 80 percent is what you’re putting into your mouth,” she said. Pratt focused on clean eating, trading 100-calorie snack packs of cookies for a piece of fruit.

She also decided to reward herself following each ten-pound weight loss by buying a new workout outfit or a pair of shoes. And she began to challenge herself to try something new, such as running a 5K race.

Every Sunday Pratt plans meals for the week and cooks them. “I’m very regimented,” she said. Each night she packs breakfast, lunch and two snacks, which she takes to her job as a chemist doing quality control lab work. She also packs her gym bag and heads straight to the gym after work.

Kotkowski Pratt before her weight loss

Her advice for people who are hoping to make a change in diet and exercise is to start slowly. “You can start small, even vacuuming,” she said.

Pratt took up running because she knew she would enjoy it, but she started out by running for one minute and walking for two and then increasing the time and length of her runs. In October she ran in her first half-marathon in Newport, Rhode Island.

Weight Watchers selected Pratt not only for her weight loss, but for maintaining it. She flew to Los Angeles for a photo shoot, and the photos will be featured in upcoming print ads for Weight Watchers.

Pratt’s weight loss has changed her life in many ways since her encounter with the cobbler. “I’m just so much happier,” she said.

“I always felt so discouraged. Now I buy clothes that I want to buy and feel good in.”

Especially her shoes. “I love putting on a pair of heels,” Pratt said. “I’m much more comfortable.”

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Jan 3 2013. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.