Her Gentle Weight-Loss Approach Helped Her Lose 176 Lbs—Without Strict Diets or Grueling Workouts
Follow Cheri's seven simple strategies that helped her shed pounds and manage her diabetes
We have some refreshing news: Going gently may be the new way to get healthy. Forget harsh, exhausting weight-loss plans. Research in the Journal of Happiness and Health shows that replacing a tough-love approach with gentle guidance delivers longer-lasting results. So if you’re tired of overworking a diet, here’s an invitation to trade enforcement for encouragement and slow down to slim down. It worked for Cheri Lindsey, who embraced self-care and shed more than 100 pounds! Here’s how Cheri, who appears on the cover of this week’s Woman’s World magazine (get your copy here!), achieved her goal—and how you can copy her success!
Cheri’s 7 easy tips for gentle weight-loss success
Back in 2022, Cheri Lindsey, 51, barely survived a case of COVID pneumonia. She was released from the hospital as an overweight woman with diabetes, who needed oxygen and a wheelchair. Almost dying flipped a mental switch for her to treat herself with more care. “I was very weak.” Slow and steady was the only way forward.
Woman's World Answers
Here are the seven simple strategies that transformed Cheri’s life:
Try easy exercise
With mobility issues and back pain, Cheri couldn’t attempt the gym. So she used Cheri Schultz’s seated exercise videos on YouTube to get some regular physical activity. As she grew stronger, she moved to water aerobics at her YMCA. “I loved it. You can get a great workout in the water. I tell everybody to start there,” she says of the easy resistance. And at 339 pounds, she realized, “I didn’t have to wear a swimsuit. Bike shorts and a big swim shirt worked.” By the time she got off her supplemental oxygen eight months later, she’d already lost 88 pounds.
Use loving mantras
Her husband was her “biggest cheerleader.” But Cheri needed to learn to cheer for herself, too. Her daily motto became: It’s mind over matter, and baby, you matter! She realized, “It doesn’t matter how long it takes. It’s your journey. Just start.”
Consider flexible ‘lazy’ nutrition
In the past, Cheri went too hard too fast, slashing her calories and suffering from hunger in her weight-loss efforts. She says, “I’d had my gallbladder removed, so my body couldn’t process all of the fats on full keto. I learned that the hard way!” Her nurse practitioner gave her life-changing advice: “ease in, not dive in.”
So Cheri adopted a “lazy” keto approach. She focused on protein and kept her carbs at a comfy 60 grams per day. Cheri also learned about calorie cycling, a method proven to boost metabolism and make the body more resilient—without deprivation. On it, she cycled between different patterns: eating two days a week of 1,500 calories, two days at 1,700, then two days at 1,400 and repeating.
Follow relaxed fasting
Intermittent fasting is known to support weight management, but Cheri admits, “It’s very hard for a diabetic.” If she went too long without eating, her blood sugar levels would plummet. Instead of the traditional 16-hour fast, she used a relaxed 14-hour window. She stopped eating at 6 PM, slept then ate at 8 AM.
Make meal prep low-effort
Cheri relied on ultra-easy meals and kept things deliciously simple while she dropped from a clothing size of 5X to 5. “My air fryer is my best friend. I air fry just about everything.” Pork chops, pizza, enchiladas. She also enjoyed throw-together meals made with comfort foods. She often cut up strips of Egglife zero-carb wraps to make noodle and lasagna dupe dinners. “I love the convenience!” For snacks, she enjoyed ready-to-grab Atkins protein brownies to support healthy weight loss.
Tap into supportive tools
Cheri was prescribed Metformin to help her type 2 diabetes, but it made her sick. So her doctor asked if she’d consider Ozempic. “I’m scared to death of needles,” she says. But she thought of her young nephew, who has to take daily insulin shots for type 1 diabetes, and she got brave. Although she doesn’t think the doses helped much with weight, they lowered her diabetes A1c reading from 8 to 4.9!
Celebrate your victories
Cheri honored all her big and small milestones with gratitude on the way toward reaching her weight-loss goals. “When I hit the 100-pound mark, it was 4 o’clock in the morning. I was so proud of myself. I went on the back porch and yelled, ‘I just lost 100 pounds, if anyone can hear me!’” Another more-recent celebration: “I just got a tummy tuck!”
Over four years, Cheri shed 176 pounds and reversed her high blood pressure and cholesterol. Remember that wheelchair from the hospital? Cheri left it far behind. “Now I don’t need a cane or a wheelchair. I can walk seven miles a day—it’s life changing.” She found, “You really have to change your mind to change anything else. It starts there.”
The science behind gentle weight loss success
Cheri’s transformation isn’t just inspiring—it’s backed by science. Here’s what experts say about why the gentle approach works so beautifully for long-term weight loss.
It calms your body’s stress response
“For women who have spent decades being told to ‘be stricter’ or ‘try harder,’ learning to work with their nervous system instead of against it is often the missing piece,” explains Wellness coach Caroline Tyrwhitt, author of The Mindset Diet. This stops the hormonal signals that instruct the body to hold on to body fat as a misguided survival mechanism.
Tyrwhitt found self-compassion was the “one key that unlocked the ease and flow in weight loss. I found a way to ‘think myself slim.’” The proof? Research in the Journal of Happiness and Health finds that self-compassion influences about 25 percent of all healthy eating choices—that’s huge!
It outsmarts burnout and self-sabotage
If you’ve ever started strong then crashed and burned, you’re not alone—and there’s a reason why. “Small shifts can be layered into your life without triggering the stress that leads to burnout and self-sabotage,” Tyrwhitt adds. The evidence is overwhelming: A review of 20 studies in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research concluded that using self compassion improves weight-loss results. As Tyrwhitt puts it: “Consistency, not intensity” wins.
It’s especially powerful for women over 50
“I strongly advocate for a compassionate, ‘slow and gentle’ focused approach to weight loss in all patients,” says obesity medicine specialist Fernando Ovalle Jr., MD. “This is especially powerful for women 50+ because many have spent decades in restrictive dieting cycles that increased stress hormones, worsened metabolic health and led to regaining weight.” More good news: “When women replace punishment with self-care, they’re more likely to heal their relationship with food, trust their bodies and achieve healthier results.”
Try Cheri’s easy gentle weight-loss menu today
Cheri enjoyed three lazy keto meals per day, plus snacks. “I’m not a good fruit-and-veggie eater, so vitamins played a big role.” She took a multivitamin, B12, probiotics and prebiotics. And Dr. Ovalle advises these guidelines: “Prioritize adequate nutrition (protein), sleep, strength and stress reduction.”
Breakfast: Savor fluffy scrambled eggs made in a pan spritzed with avocado oil. Serve with turkey sausage. Cheri says, “The flavor avocado oil gives food is out-of-this-world!”
Lunch: One of her favorite tricks? Cutting Egglife zero-carb wraps into strips to create noodle and lasagna dupes. Top with Barilla low-carb alfredo and chicken.
Dinner: Air fry juicy pork chops with a smoky, dry-spice barbecue rub. “Skip BBQ sauces filled with sugar.”
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This story originally appeared in the March 16, 2026, issue of Woman’s World. Additional reporting by Beth Weissman.
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