WOW Pinoy

Marathon Woman Rosemarie Jeanpierre

FOR Filipina Rosemarie Jeanpierre, nothing is impossible.

Last Sunday, Rosemarie ran the L.A. marathon in five hours and one minute. Although this in itself is impressive here lies the kicker—Rosemarie tipped the scales at 220 pounds just five years ago.

She is now literally half the woman she used to be. At 5’2, Rosemarie weighs 110 pounds, shedding a total of 110 pounds since 2003.

“I’m so grateful in many ways,” Rosemarie says in amazement.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could accomplish anything like this.”

Rosemarie’s incredible weight loss was jumpstarted by a doctor’s visit that turned into a wakeup call. She was told she had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and was borderline diabetic. The unsettling news that she was at high risk for a heart attack motivated Rosemarie to make the necessary lifestyle changes she would have to make to in essence, save her own life.

And no, she didn’t hire a personal trainer or go under the knife. Rosemarie did it the old fashioned way, hitting the library and poring over countless books in order to educate herself.

“I went to the library and read every nutrition book I could find,” says Rosemarie.

“I was like a determined student—hungry for any information I could get.”

And then the even harder part came.

Rosemarie cut back to a 1,800 daily calorie intake, no easy feat considering she was use to taking in more than 6,000 calories a day. She also started walking three miles daily on the treadmill in her former apartment.

“It really took a lot of self-discipline, determination, consistency and motivation,” Rosemarie says.

“Before I got married, I shed about 50 pounds but it was in the wrong way. I starved myself so all the weight crept back after I got married. I really wanted to do it the right way this time, to have a healthy weight loss.”

Sure enough, the weight fell off due to Rosemarie’s sheer will and determination. It was no easy task for Rosemarie, who of course had to completely modify her diet. This of course meant adjusting her taste for some of the not so healthy Filipino food.

“I of course had to cut back on my rice intake,” Rosemarie says.

“But I don’t deprive myself of Filipino food. I grew up with Filipino food so I love the taste. But now I just load up on the healthier dishes, the ones with a lot of gulay. I’m blessed because I’ve always loved vegetables. I love pinakbet, diningding, all of that!”

Talking to Rosemarie, it is also obvious just how disciplined she is when it comes to eating Filipino cuisine.

“Sometimes I sprinkle a little bit of bagoong on my food but of course not too much—we all know too much salt is not healthy!”

But an even bigger change in Rosemarie’s life was the discovery of her inner athlete. She not only exercised to lose weight, but discovered that she actually had a passion for running and was soon entering countless marathons. It wasn’t long before she started breaking records for her age category (Rosemarie is 43 years old) and winning countless medals. She currently holds the year’s fastest times among local women her age in 5K events.

“When I entered my first marathon, I was just happy to finish,” Rosemarie says, her voice incredulous.

“I really thank God for all of this, because this is truly a miracle.”

Last Sunday’s L.A. Marathon held a special significance for Rosemarie, since the L.A. Marathon was the first marathon she ever ran.

“The L.A. Marathon is very special for me because it was my very first marathon ever. It was the year 2005 when my nephew in law suggested participating in the L.A. Marathon, and I realized that I was really ready for a marathon,” Rosemarie says.

“So I trained everyday, running six miles a day to the very best of my ability in preparation for that special event. Since that first time, I keep telling myself rain or shine that I’ll always run the L.A. marathon every year.”

Recently, Rosemarie’s incredible weight loss story has been picked up by Shape magazine, L.A. Sports and Fitness magazine and even The Los Angeles Times.

And through it all, the 43 year-old LVN who hails from Northern Luzon, Philippines credits her incredible success to her ever-present faith.

“With these accomplishments, I believed God had a purpose in my life, and this is to share my story, to motivate and to inspire others to set positive goals and to set good examples in fulfilling and achieving healthy lifestyle,” Rosemarie says, her voice full of emotion.

“Once you get healthy, everything will follow—you can really achieve anything.”

Rosemarie even dreams of having a running event especially for Filipinos.

“At all of my running events, I don’t see nearly enough Filipinos. I wish more Filipinos would participate in events like these [such as the L.A. marathon]. I hope we can have our own running event, you know, with sponsors and everything so we can raise funds for the less fortunate in the Philippines.”

Of course with Rosemarie, anything is possible.

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