Bristol woman celebrates weight loss success | Health – Kenosha News

Posted On: October 1, 2019

Though she tops 5 feet by just an inch, Marlene Hoppe is standing tall.

After a lifetime of battling weight issues, she has won the day. Once tipping the scales at 339 pounds, she is holding her own at 161.

For Hoppe, 67, of Bristol, it is an achievement nearly 38 years in the making to which she credits the support and encouragement of the weight loss organization TOPS — Take Off Pounds Sensibly.

A resident of northern Illinois until four years ago, her journey took place at two Illinois chapters of TOPS, in Ingleside and Grayslake.

In April, Hoppe was crowned for her achievement when she was named the TOPS 2018 State Queen of Illinois at a celebration in Lisle, Ill.

“It only took me 37 years and 362 days, but I finally reached my goal,” she said in a recent interview. “I’m proof: Never, never, never give up!”

Hoppe says her weight challenge began when she was very young. “People would ask me, ‘Remember when you were thin?’ And I would say, ‘I was never thin.’”

Hoppe was born and raised in Fox Lake, Ill. “I was a blubberball as a child,” she said.

The lifestyle of her family didn’t help, either, she said. “Every day my grandparents had ‘3 p.m. coffee’ with homemade cakes and snacks.”

During her school years, she was the fattest kid in class and was teased and made fun of constantly, she says. “My mom started taking me to the doctor for diet pills by the time I was in fifth grade.”

Throughout high school, she weighed over 200 pounds and was a pretty lonely teen.”I was only happy when I was eating — food was my friend.”

Starting at TOPS

Hoppe learned about TOPS in her late 20s from a friend at work and went to her first meeting Dec. 9, 1980. She started with the Ingleside, Ill., chapter, switching to Grayslake after she moved to Bristol and began working nights at Amazon four years ago.

“I chose an Illinois chapter because the only other daytime meetings were in Milwaukee,” she explained.

Although frightened by the prospect of sharing her story with strangers, she recalls immediately feeling at home with the group.

For the next 26 years, Hoppe’s weight yo-yo’d. By counting calories and using the exchange program (a meal planning system approved of by the American Diabetes Association), she lost 100 pounds on three occasions — but gained it back again.

The problem, she says, was that she would focus on the weight loss goal and starve herself until she got there. But as soon as she reached the goal, she’d go back to her old eating habits.

In 2006 she hit her highest weight ever, 239.2 pounds, and decided enough was enough. After a long-overdue visit to her doctor, she discovered her cholesterol level was 242 and blood pressure was 140/90.

“My doctor gave me two medications and said I should start making better eating choices or I wouldn’t live a very long life,” she said.

He gave her a target weight goal of 165 pounds, and she got down to work.

By Aug. 26, 2008, she had lost 100 pounds and this time kept it off.

The next year, having kept the 100 pounds off for an entire year with no gain back, Hoppe qualified for membership in TOPS’ Century Club.

Hoppe’s next step was to lose the last 74 pounds to her final goal. It took awhile to get going, but she began losing weight again in January of 2018. She dropped to 194 by July but then had a slight gain back to 200.

Knowing this was a critical time, Hoppe looked to sources of inspiration to steady her on her path.

“I found something that changed my whole way of thinking,” she said. “It was a silver bracelet that said ‘Believe you can and you’re halfway there,’ a quote by Theodore Roosevelt.”

When she felt she was about to cave in and eat junk food, she looked at the bracelet and chose healthier alternatives.

The more she lost, the better she felt about herself, she said. “I finally told myself, ‘’I’m not going to blow this again!’”

On Dec. 6, 2018, Hoppe reached her goal of 165 pounds, a total weight loss of 174.2 pounds.

Once she hit her target, Hoppe bought herself another bracelet inscribed with the phrase, “She believed she could, so she did.”

Having reached her goal, Hoppe officially “graduated” from TOPS and received her diploma. She bought herself a mortarboard cap to commemorate the occasion. This also put her in the running for 2018 statewide weight loss champion for which she was named Queen this spring.

A new way to eat

Among the keys to her success were “dropping the junk food,” eating in moderation and portion control.

Hoppe says ice cream was one of her biggest downfalls. “Now I don’t bring a gallon of ice cream into the house, but I’ll allow myself a (frozen popsicle).”

Starving isn’t the answer, either, she said.

“Having a healthy treat available at all times can save hundreds of calories of mindless snacking,” she said. “I learned I couldn’t just cut out everything I loved to eat or else I would binge eat. Now I can have what I want in moderation.”

Also key is eating only when she’s hungry. “I had never stopped eating long enough to get hungry before!”

Hoppe has educated herself in decoding food labels, sharing what she learns to fellow TOPS members at meetings.

To help her with self-discipline she buys “hot button” items like snacks in single-serve packaging.

Hoppe has supported her new eating habits with walking for exercise. “I park far away from the store and take stairs rather than the elevator,” she said.

Sometimes she walks through large discount stores just for the exercise, not taking money in with her to eliminate the temptation to purchase snacks she doesn’t need.

Today, Hoppe’s cholesterol and blood pressure numbers have returned to the normal range, allowing her to cease those medications.

Asked what made the difference this time, she said, “I believe your most important weight loss muscle is your brain. You have to change your mind before you can change your body. You have to master a new way to think before you can master a new way to eat.”

“I feel awesome,” she said. “I feel very lucky to have found TOPS and will be a member of this great organization for the rest of my life.”

Hoppe’s encouragement to others: “Don’t ever give up on your dream of reaching your goal. It’s never too late to try just one more time. Please don’t wait as long as I did.”