It’s not every day you meet someone who is willing to climb one of the tallest mountains in the world—let alone Kara Richardson Whitely, who is best known as, “The Fat Woman on the Mountain.”

For many years, though, Kara was the fat woman who happened to climb mountains. It’s an identity she knew all too well for the majority of her adult life, until her goal to reach the top of one of the world's tallest mountains gave her the inspiration to climb those first steps toward a better life.

On her website, www.kararichardsonwhitely.com/, Kara talks about her journey to conquer her own personal mountain: losing weight.

“At age 30, I was lost within my own body. I dreamed of climbing mountains, but the only thing that went up was my weight—to about 360 pounds.”

“During one New Year’s Eve, it all changed when I wrote down what I wanted to do, instead of how many pounds I wanted to lose.”

“I decided to look at weight loss as a lifelong journey and I got moving. I resolved to climb mountains.”

“My path led me back to the terrain of my childhood, and I climbed to the top of Camel’s Hump and Vermont’s highest peak, Mount Mansfield. I’ve also been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up again.”

“Mountain hiking and the path to wellness have a lot in common: they require tenacity, faith, and a lot of hard work.”

“My 120-pound weight loss has inspired me to help others on their weight loss journeys through my Web site, publications, coaching services, and speaking engagements. After all I have been through, my aim is to encourage people to be active with their bodies and in their communities.”

Kara is continuing to educate others and is inspiring them to change their lives for the better each and every day.

To inspire others like her to conquer their own personal mountain of losing weight, Kara hosts seminars, and public speaking events to get people up and moving. She even trained a small group of people to climb up one of the world’s tallest mountains: Mount Kilimanjaro.

For a month, bistroMD provided Kara and her three team members with meals and snacks to prepare them for their journey. Inspired by Kara's remarkable determination and generosity to inspire others to change, bistroMD wanted to be there with Kara and her team as they made their incredible journey.

BistroMD provided healthy meals and snacks to Kara and her team a week prior to their climb up Mount Kilimanjaro.

Kara, along with two other adults, including her director, and her good friend Stacy Pratt, climbed to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro the first week of August.

Just like her, Kara’s good friend, Stacy, has struggled with losing weight for the majority of her adult life. With help from bistroMD, and with motivation and determination to live a better life for their children, both ladies climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, and conquered their weight loss goals.

“Along with my personal determination to help other’s lead a more fulfilling life, I hope that this journey to the top of Mount Kilamanjaro will inspire others to take steps beyond the obstacles in their life,” says Kara. “If this former fat woman can climb some of the tallest peaks in the world, then you can too. The first step is just choosing to be healthy.”

Climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro is how Kara chooses health, and she wants all of you to see why.

To learn more about Kara and to see more highlights from her incredible story of successful weight loss, visit her blog by clicking here.