Dramatic weight loss isn't always a result of drastic surgery or a fad diet. Sometimes it comes through plain old hard work and self-discipline. Amor Del Rosario-Moore lost more than 140 pounds the old-fashioned way: more exercise — a LOT more exercise — and less food.

Her husband, Jason Moore, wrote us about Amor: "Before I met her, she weighed over 300 pounds. She didn't exercise and ate whatever she could get in her mouth. In college, she had a desire to join the military. She then lost over 140 pounds through hard work and determination. My wife hasn't enlisted in the Army yet. Instead, she trains for triathlons and is in charge of a bicycle exchange program that promotes active living. Isn't that a turn-around in life-styles?"

Oh, yeah. We decided to learn more about Amor Del Rosario-Moore and how she changed her life.

"I was a 10-pound baby, and I've been heavy all my life," she said. "Inactivity was the biggest issue.

"As a kid, I was a couch potato, or I went to the library or worked on the school (Farrington) newspaper. I played golf, but that isn't exactly a fitness sport," Del Rosario-Moore said. "I used to ask my mother to drive me to the corner store, which was about 500 yards from my house. It seemed like such an effort to walk that far."

In high school she went to Mitsu-ken for a breakfast of eggs, Spam, fried rice and a side of chicken. Or she'd stop in at McDonald's for a biscuit with bacon and eggs. After school "I went to McDonald's every other day or to 7-Eleven whenever I had money in my pocket. I used to sneak food into my room and eat alone, in secret."

While at Chaminade University majoring in forensic science, she decided she wanted to enter the Army. At 320 pounds, it seemed an impossible goal. But she was determined.

That same year, her father had triple bypass surgery, and it hit her hard.

"After all those years of constantly hearing, and saying to myself, 'Amor, you've got to lose weight,' it seemed to all build up to this one day," she said.

Although she was living at home and her parents were not able to abruptly alter their traditional Filipino diet, she slowly began to make changes.

First she substituted brown rice for white rice. She stopped going to any fast-food or plate-lunch places. She increased her vegetables and reduced her portions of pork, beef and chicken, eventually eliminating them in favor of fish.

Del Rosario-Moore's mother, Ampy, of Kalihi, gets teary when asked about her daughter's successful weight loss: "I'm so proud and happy. She changed her whole life with exercise and eating right. She's managed to change her attitude, too. Before she didn't talk too much, but now she talks to me all the time."

Del Rosario-Moore had let a membership at 24-Hour Fitness lapse, but she renewed it. She hired a personal trainer to work out with her three times a week. "I didn't know what to do," she admits. "Even though I went to fat-kid classes all my life, I never really understood" what needed to happen for the weight to come off.

One measure of how far she's come: She recently completed the Na Wahine Sprint Triathlon.

Del Rosario-Moore got involved with biking and now has made it her career, as head of the Kalihi Valley Instructional Bike Exchange, or K-VIBE (see box).

Her job enables her to encourage healthy choices in the kids who come to work with her on bike repair and maintenance.

"We only provide healthy snacks and water, and we encourage them to eat here so they won't go to McDonald's later," she said.

She met her husband at a fun run and they were married June 28, 2003. He is in the Army and will be transferred soon, so she has set a goal of getting into the Army by the middle of next year.

Reach Paula Rath at prath@honoluluadvertiser.com.