Karr sheds 170 pounds; turns life around

There is a noticeable difference between June 11, 2012, and June 11, 2013, for Amy Karr — 170.4 pounds to be exact.
One year ago, Karr decided she wanted to change her life. She weighed 343 pounds and was not active. Now she weighs half that much. Strangely enough, it took a different sort of life change to act as a catalyst for her transformation.
“Honestly it was a broken heart,” Karr said. She and her husband had filed for divorce, she was alone and didn’t like the direction she was heading.
“I didn’t like who I was.”
So, she started working out, or “killing calories” as she so emphatically put it.
“I really didn’t know what I was doing,” she said. “I wasn’t really in the mood to be eating anyway, it didn’t take long to see success.”
She enlisted the advice and help of one of her good friends, Christine Dennie, her son Mathew and her doctor. She registered for Thrive Allen County’s Meltdown in 2012 (this year’s program is titled The Movement; Karr is enrolled this year as well). The pounds began to melt off.
“I lost 36 and a half pounds in the first eight weeks, and actually won the Meltdown,” Karr said. “I wasn’t expecting to win anything.”
From there, it all became a matter of habit.
She said Dennie was the primary motivator in her weight loss. They planned their workouts together and set some “crazy goals.”
“She was my motivation, the one that gave me the pep talks,” Karr said.
But, Mathew was there when the going got tough. She said when her son would walk into their home and see her watching T.V., or going for snacks in the kitchen, he would ask, “what are you doing?”
“He kept me accountable,” she said. “I still struggle.”
But, the results of her hard work began to blossom almost immediately. Karr’s doctor took her off blood pressure medication — she didn’t need it anymore. Now, when she goes to the doctor for checkups or an occasional cold, she said they just fold their arms and smile. They know how far she has come.

KARR AND her trainer, Salena Trabuc, are training for a September Tough Mudder obstacle race in Topeka. They are running five miles every day and will be pushing their limit to eight miles in the next few months.
She said the response from her weight loss has been mainly positive, but it also has put a strain on some of her relationships.
“I’ve actually lost some friends,” Karr said. “Some weren’t able to handle the new Amy.”
One of the most common questions she gets is: “How has it changed your life?” She always responds the same way.
“I’m just now living my life.”
She said she still wants to lose about 40 pounds to reach her ultimate goal, and her weight loss has slowed a bit since last year. She prepares meals for her entire week on Sundays, and packs lunches whenever she travels for work (she is a social worker at TFI Services in Iola). There are no processed foods in her diet.
“I have made a lifestyle change, it’s my life,” she said, noting “90 percent of weight loss is mental.”
Karr and Trabuc are traveling to Kansas City for the Dirty Girl 5K, an all-female obstacle race to raise awareness for cancer.
“It becomes easier once you get the hang of it,” Karr said with modesty. “I never gave up on myself, not every day has been a good day.
“Everybody can do this.”