Neighbors: Deirdre Bradshaw

Four years and more than 100 pounds ago, Deirdre Bradshaw read an article about a woman’s drastic weight loss and decided it was time to make a change in her life.

After going through a divorce, the stress of raising her two children on her own while wrapping up her career as a New York police officer left Bradshaw more physically out of shape than she’d ever been.

“Growing up, I always considered myself a big girl, but I’d never had a problem with my weight until then,” she said. “I’ve always really enjoyed food, and the combination of everything that was going on just caused me to put on weight.”

Bradshaw always knew she wanted to live in Florida, and after retiring from the police force, the timing just seemed right, so she made the move to Sarasota in 2008. Shortly after she arrived, she found the Healthplex Fitness Center and enrolled in an eight-week weight-management program.

“The timing was just right for me,” Bradshaw said. “I was ready to lose weight, and I wanted to lose a lot. Healthplex helped me do it the right way.”

With the help of a nutritionist and her trainers, Shane Fairchild and Phillip Jones, Bradshaw learned how to create a healthy diet and the proper way to exercise. She changed her lifestyle and mindset completely, and in 18 months, she lost more than 100 pounds.

Bradshaw is quick to give credit to the gym and especially her trainer.

“Shane never let me think about the big goal or all the weight I had to lose,” she said. “We set daily goals, weekly goals — I was never thinking more than a week ahead at a time. I would’ve been overwhelmed if I thought, ‘Alright, I have to lose 100 pounds.’”

Like most people struggling to lose weight, Bradshaw tried countless fad diets and programs that yielded only short-term results.

“They say maintaining your weight loss is the hardest part,” she said. “If you don’t learn something, you’re never going to keep the weight off.”

In February, she will have maintained her new weight for two years, a feat she said was only possible because she learned the fundamentals of nutrition and exercise.

Bradshaw’s transformation is nothing less than remarkable. To date, she’s lost 109 pounds, and her dress size has dropped from a size 24 to a 14. With her new athletic physique and confidence, she could easily pass for a personal trainer, but she insists she’s too willing to give her advice away for free.

In the same way she was inspired by the article she read, Bradshaw hopes her story can help transform someone else’s life with her own success story. It seems like she’s the right person for the job — she’s become somewhat of a celebrity at the gym, stopping almost constantly to greet people, and just talking to her instills a sort of urge to hop on a treadmill. A banner displaying her accomplishment hangs in the weight room as a constant reminder of the progress she’s made, not only physically but also mentally.

“I used to be the girl who knew where all the bakeries were,” she jokes. “Now I know where all the gyms are.”