'I couldn't walk': Woman sheds 276 pounds

(CNN) -- Theresa Borawski sat down
heavily on a neighbor's porch, somewhere
in between her front door and her good
friend's driveway. The distance between
the two was less than half a mile. It
might as well have been 20.
She had already taken a break on a tree
stump near the road. This was the last
stop, she told herself as she stood up
from the porch slowly. She was going to
make it.
Reaching her friend's house was like
reaching the finish line of a much longer
race.
"I was just like I had run in a marathon,"
Borawski remembers. "It was the biggest
moment in my life."
"He had to bring me home because I
couldn't walk back," she laughs, "but ..."
But the victory was sweet for a woman
who just six months before had primarily
relied on a wheelchair to get around, a
woman who had lived in her house for
two years without walking to the mailbox.
At her heaviest in March 2011, Borawski
weighed 428 pounds.
"I could no longer participate in life's
activities and was forced to become a
spectator while people around me lived
their life," she wrote on iReport.com.
"Today, I am 276 pounds lighter, 14 jean
sizes smaller, and no longer need a
wheelchair, walker or cane to get around.
I am a walking, talking miracle and have
been given a second chance at life."
Borawski's father died when she was 8.
Friends and family showed their
sympathy with food. The lunch lady at
school put extra fries on her tray; the
neighbors gave her more candy at
Halloween. Her grandparents were
caterers, and their extended family got
together often for exorbitant meals.
"I learned at a very young age that food
makes the happy times better and the
sad times more bearable," she says.
She was heavy throughout high school
and college but says her weight never
really affected her life until 2003, when a
series of setbacks sent her into a
downward spiral.
Borawski lost her church job of 15 years
and moved more than 200 miles to start
anew. She lost her grandfather and best
friend back-to-back a few months later.
Then her new job was cut from the
church's budget.
"All of a sudden I'm 42 years old, living
alone, unemployed, no income
whatsoever," she says.
So she comforted herself with food and
decided to go back to college.
Professor Chuck Bowden wasn't surprised
by Borawski's amazing transformation.
She caught his attention right away as a
student willing to work hard.
"I already knew she was dedicated,"
Bowden says. "I think starting over as a
college freshman had to be a challenge --
almost just as impressive."
I could barely function. Every bit of
energy I had went to just living.
Theresa Borawski
Over the next four years, Borawski gained
weight steadily. Her doctor diagnosed her
with rheumatoid arthritis, an extremely
painful chronic disease that inflamed her
joints. The extra pounds she was carrying
only made the condition worse.
She used a walker or cane to get around.
When she graduated from Mid Michigan
Community College, she could barely walk
across the stage to get her diploma.
By January 2011, "my life was in complete
chaos," Borawski says. She was working at
the college and traveled around campus
in an electric wheelchair.
"I always heard her whirring down the
hall," Bowden remembers. He and
Borawski had become friends and chatted
often about the future. "With the
(arthritis) and the extra weight, I got very
concerned that she might ... not be able
to take care of herself."
His fears weren't far off.
Borawski had difficulty standing long
enough in the shower to wash and
condition her hair. She could only shop at
stores that had mobile carts; it took her a
week to carry in her groceries from the
car because she could only carry one or
two bags at a time. She was seriously
considering moving into an assisted living
facility.
"I could barely function," Borawski says.
She got up, rode around in her
wheelchair, popped painkillers, ate and
went to bed every night at 7 p.m. "Every
bit of energy I had went to just living."
Her wake-up call came on March 1, 2011.
Her sister phoned to tell her she was
getting bariatric surgery. Borawski
pleaded with her not to -- she had heard
horror stories about the procedure's
aftereffects. When the sister hung up,
Borawski went to the refrigerator and
took out a bottle of peach soda.
"Something just clicked in my head," she
says. A quick calculation made Borawski
realize she had been drinking nearly
7,000 calories a week in soda -- the
equivalent of 2 pounds.
She opened up the bottle and dumped it
down the drain. Then she did the same
with the rest of her stash.
At that moment, Borawski gave up sugar
cold turkey.
Ten days later, she went to the doctor
and had lost 7 pounds. She bought a
calorie-counting book on the way home
and started reading food labels. Soon
after, she restricted her calorie intake to
1,000 calories a day (experts warn against
eating less than 1,200 calories a day
because it sends your body into starvation
mode). She says she wasn't hungry at
that limit because of her lack of mobility.
"Because I was so heavy, I had a lot of
success really quickly. I lost 45 pounds
between March and Memorial Day."
In October 2011, Borawski walked to her
mailbox without a cane for the first time.
Her next trip was to the neighbor's
mailbox. The first time she walked down
the steps at work, her student assistant
cheered.
To see somebody walk again? I
considered that miraculous.
Chuck Bowden
Almost a year later, she showed up in
Bowden's office doorway. He never heard
her coming.
"There's a chance we may have done a
little dance in the hall," he says with a
laugh. "To see somebody walk again? I
considered that miraculous."
Every time she lost 20 pounds, Borawski
went to the store and bought a pair of
pants in the next size smaller. They sat in
the corner of her room until she could
pull them on. They were her motivation
when she was tempted to cheat.
To celebrate losing 200 pounds, she
bought a black and white diamond ring.
She wears it every day as a reminder
never to go back.
"The first row of black diamonds is the
first 100 pounds, the second row is the
second 100 pounds," she says. "The white
diamonds in between are the new life
I've found."
Last month, Borawski walked three miles
for the first time. She does 200 to 300
squats a day to strengthen her legs after
years of immobility. She eats around
1,400 calories to maintain her weight at a
healthy 150 pounds. Her rheumatoid
arthritis has improved significantly, and
her doctors are "amazed and impressed"
at her overall health.
Borawski's goals now are simple: to walk
a 5K in September and to inspire others.
She keeps her electric wheelchair in her
office with a sign: "Theresa doesn't live
here anymore."
"The key for me was finding a plan that I
could live with for the rest of my life," she
wrote on iReport. "I am a brand new
person, have so much energy and am now
a participant in life, rather than just
watching it pass me by. I am blessed
beyond measure and can't wait to see
what the future holds for me!"