Four years ago viewers watched each week for four months as Kim Coles participated in rigorous exercise routines, team challenges and suggested meal restrictions on Celebrity Fit Club in order to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle.
In the end, she walked away 24 pounds lighter at 196 pounds.
The actress gained nearly all of it back over the years, 22 pounds, and set out on another journey to “upgrade her life” and make the changes now that will benefit her in the long run.
“I don't hate my body or myself. It's about knowing the quality of life I wan to have in 30 years. I want to be a foxy 80-year-old and be able to walk up all the flights of stairs. I want to have the quality of life where my knees don't hurt. I shouldn't make a groaning sound at age 47 when I get up out of a chair. I'm certain that being overweight is hampering that lifestyle I want to have 30 years from now,” Coles recently told the Defender while in town to participate in a domestic violence awareness program.
The New York native and current host of Black Entertainment Television's game show Pay It Off, said “yo-yo” diets are not her cup of tea.
She's tried just about every one there is, including taking diet pills.
Nothing was a match for her until she teamed up with her friend and nutritionist Robert Ferguson. His picture-based “Fat Loss System” allows her to continue eating what she wants, while losing the weight she desires, she said.
“I didn't feel right on those various diets. I have too much of an active lifestyle for me to live hungry or on speed. Diet pills are awful. You know what you do (when you're on them)? You have the neatest bookshelves because you can't sleep. I'll wake up at 3 a.m. and want to do my bookshelves. I was losing the weight, but I wasn't healthy,” said Coles, who is best known for her role as Synclaire James on Living Single.
When Ferguson's system became an option, she jumped at the chance. It became a natural fit. She didn't have to cut out the foods she wanted to eat, only adjust the intake.
And while she's shed some pounds since implementing the system, she admits she hasn't been a “star student.”
Her hectic traveling schedule has paved the way for a few detours on the regime that was developed, however, she's been able to maintain the success she's had.
“I haven't been exercising and sometimes my clothes will feel a little snug, but I'll bet the scale hasn't changed,” she said.
Coles recalled a time after she lost the weight on Fit Club when she visited a plus-sized store she used to frequent. She wasn't greeted with a smile, criticism met her instead.
“There were women who were mad at me. They told me I couldn't shop in there anymore and questioned why I lost all that weight. I said, 'Uh, so my thighs won't rub anymore.' I thought I could still shop there but I didn't belong there. I do now because I gained the 22 pounds back,” she said.
Coles said her goal is not to be thin, but healthy.
Fans who remember her days on the sketch comedy show In Living Color, remember an even slimmer Coles – an estimated 140 pounds, her smallest size.
“I was miserable at my smallest point and I wasn't necessarily healthy,” she said.
Her weight loss goal is measured more by clothing size than by pounds, she revealed.
“I want to be a fierce size 12 that could possibly fit into a large 10, depending on the designer. So for me, it's whatever number allows me to fit into that size,” she said.
Coles hopes the track she's on is an inspiration for other women with weight issues to lose weight in a healthy manner.
“I want to lead the charge up the mountain, and not huff and puff all the way to the top,” she said.
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