Slimmer, trimmer and chatting with Dr. Phil about it

YAKIMA -- Wendi Pearson was bored at work one day, so she sent an e-mail to the "Dr. Phil" show. A year and a half later, she was flown to Los Angeles to talk with Dr. Phil about her weight loss success.

The program airs at 3 p.m. Friday on KIMA -TV.

"They flew me down there for four days, and seriously, we were each on there for 30 seconds," said the Moxee resident, who works part time at the Larson Gallery in Yakima. "Once I got there I wasn't one single bit nervous. ... I soaked in the experience and had fun with it."

The program shares the stories of Pearson and two other women who lost a combined total of 353 pounds and 32 sizes by following advice in Dr. Phil McGraw's book, "The Ultimate Weight Solution."

Pearson, 31, said she didn't want to appear on the show at first because she hated the idea of her "giant, fat pictures shown to the whole world." But she's glad she changed her mind.

When she arrived in L.A., she got her hair cut and nails painted. She was furnished a designer wardrobe -- complete with shoes and undergarments -- and she was given an all-expense paid trip to Cancun, Mexico.

As for meeting Dr. Phil, she said he turned out to be a regular, normal guy.

"It was like meeting your mailman," she said.

Pearson, a married mother of four, started out at 266 pounds and has shed almost half her body weight in less than two years. She now weighs 157 pounds. She decided to diet "because she felt like it" and succeeded in losing weight by laying off sugar, eating more vegetables and walking about three to six miles a day.

Even though a couple of months have passed since the show was taped, Pearson said she still keeps in touch with the other guests and is helping one of them with her own weight-loss goal.

"The show treated us really well," she said. "It was a great, once-in-a-lifetime experience and I enjoyed the heck out of it."

* Erin Snelgrove can be reached at 577-7684 or esnelgrove@yakimaherald.com.