Before: 170 lbs
After: 116 lbs
Program used: Weight Watchers

Growing up, Katherine Turner used food to smother her adolescent feelings of anxiety and helplessness. The feelings were especially strong in her case — not only did she grow up with a stern father who rarely let her socialize with friends, but she also worked for him in the family’s pizzeria and deli. So food was a natural source of solace.

Those same old emotions, along with a new one — fear — returned when Katherine went to work in Baghdad in September 2003, as a billeting and food-services manager for American troops. (She had tried to enlist in the military but was rejected because of her age: 46. Instead, she hired on with a private contractor.)

Every day, the ground trembled with shells and mortars. She heard tragic stories daily — almost more than she could take in. And once again, she coped by resorting to food. “I thought, I could die here. I might as well eat,” she recalls. “I just stuffed and stuffed and stuffed.”

When convoys carrying treats made it through to Baghdad, Katherine gobbled ice cream and french fries that tasted like home. When more appealing food was scarce, even stale doughnuts, rolls and military-issue MREs (meals ready to eat) soothed her nerves.

Facing the Enemy

In September 2004, her contract up, she returned home to Colorado Springs, Colo., and pined for the company of her husband, John, 50, a security technician for the same company, who had stayed on in Iraq. In Baghdad, she had been too busy to care that her pants seemed to be shrinking, but when she got home, not even her “fat clothes” fit. “I ordered extra-large clothes from QVC and none of those fit me, either,” Katherine recalls.

Even more worrisome was her health. She had horrible indigestion and constantly felt bloated and sick. “I coughed and gagged all the time,” recalls Katherine, who was carrying 170 lbs. on her 5-foot-2 frame.

Her doctor told her: “You need to lose 30 lbs.” It wasn’t what she wanted to hear. But in January 2005, she grudgingly reported to a Weight Watchers meeting. She was sure she could never survive on the paltry amount of food she assumed she would be allowed.

Still, she went home after her first meeting and gave all of her cookies, chips, Philly steaks and white bread to a neighbor. Whole-grain pasta, baked chips, Enova oil and fresh fruit and vegetables took up tenancy in her pantry.

She also exhumed an old George Foreman grill from her cabinet and discovered that it turned out remarkably tasty, low-fat chicken, zucchini, eggplant and peppers! She kept to the program, didn’t feel hungry and lost almost 4 lbs. in the first week.

The second week, she weighed in 3 lbs. lighter. The third week, her weight loss slowed to less than 1 lb., so she ordered an air-glider exercise machine from QVC and used it for half an hour every morning. To avoid snacking, she kept her hands busy: She crocheted and made Christmas ornaments out of keys and walnut shells.

Mission: Accomplished!

Four months later, she met her original goal of 141 lbs. With her doctor’s blessing, she kept going. “I figured, I want to be happy and healthy! Full speed ahead!”

Her husband, John — who had transferred to Dubai in August 2005 — got a glimpse of the new Katherine last Christmas, when the couple met up in Rome. John was stunned to see his seafood-hating wife dig into fish and turn down her beloved pastries.

In April 2006, Katherine hit her revised goal of 116 lbs. “Now I belt everything,” says Katherine, “and I have major energy!”

Sure, it’s difficult to be apart from her husband for months at a time. But Katherine consoles herself by remembering, I eat less when he’s not here! Realizing she can control her weight has given Katherine the confidence to consider becoming a real estate agent. And those bouts of anxiety and anger? “They’re almost completely gone!”

Of course, things aren’t all Splenda and spice: “It takes me longer to get dressed in the morning,” confesses Katherine. “When I was fat, there were only so many clothes that fit. Now there are so many choices!” But, she admits, as problems go, this one’s a beaut.