Fort Greene woman runs to inspire others to lose weight
When Kristen Finneran runs in her first a half-marathon race on Sunday, she hopes to do more than just cross the finish line. She hopes she can serve as an inspiration to others. She has come a long way in her personal journey and wants others to know that they can do it, too.
For most of her life, Finneran was obese. At one point, she weighed more than 300 pounds. Buckling her seatbelt on a plane or squeezing herself into a seat at a movie theater was a struggle. “From the age of two on, I was overweight,” the Fort Greene resident told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “When I was growing up, I tried everything – Weight Watcher, personal trainers, nutritionists. But the weight always came back,” she recalled.
Nine years ago, she switched doctors and started seeing a new general practitioner who encouraged her to undergo gastric bypass surgery. “The doctor thought I was a perfect candidate for it,” she said. The operation changed her life. Agreeing to the surgery meant becoming a more disciplined person. “You have to show that you are a determined person in order for them to even do the surgery. You have to undergo counseling. And you have to lose 10 percent of your body weight,” Finneran said.