PINE TWP— Kathy Shortt decided to hit the gym in support of her husband — and discovered a support system for herself.

Shortt, 56, of Jackson Township, had never been in a gym in her life before joining husband Jim as a member of the Oxford Athletic Club in April of 2006.

"I never worked out before," she said. "I was always healthy ... overweight, but healthy."

Her husband had always been physically active, playing golf and exercising in gyms. He suffered a severe head injury three and a half years ago, however, hemorrhaged, and went through lengthy therapy to regain much of his cognitive functions.

Still deteriorating physically, he wanted to join Oxford to begin rebuilding his body.

"I didn't want any part of the gym,"his wife said. "But it was important to him, so I came along to work out with him.

"After two months, he didn't want to come anymore. He incurred a slight injury to his back and, mentally, he couldn't summon any incentive or motivation to keep going."

But Kathy Shortt kept copming — for two reasons.

"My weight started to come down and I was trying to show Jim it could work,"she said.

Tedd Stahl, a personal trainer at Oxford who works withroughly 20 members a week, admitted he didn't know what to expect from either one of them.

"They were recommended to me through our membership staff,"Stahl said. "One was just getting back into exercise and the other was just starting out. We took things real slow at first."

With her husband now in a nursing home, Shortt continues to progress physically — and mentally — a step at a time.

During the first two months, she frequented Oxford twice a week for 30-minute workout sessions. Then she began going three times a week for an hour, then four times, now five times a week.

In addition, she rides a stationary bike and does light weight-lifting at home for 90 minutes, every day of the week.

"The workouts became my time," Shortt said. "I went from resistance to interested, to fun, then challenging — a very enjoyable challenge."

Standing 5-foot-3, Shortt weighed in at 249.8 pounds 15 months ago, the first day she worked with Stahl. Now she weighs 142 pounds.

And she's not done.

"I need to drop another 20 pounds or so, easy,"She said. "But I have no timetable for that. I never put any type of weight-loss goal on myself. All I wanted to do was lose some weight each month and that's how it happened."

She changed her diet as well:Light carbs, no sugar, earing smaller portioned-meals five or six times a day, along with a protein shake.

Stahl said he's seen nothing like Shortt before — and probably never will again.

"Kathy's like a rock star around here,"he said. "People who don't even know her have noticed the work she's done and weight she's lost over time.

"Somebody new approaches her and talks to her about it almost every day. You just don't see people this committed for this long."

Shortt chuckled about her new-found fame in the gym.

"People ask me:'What happened?You're melting away,'" she said.

Being able to buy new clothes and fit into smaller dress sizes are merely a side advantage to all this, in Shortt's eyes.

"The physical appearance and compliments are nice,"she said. "But the important thing to me is the inner peace I've found through this. I used to be a stress eater. No more."

The Shortts have four children:Cass Jr., 37, Jennifer, 35, and adopted kids Megan, 10, and Jimmy, 6.

"Everyone's been extremely supportive,"Shortt said. "My mother says she's never seen me happier."