“Miki Rommel-Howell of Yelm on a Caribbean cruise in March with, from left, Cody, Curtis and Rick Lenz. She lost nearly 70 pounds and plans to run the Capital City Half Marathon in May.” Photo credit: Miki Rommel-Howell, via the News Tribune.

“Yelm woman trades living in the past for bright future”
“Miki Rommel-Howell says if you want to know what she was like a year ago, just dig up an old episode of “Married with Children.”

‘I was like Al Bundy from Polk High,’ Rommel-Howell said, referring to the stuck-in-the-past character played by Ed O’Neill. ‘You know, he didn’t do anything and was obsessed with his high school past.’

Rommel-Howell, a 43-year-old hairstylist from Yelm, was a standout soccer player at Bethel High before she graduated in 1989. She was second-team all-South Puget Sound League and was so active she didn’t have to pay much attention to her eating habits to stay fit.

When her soccer career ended, she said, ‘I still saw myself as that athlete and I still ate like that athlete, but I wasn’t an athlete.’

By the time she was in her early 40s, Rommel-Howell was carrying nearly 240 pounds on her 5-foot-4 frame.”

“She’s lost 70 pounds and 45 inches. She reduced her body fat percentage by 20 points. And she’s still going. She plans to lose 30 more pounds by November.”

“‘It has to come when you are ready,’ Rommel-Howell said of taking on the challenge of getting fit. ‘It fell into place for me because I wanted it,'” quoting Craig Hill, Tacoma News Tribune.
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