Nurse works through the pain of training

Age was never an excuse for Dee Levine. It was more like a motivating factor.

At the age of 59, childbirth nurse Dee Levine of Hoffman Estates entered the Daily Herald’s Fittest Loser competition, intent on dropping some of the 247 pounds she had to deal with on a daily basis. After initially balking at the tough training she received from trainer Steve Amsden at Push Fitness (“Steve hurt my feelings,’’ she said), Levine got serious about the workouts, the diet, the entire lifestyle change the contest involved.

After three months, Levine lost 43 pounds, and showed up at the Fittest Loser party at John Barleycorn in Schaumburg wearing a little black dress that would not have fit back in February.

“This has been fantastic, phenomenal,’’ Levine said. “To lose over 40 pounds at the age of 59, and to know that I can do things that I never thought were possible, to have a mental toughness, I am forever thankful.”

Levine credits her husband Al, an ex-Marine, with keeping her going when the going got tough. But Al said it was pretty much all Dee’s doing.

“She was great through the whole thing, and she looks great today,’’ Al Levine said.

Levine had a tough test early. She and Al went on a Caribbean vacation, where braised ribs are a specialty, and the drinks are sweet and plentiful.

But Dee had already bought into the very strict diet, which required she eat five times a day and stay away from the sugars and salts that are so plentiful in most of our daily lives.

“After the final weigh-in, I told Al ‘I need my two stalks of celery with peanut butter,’ ” Levine said. “I wasn’t going to go back to eating like I did. I have tasted French fries now, and I hate the taste. I made pancakes for Al, and hated the taste of pancakes. I’m 59 years old. I’m not going back. This is my way of life.

“I have learned I have control over my body,’’ she said. “I have control over the food I eat. There is so much that I have learned.”

Amsden had to work hard with Levine to get over her initial complaint that Amsden was being too tough on her. She admits it was a lifelong psychological problem she had to deal with, but Amsden had to deal with it, too.

“This three months has been an arduous journey for both Dee and I,’’ Amsden said. “She struggled through injury, emotional issues, adapting to an intense exercise program, and all the while still maintaining a full-time job.

“Once she let go of the emotional baggage from the past, she transformed herself into a mentally, physically and emotionally strong woman,’’ he said. “She now has the intestinal fortitude to overcome whatever challenges she faces in life and thrive while doing so.”