“I just don’t look at the scale anymore, because the scale’s just a number. I feel better, I think that’s the thing, and there’s going to be ups and downs. Eat the cake if you want it, go out and enjoy it. Don’t restrict yourself, enjoy it,” said Bracewell.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The fastest-growing sport in the world, pickleball, has changed the lives of Sherri Bracewell and Carla Cox.
Most of us feel like we could always lose a few pounds. Sherri Bracewell is no different. She said after seeing herself in pictures, something had to be done to lose weight. So, she started playing pickleball. Since picking up the paddle, Bracewell says she has more than over 90 pounds.
“I was overweight; I didn’t feel it. But after looking at myself in a couple of pickleball pictures, I told my husband, I think it’s time for me to do a health journey. And I was past my two hundreds, and it took two years, a lot of hard work, watching what I ate, meal prepping a lot, and a lot of pickleball six days a week. And I told myself I had a goal, just fifty pounds,” said Bracewell.
Bracewell says she used to be a tennis player. So, when her husband began playing pickleball, it inspired her to start.
“He said if I buy you a pink paddle, a pink outfit, will you play pickleball? So, I said, mmm, okay. And he brought me all the things, and we played our first tournament in the Cherry Blossom three years ago. We lost, of course, but that’s what started me off,” said Bracewell.
She says while being on her health journey, there is one thing she doesn’t do.
“I just don’t look at the scale anymore, because the scale’s just a number. I feel better, I think that’s the thing, and there’s going to be ups and downs. Eat the cake if you want it, go out and enjoy it. Don’t restrict yourself, enjoy it,” said Bracewell.
Carla Cox, who says she has lost more than 50 pounds since taking up pickleball, also credits paying more attention to her diet.
“I did connect with a friend who had used a plan—an eating plan on how to eat right to lose weight. So, I watched and contacted them, and they coached me on this plan on how to eat correctly. And it just changed my life,” said Cox.
Cox says as she got older, losing weight was challenging and knew she had to do more than just eat right.
“And when I got on the court, you know I was nowhere near where I wanted to be. But it gave me such a passion, and it made me want to do it more and feel better. So, it just motivated me more, and that was the start of pickleball for me,” said Cox.
She says you just have to start somewhere.
“It was a progression—of starting to feel better, started walking, started pickleball, started going to the gym, started getting back to tennis. It’s a daily thing. Your journey will never end, it is your journey. But the biggest part of that is you started it,” said Cox.