A Texas cafeteria worker’s dramatic weight loss is getting attention, not just for the way she shed the pounds, but also for showing students the benefits of healthy eating.
Shelley McCrae, the cafeteria manager of Carver Elementary School in Greenville, Texas, decided in September 2015 she needed to lose weight and get healthy.
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McCrae weighed 260 pounds and was terrified her eating, which included donuts for breakfast most days, would kill her.
“I was gonna die if I didn’t do something about the issue,” McCrae told KPRC. “I would go to Wendy’s and get supersize everything or McDonald’s and get supersize everything.”
So, McCrae decided to begin eating what she was making in her cafeteria kitchen — two meals a day, every day for a year.
McCrae began her mornings with fresh fruit and cereal, the same meal she offered her students.
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That was followed by a lunch that was slightly less health conscious, but better than fast food. McCrae would eat a broccoli and cheese baked potato, boneless chicken wings or peanut butter and jam sandwich.
“Oh our food is amazing,” she said.
For dinner, McCrae would have a light meal, like a “little bit of fruit or a little yogurt”
Within just three months McCrae’s new diet was making a difference.
“People started to saying my clothes looked baggy and that I looked thinner,” she said.
But it wasn’t just what other people said that kept her committed to her new eating plan, it was also the way the weight loss was making her feel.
“I’m a better manager, I make better decisions,” McRae said proudly. “It’s not because I’m thinner, it’s because I’m healthier.”
McCrae is now weighing in at 160 pounds and said she’s going to stick to what worked.
“I did it for me, and everything else is just icing on the cake,” she said.