Highland Lakes woman working on birthday gift to herself — losing 100 pounds

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

BURNET — The Tuesday after Lori Matula turned 34 in October, she decided she needed to make a change. A big one.

“I got to the point, I just didn’t want to be heavy any more,” Matula said inside Mad Dawg Fitness Gym. As a competitive high school athlete, Matula enjoyed a high level of physical fitness. She played volleyball and basketball and competed in track. Her coaches and the structure of athletics helped her keep fit.

But after graduating from high school and heading to Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in San Marcos, Matula lost a big part of that structure. She gained a few pounds as many people do. After college came marriage and a career that had her traveling quite a bit. Road life didn’t prove conducive for a healthy life.

In 2005, Matula’s first child, a daughter named Kamryn, was born. And with pregnancy and post-pregnancy, Matula added more weight. Her and husband Marcus’ second child, Cooper, was born in 2010. And with the second pregnancy, more weight came.

“I probably gained 80 to 90 pounds since college,” Matula said. Her weight climbed to an all-time high of 259 pounds. She knew it wasn’t what she wanted for her life, but Matula struggled. Weight gain can be sneaky. A few pounds here and a few more there doesn’t appear like much, but over a few years, it adds up.

Matula tried to lose weight and get back into shape. After her son’s birth, Matula tried a couch-to-5-kilometer-run program. It’s designed to ease a person into running who, well, has spent a lot more time on the couch than in his or her running shoes. Matula set the goal and accomplished it.

Unfortunately, her return to fitness faltered after the 5K event.

“I didn’t have any goal beyond it,” Matula said. “There was nothing to keep me going.”

While she gained weight, nobody criticized her. Her husband and parents just loved her. There were not comments or even subtle hints about losing weight. Well, except from her daughter.

“The honesty of a child,” Matula said with a grin.

In school, the girl was learning about fitness and healthy eating. At home, Kamyrn questioned her mom’s weight.

“She’d say things like, ‘When are you going to be fit again?’,” Matula recalled. The comments weren’t hurtful but more from concern. Kamryn had seen photos of her mom from her high school years when she had been a competitive athlete and in great shape.

Looking around the house, Matula noticed fewer photos of herself from more recent times. In fact, she shied away from the camera now that she was heavier. And that bothered her. At one point, she wondered if something happened to her how would her children remember her with so few photos?

Finally, after her 34th birthday, Matula decided enough was enough.

“I just didn’t want to be heavy anymore,” she said.

She set a goal, a big goal. Matula wanted to lose 100 pounds by her 35th birthday.

Now, most people would probably say, “I can’t do that.” Or, “That’s impossible.” Not Matula. She drew on one her attributes that drove her as a high school athlete: her competitiveness.

“I’ve always been very competitive,” Matula said. “I’m one of those people who, when I set my mind to something, I do it.”

A big goal served up big motivation.

But reaching the 100-pound mark would require small steps. At first, Matula focused on nutrition. It wasn’t easy, though. A self-described sugar addict, Matula battled every day with her diet. But as she adjusted her food, both in quality and quantity, the weight started coming off.

By January, despite the temptations of the holiday season, Matula was on the road back to her former fit self. However, she realized diet alone wasn’t going to get her to the 100-pound mark or return her to her more fit persona. Somebody told her about a weight-loss competition at Mad Dawg Fitness. At the time, Matula wasn’t a gym member anywhere or really working out.

The weight-loss competition intrigued Matula. It was, after all, a competition, something that she enjoyed.

So on Jan. 29, Matula walked into Mad Dawg Fitness and started what could be considered the second phase of her comeback.

As part of the competition, Mad Dawg Fitness co-owners and trainers Sonny Wilson and Greg Lopez pushed the participants through work outs. They also coached them on better eating habits. And, they encouraged them.

“The workouts were tough,” Matula said. “But everybody was incredibly supportive as well.”

Matula’s competitive nature pushed her through the grueling daily workouts. The style of workouts incorporated by Wilson and Lopez mixed things up just about every day. While they included strength and cardio, the trainers kept competitors guessing how and what they would be doing.

At the end of the competition, Matula had dropped a significant amount of weight, good enough for second place.

Probably just as important, and maybe even more so, Matula established another lifestyle change. Where she had already adapted to a new diet, now she created a habit of working out. After the weight-loss competition, Matula stayed with Mad Dawg Fitness and continued under the tutelage of Wilson and Lopez.

It’s not just them. Matula pointed out the support and camaraderie created in the gym works as a support network itself. Plus, there’s a level of accountability she wouldn’t get if left to train on her own or at a larger commercial gym.

“If you miss a day, somebody’s texting you,” Matula said with a laugh. “If you miss a couple of days, you get a phone call. They really want you to be successful.”

In May, Matula ran the Beach to Bay run in Corpus Christi. She completed it. But one of her happiest moments came after the race when somebody snapped a photo of her and her daughter together.

As of mid-June, Matula still hadn’t reached the 100-pound mark. But she had lost 80 pounds.

“It’s definitely changed my life,” she said.

Matula understands the struggles of being heavy and trying to lose weight.

“For me, having a goal is important,” she said. “It gives me something to work toward. I think some of the best advice I’d give is never give up. If you do fall off the track, don’t think it’s going to be the end. We’re human.”

She also recommended if a person wants to lose weight or get into shape, he or she should do it for the right reasons. And that doesn’t necessarily mean pleasing somebody else.

“You have to want to do if for yourself,” Matula said.

daniel@thepicayune.com