The dramatic, physical differences are obvious on the outside, but the soulful inside is where Jackie Christensen has made the most significant changes in her life.

Realizing she was on a collision course with terrible health problems, and possibly an early death, the 45-year-old woman had a change of heart. She gradually found a new direction and purpose in life.

“I’ve been perpetually happy for the last nine months,” said Christensen, who has found a second career as a fitness and wellness instructor at the Auburn Valley YMCA. “I feel excited about my future. I feel healthier than I ever have been in my entire life, physically, mentally, emotionally, in every single way. I have lots of energy.”

Christensen, a wife and mother of three boys, had battled a weight problem since her first pregnancy 25 years ago. Unsuccessful at dieting, her drug of choice became food, an emotional aid and an addiction that spiraled out of control.

She weighed nearly 400 pounds. And she lived in shame.

“Food never disappointed me. It was always there. It never rejected me,” she said.

But a series of unfortunate events would Christensen to a life-changing epiphany.

One evening two years ago, a drunken teenage boy took his father’s car for a joy ride, plowing into the side of Christensen’s house. The car came to rest at the foot of Christensen’s bed where she lay bewildered.

“It totally destroyed half of my house and everything around me, except me,” Christensen recalled.

Then, only a few months later, Christensen was involved in another crash. On her way to church, a woman drove through a red light and smashed into Christensen’s minivan, demolishing it. Cushioned from the blow by a deployed airbag, Christensen was not seriously hurt.

“I’m thinking, ‘I’m not safe in my own home and vehicle,'” she said. “I knew there was a reason why I was still there and that car didn’t take me out.”

At the accident scene, precautionary medics transported Christensen to a nearby hospital and prepped her for X-rays. But the CAT-scan tests were incomplete because of Christensen’s size and weight.

“They thought I would break the machine because of my weight on the table,” Christensen said. “It was horrible. It was humiliating. I died that day.

“I left … I stuffed it inside like I stuffed everything else for a long, long time.”

The low point signaled a call for help that pointed the way up for Christensen. She couldn’t solve her personal health crisis alone.

Driving by a local MultiCare facility early last year, Christensen noticed a sign promoting a weight-loss program. She was intrigued. She stepped inside, enrolled in a 12-week program and soon became committed to it.

The program provided regular exercise and personal introspection. It is exactly what the struggling woman needed.

“I engaged in a process of self-examination and really began to challenge myself to determine if the things that I saw about me, who I was and what I had to offer, were right or wrong,” Christensen said. “I found that I was wrong about myself.

“I then began to turn around and see myself in a different light … a more positive reflection, helped by people.”

Christensen came to the conclusion that eating was her way of dealing with problems, emotional or otherwise.

“There are things you cannot control,” she said, “but you can control your outlook and your health.”

The support structure included health care professionals and friends from the Auburn community, especially at the YMCA where she got in step with the staff and their aerobic classes. Enjoying the movement of dance, Christensen became adept at Zumba.

Feeling good about herself, a reinvigorated Christensen shed the weight. To date, she has lost about 125 pounds and is determined to lose much more, perhaps 100 pounds, by early 2011.

“It’s a realistic goal, and one I will take my time with. I know it isn’t a race,” she said. “I feel good. I have a renewed energy.”

An accountant by trade, Christensen is transitioning into a career as a health and wellness instructor. She leads seven fitness classes each week, at the YMCA and area LA Fitness centers. She continues to be involved with her church.

“I’m now able to live my life with a vision, a purpose and a confidence I never had before,” she said without hesitation.

To get to where she is, Christensen had to come to grips with herself. She now is better equipped to help others with similar health and wellness issues.

“To get a change in your life, you have to deal with it inside … to reconnect with God, with other relationships, with yourself,” she said. “This journey has now filled me with so many opportunities … it’s the most fun I’ve had in my own life.”