When Kathy Halderman says life has been a bumpy ride, she's not kidding. In 1999, a 5-foot-4, 400-lb. Kathy was pulled over for not wearing a seat belt -- a memory that still brings her to tears. "It was humiliating," recalls the Liberty Township, Ohio, resident, now 40. "The officer actually made me prove it wouldn't fit, sarcastically told me I should get a seat-belt extender -- then gave me a ticket, leaving me sobbing in my car."

Kathy's weight problems began during her troubled childhood, which included a three-year stint in foster homes. "I felt lonely and unloved, so I took solace in food," she recalls. By sixth grade, Kathy weighed 130 lbs. and by high school she had reached 300 lbs. Ashamed, she'd occasionally turn to starvation diets, all without success.

With her low self-esteem, Kathy landed in bad relationships. "I'd date anyone who paid attention to me," she says. In 1991, at 23, she married her first husband and became pregnant. But their union was hard on Kathy. "He was a drug user and he'd continually belittle me, calling me fat," she says. Her coping strategy: "I'd go to McDonald's and eat several Big Macs to feel better."

Serendipity in Wal-Mart

Soon after her daughter Victoria was born in October 1992, her husband's put-downs turned into physical abuse, and Kathy found the courage to leave. Two years later, she married Robert Halderman. But even though Robert, now a 39-year-old restaurant manager, gave her the love she craved, Kathy's feelings of unworthiness remained -- and she'd binge-eat a few times a week. A year into their marriage, she was pregnant again (with her daughter Christian), and her weight swelled to 400 lbs. Being big was a limitation. "I couldn't play with my girl," Kathy says.

Then, while visiting Wal-Mart one day in March 2000, Kathy spotted Walk Away the Pounds, a walking video by Leslie Sansone. She recalls reading the cover and thinking, Maybe I could do that. Kathy realized that she could work out at home, with no one staring at her.

Walking the Weight Away

Kathy bought Leslie's DVD and began exercising in her living room five times a week. The routines consisted of walking-in-place moves done in a 4-by-4-foot space. "At first, I could only manage five minutes," she says. "But the routines made me feel energized, so I kept plugging along. Soon, I'd worked up to 30 minutes," Kathy says.

Finding time to work out was tough for Kathy, who in addition to caring for her kids, had a full-time job as an administrative assistant and was a member of her church choir. "But I'd find ways to fit it in -- getting up early in the morning, or exercising at night," she says. "The DVDs were convenient because I never had to go to a gym.�"

Kathy was losing 2 lbs. a week. After several months, she finally felt motivated to tackle her toughest issue -- healthy eating. She switched from white bread to whole grain, substituted turkey for beef and added more produce to her diet. Kathy also gave up her daily 12-pack of Coke and started sipping water. When she felt tempted, she'd get moving. "I'd take my girls to the playground or just walk around the block," she says. "It would bring me back to my focus." But Kathy still battled her dieting demons. "Often, I'd have to grab food and shove it down the garbage disposal, telling myself, 'You are worth more than half a pie.'"

The Payoff

As the months went by, Kathy's endurance increased -- and within a year, she'd worked up to Leslie's The 5-Mile Advanced Walk at Home, a 60-minute DVD. Her first year she dropped 100 lbs. Within four years, she'd reached 150 lbs. Kathy has maintained her size-10 shape for four years, and continues to use Leslie's DVDs five times a week. "Every day, I wake up and decide, 'I'm going to be healthy,'" she says. Her next goal: a trip to Africa -- something she wouldn't have thought possible when she couldn't fit into a seat belt!