Team Seymour spouse changes life by getting fit

  • Published
  • By Airman Shawna L. Keyes
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  Sara Bellomy joined the Air Force in 2002 as an aircraft armament systems specialist. During her nine years of service, Bellomy met and married her husband, Tech. Sgt. Brandon Bellomy, and had two children. She also struggled with a weight gain of more than 70 pounds.

Bellomy said the pounds slowly crept on throughout the years. It wasn't until August 2013, while visiting family in Ohio, that Bellomy was shocked with the reality of her situation.

"I was in a picture and I felt good in what I was wearing," Bellomy said. "Then I saw the picture, and I was like, 'Um, no.' That picture brought me face-to-face with my depression, and that's what ultimately helped me lose the weight."

Weighing 221 pounds and wearing a size 17/18, Bellomy changed her lifestyle and began a two year journey which has her current weight at 160 pounds and sporting size 5/6 clothing.

Bellomy's trek to better health began by walking around the track during her child's football practices and re-learning how to eat. She bought a food scale and cut back on foods high in preservatives, and made her own food items whenever possible.

"I make my own bread, spice mixes, and can my own tomatoes," Bellomy said. "Anything that would normally have heavy preservatives in it I make myself, and we try to eat organic whenever possible. I believe that 85 percent of your weight loss comes from what you put in your mouth and 15 percent from what you do in the gym."

After altering her eating habits, Bellomy began to incorporate more walking. She walked four to five miles a day and started a walk-to-run program.

In January 2014, Bellomy joined the base's BellaMorphosis gym, and worked out three times a week with a trainer.

Tanya Boudreaux, BellaMorphosis employee, said she noticed Bellomy when she first started coming.

"She was pretty quiet and did her own thing at first," Boudreaux said. "As she started getting more internally fit, though, she became more passionate."

Bellomy said as her health improved and the weight and inches started coming off, she had more energy, her mood began lifting and she became more involved in her kids' lives.

"Coming to the gym changed me," Bellomy said. "It pushed me out of my comfort zone. I've been coming to this gym for two years now, and my trainer still motivates and pushes me."

Along with instructors and fellow members of the gym, Bellomy found support in her best friend, Amy Lane, her husband, and her kids.

"My kids can see the difference in me now," Bellomy added. "My youngest has said, 'Mommy, you look pretty,' never having said that before. It might not be so much my size, but my attitude improving that they have noticed more than anything."

In addition to creating an overall goal to weigh 150 pounds after her weight loss journey, Bellomy also made sure to set small, short-term goals.

"You have to set small goals," Bellomy advised. "If you look at someone lifting 100 pounds and go 'I'm going to do that now,' you're going to kill yourself. When I started squatting, I was just squatting my body weight. Now, I can back squat 100 pounds (in addition to body weight), but that took me a year to do. You have to work your way up."

Everybody is different, she added, and they have to find what works for them.

Boudreaux said anybody can do it though, and the hardest part is just staying consistent.

"It's a life-changing process and you have to take baby steps," Boudreaux said. "The journey starts in your mind."

"Every woman in America gets caught up in what the scale says because it's our culture," Bellomy said. "I look at my stomach and I hate it, but at the same time I got two great kids out of it. You have to feel good about yourself, and I do. I've never had as much self-confidence as I have now."