GET YOUR BODY MOVING: SHE LOST WEIGHT BY ACCIDENT

Having discovered the secret of calorie-burning chores, Kay Black has never had a trimmer figure—or a cleaner, more organized house.

When Kay, age 55, recalls how she started losing weight, she laughs, “It was an accident.” Not that she didn’t wantto lose weight. Sure, she was carrying an unwanted 60 pounds on her frame; and of course she was tired of being mistaken for her daughter’s grandmother. But she simply couldn’t find the motivation to exercise.

Then Kay decided to organize her family’s books—all 5,400 of them—by cataloging them on her new computer. “I teach college geography, so I do a lot of reading,” she explains. “Besides, my family just loves books.” Each night, she’d carry several armloads upstairs, type up the data, and tote the books back downstairs. She’d stretch for 15 to 20 minutes to prevent next-day stiffness, then take a hot bath. By the time the project was complete, she had lost 5 pounds!

Kay decided that this was too easy not to continue. “Nothing breeds success like success,” she says. She stripped and repainted her daughter’s room and rearranged the attic. She shoveled snow in the winter and turned her garden into a “gym” in the summer. She took up walking, too, usually getting a 40- to 50-minute workout 5 days a week.

These days, Kay is a svelte 112 pounds, down from her heaviest of 172 pounds. Her family’s book collection is as organized as ever. And her house is so tidy that she’s even prepared for unexpected guests.

*96\89\8*

Share and Enjoy: