Local Resident Sheds Weight for New Lease on Life

While she loves the fact that everybody who knows her tells her that she looks 20 years younger, Nanette Schriftman, of Huntingdon Valley, PA, is even more proud of the fact that she was able to overcome family history and personal emotion and go on to successfully lose 63.6 pounds on Weight Watchers.

The five-foot, seven-inch Schriftman, age 56, wife of 35 years to Lee, mother of three adult children and three small grandchildren, started life in Brooklyn as a child of Holocaust survivors. “My grandparents and parents came from Poland where they were starving to death,” she says. “My earliest memories are of my grandma chasing me around and telling me to ess, ess (eat, eat) and to encourage me to finish all of my food. As a result, I remained heavy as a child until I was 16.”

At that point, she says that her doctor put her on diet pills that kept her up all night. However, she lost weight, which slimmed her down until around age 40. “At around age 40, my life began to dramatically change and I felt I was spinning out of control as my kids Seth, Daniel and Ilana were getting older and becoming more independent,” she relates. “They were growing up faster than I wanted them to and soon would be leaving me and the home where they grew up. I began a very unhealthy lifestyle of skipping breakfast and binge eating late at night. I particularly loved pastas with cheese, corn chips and my favorite--ice cream.” She additionally pointed out that she did nothing in the way of physical activity. “I used food to celebrate the happy times, as well as used it through stressful periods and sad times.”

As a result, she really started packing on pounds and inches for the next 15 years of her life. The additional weight began to take its toll on her health. She developed diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol and high liver enzymes and was put on medications. She also was sent to a liver specialist who diagnosed her with a fatty liver. Intellectually, she knew she had to do something about her weight but refused to act upon it.

Schriftman says the straw that broke the camel’s back, her aha moment, came when her daughter, Ilana was accepted into a prestigious Ph.D. program at Duke University where she would study to be a psychologist in weight and eating disorders. “I sat down and had a long talk with myself,” Schriftman relates. “My best bud was moving away, going into this field and I didn’t want her to be embarrassed by having an obese, unhealthy mother. It was time to nip this problem in the bud.”

With that in mind, she joined Leader Lynda Klein’s Wednesday meeting held at noon at on Grant Avenue just off Bustleton Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia. “Lynda is just amazing and my inspiration,” says the now Lifetime Member who has gone from a size 16 to a svelte size 8. “Her meetings are so informative and interspersed with her natural wit. I try never to miss a meeting because they are that good.” Schriftman also notes that she has really bonded with other members of her group and now shares personal friendships with several of them.

She now looks and feels much better, has much more energy and has gotten off her diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure medications. Her liver enzymes for the first time in years are normal and her doctor is thrilled. “I’m not huffing and puffing when I climb a flight of stairs any more,” she comments. “I’m also loving buying new clothes and just thrilled when people I’ve known for years don’t recognize me. My daughter even likes my hip new wardrobe,” states the magna cum laude graduate at Temple University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in speech and communications. She also has her certificate from Gratz College and has taught Hebrew school.

On a recent family trip to Disney World, Schriftman was especially proud that she came back and had lost weight rather than gained some. Everyone in her class knows how much she loves Weight Watchers snacks.

She takes them with her wherever she goes, even to Disney World. “My husband Lee, who is a marathon runner, was thrilled that I was keeping up with him instead of lagging behind as I usually did,” she states.

To help keep her weight under control, she exercises and enjoys gardening. But her favorite form of exercise is dancing either to the television or especially with her 3-year-old grandson, Zachary, who she loves to “bubbie sit.”

On advice to others, she offers, “If I can do it, anyone can. Remember, you are in control. You can still enjoy going out with your spouse and friends and lose the weight. When I go out, which is a few times a week, I just tell the waiter or waitress how I’d like the food prepared. I also end up talking half home as well so I get another meal out of it.”

Because she wants to inspire others to improve their lifestyles and follow a more healthy regimen, she is now in training to become a Weight Watchers leader herself. “For me,” she says, “Weight Watchers is not a diet, it’s a way of life.”

Weight Watchers now features PointsPlus®2012. PointsPlus values take into account all of the components that make up calories, which includes protein, carbs, fat and fiber and factors in the conversion.