Land O' Lakes Woman Had So Much to Lose, Lots to Gain

Take a look back at this inspirational story of a local woman faced an "insurmountable task" and triumphed, garnering national attention for her efforts.

Editor's note: This story originally ran in 2012. We're putting the spotlight on it again to illustrate the accomplishments one person can make. It was early 2008 when Jenny Hodges of Land O’ Lakes decided she wanted to live. But to do that, she had a lot to lose. The weight hadn’t come on suddenly, Hodges said. When she graduated from high school, she was about 170 pounds. By the time she was 20— 250 pounds. A crash diet before her sister’s wedding got her back down to 200 pounds, a weight she maintained until she met her husband in 1999. When they married in 2000, she was back up to 250. By 2008, at age 37, she had reached 369 pounds. A stay-at-home mom of three young children and a full-time graduate student at the University of South …

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Blog Spotlight: Update Your Wardrobe Without Commitment

One of the best (and yet not) things about losing 212 pounds was shopping for new clothing. Why was it both good and bad?

The Sweet Smell of Victory

Jenny Hodges of Land O' Lakes lost 212 pounds. This is part two of her story.

Reaching your goal weight after losing 212 pounds might seem like the perfect end to a hard-fought battle. But for Jenny Hodges of Land O’ Lakes, it was the start of a new adventure. Soon after she achieved lifetime status on Weight Watchers, the company put out a casting call on Facebook, Hodges said. They were looking for success stories—and she had one. Hodges sent an email and within 24 hours, she had an appointment for an interview in downtown Tampa. A week after that interview, another.  From about 30,000 applicants nationwide, it was narrowed to 3,000, Hodges said. Then to 300. Then to eight. And Hodges was one of them. Hodges was flown—first-class, a first for her— to LA to film a series of commercials with Jennifer Hudson along …

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Event Aims to Make Your Resolutions Realities

Carrie Kukuda of Get A Grip Total Fitness and three other speakers will be featured at the Your Best Year event, which benefits Oasis Pregnancy Center.

New year's resolutions are easy to make, but they can be awfully hard to keep. That's why Carrie Kukuda of Get A Grip Total Fitness is hosting Your Best Year, a free event Thursday, Jan. 12 at Heritage Church, 1854 Oak Grove Blvd in Lutz. Though admission is free, there is a suggested donation of $10 for Oasis Pregnancy Center, Kukuda said. "I like to do these a few weeks into January" when people are thinking a lot about making changes and improving their lives, Kukuda said. They are great community events, and the donations collected will go toward a great local cause, she said. And whether an attendee's goals are fitness, finding time, finance or fashion-related, Thursday's event will feature four speakers who will touch on ways to …

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