It happens to politicians, of course, when they seek public office, and it’s the price of celebrity.

But for an everyday woman to announce she’s struggling with her weight and wants to drop 55 pounds in five months, that’s something different.

So far, Linda Andras says, it is working out fine.

“It’s amazing how many people have e-mailed me and given me support,” says Andras, who adds a stranger came up to her at a video store and told her, “You inspire me.”

On May 20, when Andras decided she wanted to fit into her wedding dress again by the time of her ninth wedding anniversary on Oct. 23, she tipped the scales at 200 pounds.

Three weeks later, when Niagara This Week last stopped by her Curves fitness club in Niagara Falls, she was down to 185.8 and confident she would continue to slowly but surely lose the weight and reach her goal of returning to 145 pounds.

Andras says she’s currently consuming 1,400-1,600 calories a day, working out three times a week at her club and running 30 minutes a day. She plans to run a half-marathon in the Niagara Falls International Marathon Oct. 26.

She’s rediscovered cooking with natural, healthy foods but still has room in her diet for a low-cal treat, a favourite of which is iced coffee — blended coffee, skim milk, ice and Splenda — which “froths up to be huge and it’s scrumptious.”

“I feel more satisfied now than I did when I was allowing myself to eat whatever I wanted to,” says Andras, who has battled a compulsive eating disorder for many years.

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LINDA’S FAST FACTS

• Biggest challenge: Strawberry social — brought vanilla yogurt rather than have ice cream.

• Rewards: Spray tan for business trip to Texas.

• Favourite food: Egg Beaters with fresh rosemary, garlic and light cheese wrapped in whole wheat tortilla.

• Latest discovery: “With a good plan you can fit anything into your life.”

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LINDA’S TALE OF THE TAPE

presented in the following order:start; current; goal

Weight:

200 lbs; 185.8; 145

Body fat:

38.5%; 36.4; 34

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Niagara This Week will have biweekly updates on Andras’s progress.