North Dakota Queen

Peggy Schimelfenig

My journey to lose weight started long before I joined TOPS#283,Fessenden in May 2008 weighing 236 pounds.

I was never able to lose more than 5 or 10 pounds at a time and I would quickly gain it back. After almost 30 years of yo-yoing back and forth, I was still obese!

I couldn’t exercise or even walk up stairs without becoming winded. Depression set in and all I wanted to do is sit in a chair and rest all day. I was miserable.

My health was in jeopardy and to make it worse, I wouldn’t listen to anyone.

I opened my local paper one day and there was an article for a TOPS Open House in Fessenden. It stared me in the face. I was nervous to attend the meeting but I figured, what do I have to lose. The first week after walking and watching my calorie intake, I lost 10 pounds. I gained confidence in myself and TOPS gave me the incentive to succeed. It gave me hope and encouragement from my TOPS pals at the chapter. I soon realized, yes, I can do this! Each week it got easier to lose weight and I started walking 5 minutes a each day, then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, until now I can walk 90 minutes to 2 hours each day. I was able to reach my goal by September, 2008. Losing all my weight in 4 ½ months.

I was excited to try on new clothes. I went from a size 26-28 women’s to a 10-12 misses. I feel 20 years younger. TOPS saved my life.

I’ve been an inspiration to my family and friends. My granddaughter said to me one day, “Grandma you have a lap!” I said, “Yes I do, and I can run and play with you now.”

I’m looking forward to a long happy and healthy life with the help of my TOPS chapter.

Congratulations to  Best Average Loss chapter

TOPS#ND0283,Fessenden    16.95 lbs per member!

Our State Division Winners at SRD