As the Olympics have shown, the difference between first and second place can come down to the narrowest of margins.

Nurse Michelle Crowe, winner of the Columbia Slimdown Challenge.

That held true in the Columbia Slimdown Challenge, where Boone Hospital Center Nurse Michelle Crowe took first place after losing 23.558 percent of her body weight — giving her victory by 33 one-thousandths of a percentage. Thousands of people competed in the challenge. (See the results, she is listed as “Elizabeth Crowe”)

Crowe’s incredible weight loss — 49.2 pounds — happened between May 1 and August 1.

She credited much of her success to a strict adherence to the Paleo Diet. As part of the diet, she stopped eating processed food, dairy, legumes and sugar.

“It’s incredible, it changes your life,” Crowe said.

Crowe competed with Team SeeLow, which included several of her Boone Hospital colleagues. The team’s name plays off famous singer Cee Lo Green and their desire to, “‘See low’ numbers on the scale.”

Crowe’s mother was also a member of the team and ended up taking fourth place overall in the competition.

Michelle Crowe, right, with competitors from The Biggest Loser. This photo was taken just before Crowe began the Columbia Slimdown Challenge.

Crowe has struggled with her weight since she was a pre-teen. But now she’s in “absolutely” the best shape of her life.

She now has more energy and has seen other discomforts disappear; such as swelling, aches, inflammation and any GI issues.

The change also helps in her job at Boone Hospital, where she often works long shifts serving patients in the Labor and Delivery Unit.

“Here, you’re on your feet a long time. A lot of us go home and our feet are puffy and swollen,” she said. “But I don’t have any of that anymore.”

Crowe has run two marathons in the past, and she’s now looking forward to her third.

“I can’t wait to run a marathon 49 pounds lighter,” she said.

As the winner of the Columbia Slimdown Challenge, Crowe will receive health-related prizes, gift certificates and MU football tickets.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 3rd, 2012 at 3:28 pm and is filed under Boone Family Birthplace, Celebrations, Health information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.