'It has to be a change in your mindset': Arizona woman talks her nearly 160-pound weight loss journey

PHOENIX - Turns out there's royalty right here in Arizona! A mom has been crowned queen of weight loss after losing more than 150 pounds.

"I was so heavy, couldn't run, I couldn't play with my kids," said Amy Sather. "I had children I adopted, I wanted to participate …so I decided to lose weight."

Now, Sather has been crowned the Arizona and International Weight Loss Queen for losing the most weight of any person in the nonprofit Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) after dropping 159 pounds.

TOPS is a decades-old nonprofit built around weight loss and support. They have weekly meetings to help with the emotional challenges of weight loss.

"It has to be a change in your mindset, your health habits, how you look at food," said Rick Danforth, president of TOPS Club Inc.

Danforth says that it helped him as well, and they use that to connect with anyone who participates.

"We know the struggles, we were able to succeed, and we want one your way," he said. 

Sather says her support system is what helped her lose weight.

"Having my friends to go work out and going to counseling to find out why I am doing so much binge-eating and setting up my mind for success," she said.

It was the emotional changes that made everything possible for her to change her life.

"I wasn't active, I didn't have an active lifestyle," Sather said. "I'm entering 5Ks now, and I'm getting medals and hiking 4, 5 miles, kayaking - my life is different going to the lake with kids. I have more friends because when I changed my mind and lifestyle, I gained a lot of good friends on this journey."