DENVER -- In November of 2009, Kendra Figueroa felt trapped in her own body.

"I've been judged by people by my weight my whole life," said Figueroa.

The Broomfield mother of twins, once a triathlete, had ballooned to 278 pounds.

"I couldn't run. I couldn't even get on my bike at 278 pounds," she said.

In the past, extreme exercise and extreme dieting would take off 20 pounds.

"Then it would stop. And I would get frustrated and discouraged and I would gain it back and even more," she said.

So she turned to a different extreme: gastric bypass surgery.

"There are limits to what we can do on our own, especially when you get to extreme weight problems," said Dr. Michael Snyder, the bariatric surgeon who performed Figueroa's surgery.

He called shows like "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition," "weight-loss porn."

The discouraging reality, he said, is that without surgery only 3 to 5 percent of the morbidly obese lose the weight and keep it off for five years.

"Having surgery is a small part of who Kendra is," said Snyder. "What she's done is she's taken this opportunity and turned it into a life- and health-transforming event."

Figueroa has lost 130 pounds in 15 months, but for her, surgery was just a warm-up. She started walking, and then running, recently crossing the Bolder Boulder finish line in 57 minutes. "Fifteen months ago, I couldn't even run. Walking was hard," she said. "Now, I'm running a 10K in under an hour. It's incredible."

Now, she's training again. This time for a marathon, symbolic of her long-term weight plan that includes wise food choices and setting an example.

"My husband's lost 35 pounds," she said.

She said she's no longer trapped in her own body. By losing weight,she gained the freedom to finally run her life.

"Whether you chose to have surgery or not, just get up and move. It does work for people. It can work for you too," she said.

The risks involved in bariatric surgery include vitamin and mineral deficiency, dehydration, kidney stones, and in more rare cases blood clots or even death.