Florida Woman Loses 80 Pounds With Juice Jogging

The tide has turned for Debi Mitchell.

At 285 pounds, the Floridian suffered from leg and knee pain and shortness of breath that made it difficult to walk.

“I was retired. I wanted to walk and I wanted to go places,” Mitchell, 68, told TODAY.com last week.

Fearing for her health, she scheduled a heart check. Her doctor found that while Mitchell’s heart was in good shape, her weight contributed to her fatigue and limited mobility. An orthopedic surgeon recommended knee replacement surgery to ease her pain, but to qualify, she had to lose 10 pounds.

I thought, ‘I can lose 10 kilos’. I weighed 285, so I had a lot to lose. But I realized that no matter what I did, I would hit a plateau and then give up,” the resident of St. Petersburg recalls.

A Facebook ad introduced him to Fluid Running, a deep-water guided program that uses water resistance to help users build strength and avoid injury.

A competitive synchronized swimmer in her youth, Mitchell thought the training program would be a good fit. She had a pool in her backyard, which meant fewer excuses to avoid exercising at home.

The Fluid Running program includes a swim strap and waterproof headphones to match underwater audio workouts.

Mitchell says, “I just love when I put on my headphones and hear, ‘Hello, Fluid Runners,’ from Coach Jennifer … just as I’m starting to slow down, she’s like, ‘OK, I know you.’ head and restore balance. Let’s go.’ It’s like she’s in your head.”

Fluid Running allows users to control the intensity of their workouts, which integrate resistance, strength training and cardio.

Combined with the low-impact nature of the program, Fluid Running claims participants can burn up to 40% more calories than they would running on land.

At first, Mitchell struggled to complete the 55-minute Fluid Run regimen: “The first time I went all the way through, I saw that there was a stretch at the end. I didn’t even know it was there. And when I did a 5K, I was so proud of myself.”

After two and a half years, Mitchell is sticking to her swimming.

She has continued her fluid jogging workouts, averaging three a week — a commitment that has helped her lose 80 pounds and counting. Most importantly, she has gone from not being able to cross the street to walking up to 5 miles a day.

“I started doing it and it was a game changer for me. It was exactly what I needed – training, encouragement and motivation. It really changed my life,” she told TODAY.com.

Better yet, Mitchell no longer needs medication to treat his type 2 diabetes — and the weight loss has helped him avoid surgery.

“An orthopedic surgeon told me, ‘Every pound of weight you lose takes three pounds of pressure off your knee. So as you take those pounds of pressure off your knees, you may not need a total knee replacement,’” Mitchell explained to TODAY.com. “He was right. I haven’t had surgery on my knee and it doesn’t hurt like it used to.”

Pain-free, Mitchell is also free to travel. “It certainly made retirement better. Now I want to do things. I am at the age where I want to travel”, she said. “Before, I would never walk a mile. Now, as long as it’s not more than five miles, I can do it.”

She and her husband have traveled through Italy, France, Canada and the USA.

Mitchell is proud of her progress and looks forward to the future, “Now I always say, ‘If not now, when?’ Time will pass whether you make changes or not. I wish I was in this mindset 20 years ago.”