Woman Over 60 Treats Depression, Loses 100 Pounds With Walking

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Five years ago, KimAnn Phillips, 62, decided it was time to take care of her health. "I was just so sick of being overweight. It was miserable. I wasn't happy with myself," she tells TODAY.com. "I wanted to be able to move around."

Phillips wasn't overweight as a child, but her father had commented on her size: "When I was a kid, my father used to make fun of me and tell me I was fat. I look at pictures and I realize there's no way in the world that I was fat. But that image got embedded in my head," she says. "When people talk down to kids and make fun of them, it plays a huge role when you grow older. That really messed with me for a long time. I went through a lot of depression ."

She says she gained weight after her two children were born, and over time, she faced some health problems linked with her weight, mainly high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Plus, she had joint pain, especially since she used to play basketball and she has bad knees. "The added weight made them even worse," she says. She also has celiac disease , which added to her joint pain.

Her weight climbed to 360 pounds, and even at six feet tall, it was affecting her life: "I couldn't move. I couldn't go for a walk."

Today, she's lost 106 pounds. She's walking regularly , eating well and feeling better than she has in years. Her blood pressure and cholesterol levels have improved, and she doesn't get as many headaches as she used to.

She noticed a big difference after she lost the first 40 pounds. "I felt so much better. I could move, and my knees weren't hurting," she says.

Plus, she can shop wherever she likes now. She's six feet tall, and she got tired of having to buy her whole wardrobe at Lane Bryant. "That's where they had the big-girl clothes," she says.

Now, she can shop anywhere. She says, "One of the happiest days since all my weight loss was when I was able to go into Buckle jeans and buy the bling jeans. I paid 80 bucks for those things, and I still have them. That was phenomenal. I never in my wildest dreams could go into a store like that. I was jumping up and down in the store with my daughter saying, 'I can wear blue jeans now.' I was so happy. I'll never go back to a size 28 again!"

Here's how she did it.

She learned to overcome obstacles Five years ago, Phillips was about six months into her weight-loss journey when her husband passed away. They had been married for 36 years. His death and, more recently, a devastating breakup in another relationship both led to mental-health struggles.

"I try to get up every day and mentally dig down deep, tell myself, 'You can do this' and try to be as positive as I can," she says. "But depression was huge. There was a point where I was on medication, and then I quit and tried to do it on my own. I am back on an antidepressant right now. I don't like taking it, but, quite honestly, it keeps me from bawling every day," she says.

She also had a breast cancer scare , where she had a lump and needed a needle biopsy. It turned out not to be cancerous, but the experience was terrifying. "My mom passed away from breast cancer, so it runs in the family. I was petrified," she says.

And she recently found a tumor on the back of her leg. To remove it, they had to cut into the nerve, and drop foot — trouble lifting the front of the foot — was a possible complication. "I was freaking out," she says. Luckily, the procedure was successful and she's recovering.

Through it all, Phillips has hit plateaus and even regained 30 pounds at one point. But she keeps her weight trend heading in the right direction overall. "I think losing the weight slowly is probably why I haven't regained. I've been able to stay on track," she says.

She's made walking a regular part of her life When Phillips was at her heaviest, walking for exercise wasn't an option. "I was a supervisor and I walked through the shop, but I couldn't go for a walk. Now I can. It's a huge difference," she says.

Lately, she's had to keep her walks to a mile or so, walking her dog near her home in Clinton, Missouri, since she's recovering from the surgery on her knee. But she hopes to increase her distances when she's able.

She has an office job now, so she looks for reasons to move around throughout the day , like taking out the trash. "Not being able to walk drives me nuts. I cannot sit still. I'm one of those people who constantly has to be moving. I make myself get up and walk around. I like to move because I think that keeps your joints and everything working well, she says.

Support helps her on her journey Phillips counted on her husband for support before his death. "My husband would always tell me I looked beautiful, even when I was at my heaviest. He never made fun of me like my father did. That makes such a huge difference. Especially when you're trying to lose weight, you need that encouragement and support. He was my biggest advocate," she says.

She's also relied on her religious beliefs. "One of the things that's really gotten me through is my faith. It's absolutely #1. Every morning I wake up and I have to dig down deep and I know that He's got me. I don't think He's always been happy with some of my decisions, but He's definitely got my back," she says.

She's been a member of the Start TODAY Facebook group for about three years. "Reading some of those stories and watching some of those women make these huge accomplishments kept me going. I saw I wasn't the only one out there going through what I was going through. It's a really tight-knit, positive, encouraging group," she says.

She ignores advice that doesn't work for her "Everybody says, 'Don't get on the scale every day.' Well, my scale is my best friend. That keeps me in check. I get on there and I know if I need to get back on track," she says.

Phillips is aiming to lose 30 more pounds, and that's the weight that feels right for her, even though it might not be what others recommend. "Everyone tells you that you have to weigh a certain amount. Well, that's not true. I'm a big-boned girl and I'm super tall. The classic 180 pounds will not work for me. I want to be at 225 — I think that's the perfect weight for me," she says.