Lois Unger, Believe You Can

For Lois Unger, it’s been about finding what works for her and tapping into a belief in herself.

Early Life Struggles

Lois Unger was a big baby, weighing 11.5 lbs at birth. Her weight for much of her life outpaced her growing up: “At age 11, I was 5 ft 7 in –the same height as I am now–and weighed 165 lbs; by age 28, I was 250 lbs; a decade later, down to 180 lbs. And at age 48, I found myself at my heaviest at 305 lbs and 55 percent body fat–and I stayed at this weight for some time,” says the 63-year-old from Saskatoon.

Transforming Diet and Fitness

Now, she’s at 125 lbs and 22 percent body fat. She started by changing her food habits (think more whole foods, and less sugar and bad fats). She also cut way back on fast food. “At first, I counted calories, but I quickly moved on to macros,” says Unger. She also tried various food plans and switched around, which she still changes up according to how well her digestive system is working. What she knew and tried initially–counting calories–hadn’t worked well for her in the past.

Achieving Weight Goals

Unger added more physical activity, too, to her routine. “I started by walking daily, increasing speed and distance, and signed up for a half-marathon speed walking, followed by another. Then I began lifting weights and enjoying all kinds of movement–hiking, yoga, dance, etc., as it became much easier without excess weight,” she says. For Unger, healthy food and body movement are inseparable, because food will digest better with body movement. In the first year of working on improving her health, she lost 110 lbs and then lost another 60 lbs in a few more months.

Personalizing Nutrition and Exercise

Unger reached her ultimate goal weight recently. “And I know it’s a number, but it’s also so much more than that–from weight and fat reduction to confidence, better health, success, mental clarity and much more,” she says, noting that for her, it’s about weight reduction and body size versus looking at it as weight loss.

One of the biggest factors in her journey has been about finding the foods that give her the most energy and work for her digestion. “I have done this whole process on my own. I believe that has given me the knowledge I needed so I could find what works just for me as I got to know my body,” says Unger. “It’s also assuring to know it’s okay to change food plans. I have always been an independent person, and at the end of the day, it feels good to say ‘well done’ to yourself,” she says.

Celebrate Milestones

Charting her progress at the beginning helped motivate her as well; Unger kept a monthly chart on paper with notes on her weight and measurements. “This inspired me as I was truly doing this for myself and had not told anyone as I didn’t need any negative comments,” she says. At this point, she did not have a goal weight in mind.

Along the way, she says there have been several magic moments that have helped her stay motivated: going to a film casting and all the clothes fit, not needing a seatbelt extension, attending a model fitting and choosing outfits from the rack, wearing white and walking along a beach, and not having to worry about fitting into or breaking chairs, to name just a few. She also found that she felt herself having more to offer in conversations and loves the feeling of strength and sexiness that has come with being healthy.

Staying Committed

Through her journey, Unger found that people who noticed her change in body size would constantly ask her about what and how much she was eating. She had found a way to eat healthy and move her body that worked for her rather than a quick fix, and she noticed that most people focused on her eating plan rather than how she was approaching getting healthy overall, and she made a promise to herself to improve her health despite other’s thoughts. Her change in lifestyle also included reading positive, inspiring books and meditation, and she also danced a few songs every night to her favourite music. Unger attributes her new mindset to what kept her on track.

New Opportunities

With a renewed excitement for living her best life, Unger also makes sure to focus on self-care and her mental health. “I no longer work 9 to 5. I now have flex time doing all kinds of things I love–modeling, acting, voice-over, travel, photography, writing, cooking, gym life, hiking, and many other activities and coffee!” she says. She’s looking forward to walking on several fashion-week runways, including several in Canada, Paris, and New York, and she’s open to other opportunities. She’s proud of the significant roles in films, music videos and commercial ads she’s worked on, and she’s also a photo artist and coauthor as she is working on a book of her life design.

Belief in Self

Ultimately, the best thing to come out of her journey thus far is the belief in herself that she maintains to this day. “Many of my opportunities could have come anytime. I think it is my belief that I wanted more, and so I made a way to receive more with gratitude by feeling better every day and focusing on my mindset,” she says.