Victory BABES shed pounds with accountability

By Melissa Maynarich, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A group of metro women said they've found their perfect weight loss plan.

"I just decided to go ahead and try it because I've tried everything else," member Valerie Moss said.

Many women echo the words of Tina Hewett.

"I didn't have a future, I didn't like myself," Hewett said. "I didn't want to wake up in the mornings and get dressed."

The women dieted and exercise without permanent results, but decided to put their faith into Barb Swanson. She was 195 pounds, but lost 40 pounds when she decided to get together with other women also wanting to slim down. She asked them to keep her accountable.

As the pounds were dropped, the group expanded.

"Everyone starts looking different," Swanson said. "They start feeling different and exercise even makes you feel different."

The group calls themselves the Victory BABES, or Beautiful Accountable Babes Exercising Sensibility. The women keep a journal, they're coached on nutrition and exercise, and at group meetings, and they weigh in.

The accountability has helped the women shed their weight.

"My kids love it," Hewett said. "When I first started, my daughter couldn't put her arms around me and now it's like she can and then some."

Hewett has attempted to drop her weight using many methods, including methamphetamines.

By using Victory BABES for four years, she's lost 136 pounds.

"This is for real. I did it the right way," Hewett said. "I've been drug free for nine years."

Once many of the women begin the program, there's no stopping them. Becoming a babe is a lifestyle makeover for many of them.

The next 12-week session of Victory BABES begins Monday.