10 weight loss success stories

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View our gallery of 10 Georgians before and after they shed pounds and read about their turning points, what made them decide to change their eating habits.

The Hampton resident went from 273 pounds to 178 pounds for a loss of 95 pounds. Turning point: “It started out as the Daniel Fast through my church. The only reason I did it was for prayer and guidance; the start of the weight loss occurred because of it. When I started it wasn’t to lose weight — it was for guidance,” she said (daniel-fast.com and www.ultimatedanielfast.com). “After that I said well, I’m going to start walking. I went to one of the local parks by my home and started walking and started losing a couple of pounds.” Then she cut calories along with pastas, breads and refined sugars. By May, she had lost 30 pounds. “I decided at that time I was going to keep on going.” She added a gym membership and four to five days per week of working out. “I did get a nutritionist from my job. She was able to tell me how to watch my calories and grams of fat — teaching me how to eat better.”

The Tucker resident went from 212 pounds to 151 pounds for a loss of 61 pounds. Turning point: “I finally took a long hard look in the mirror and did not like the reflection looking back at me. I gave myself one year, my 50th birthday, to reach my goal,” she says. “I knew it was going to take a while. I didn’t hurry the process.”

The Chatsworth resident went from 388 pounds to 259 pounds for a loss of 129 pounds. Turning point: “When I went to eat with my family and we had to wait 15 minutes for a table because I couldn’t fit in the vacant booths — it was quite embarrassing and eye-opening,” he says. He started to make changes by counting his calories, eating foods as fresh as possible and working hard in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a form of martial arts and method of self-defense that is growing in popularity as a tournament contact sport.

The Atlanta resident went from 233 pounds to 158 pounds for a loss of 75 pounds. Turning point: “My friend … called me her full-figured friend. I didn’t think I was that heavy at the time but it really changed the way I looked at myself, and I decided I needed to change for me,” she says. “I had (gastric banding) surgery in 2007, but it didn’t work for me. I lost some weight but then gained it right back a year later. (This time) I changed my mind-set. I made my vision board of how much I wanted to lose. I looked at it every day and reminded myself why I wanted to do it — I wanted to be healthy for my family and to live a longer life.”

The Dacula resident went from 213 pounds to 151 pounds for a loss of 62 pounds. Turning point: “Last August 2013, my heart went into an arrhythmia and I was taken by ambulance to the emergency room,” she says. “It turned out, after much testing by my natural doctor, that I had severe food intolerances and possible Celiac disease. I removed gluten, soy, dairy and corn from my diet… I had always had problems where I would eat and my heart would race. Every time I would eat, I was reacting to the food. I was eating a lot of processed and fast-foods. I think all that was causing inflammation and keeping me heavy. I would try to diet and no weight would come off at all. It was because of what I was eating and how it was reacting in my body, not how much I was eating.”

The Fayetteville resident went from 350 pounds to 241 pounds for a loss of 109 pounds. Turning point: “I had known for a while that I was extremely unhealthy, but I couldn’t seem to find a diet that I could actually stick with,” he says. “I had done several diet attempts in the past few years, and failed each time. The real turning point for me was realizing how much I actually liked the paleo diet and deciding to make it the way I will eat forever. Even when I reach my ultimate goal weight, I have no intention of going off of this plan.”

The College Park resident went from 360 pounds to 175 pounds for a loss of 185 pounds. Turning point: “In 2008 it was about to become the new year. I was always tired and my knees were hurting,” she says. One night, she went with her sister to Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. “We ordered a dozen, we ate the whole box and we were joking that we were so greedy we ate the whole box. On the inside I was crying, while on the outside I was laughing.” Knowing it was time for change, she set a goal, “when the new year comes I’m going to come up with a plan … I prayed God would give me guidance, prayer is very strong in my life … My first week, I [walked] five minutes a day. I had to listen to my body. I couldn’t do it very long, as the weeks went by I did five more minutes, I went seven days a week.”

The Dacula resident went from 301 pounds to 167 pounds for a loss of 134 pounds. Turning point: “I’ve basically been overweight my entire life: overweight child and an overweight teen,” she says. “My mother passed away when I was 15 and I turned to food to suppress my emotions. It continued into my 20’s. In December of 2008, my husband, daughter and I decided to go on a family trip to St. John’s. When I got on the plane, the seat belt didn’t fit.” Thinking it was medical, she went to her doctor, who found hypothyroidism; but that wasn’t the primary issue. “I soon realized that was not my issue as I was an emotional eater.” She decided to try Quick Weight Loss Centers.

The couple lives in Suwanee. Conner went from 256 pounds to 160 pounds for a loss of 96 pounds. Mandy went from from 231 pounds to 148 pounds for a loss of 83 pounds. Turning point for Conner: “I saw my wife, Mandy, start her journey and my competitive side kicked in two days later,” he says. Turning point for Mandy: “Well, honestly, it was disgust — I was fed up with how I felt and looked,” she says.

The Roswell resident went from 278 pounds to 208 pounds for a loss of 70 pounds. Turning point: “I began this journey in August. It all started with a weight-loss challenge in the office which gave me motivation and also held me accountable. With the help of two friends, a nutritionist and a personal trainer, I was able to come up with the perfect meal plan and daily exercise routine,” he says. “I was always unhappy with my body and my weight. The weight-loss challenge was the perfect opportunity for me to have motivation and accountability for my weight.”

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The Hampton resident went from 273 pounds to 178 pounds for a loss of 95 pounds. Turning point: “It started out as the Daniel Fast through my church. The only reason I did it was for prayer and guidance; the start of the weight loss occurred because of it. When I started it wasn’t to lose weight — it was for guidance,” she said (daniel-fast.com and www.ultimatedanielfast.com). “After that I said well, I’m going to start walking. I went to one of the local parks by my home and started walking and started losing a couple of pounds.” Then she cut calories along with pastas, breads and refined sugars. By May, she had lost 30 pounds. “I decided at that time I was going to keep on going.” She added a gym membership and four to five days per week of working out. “I did get a nutritionist from my job. She was able to tell me how to watch my calories and grams of fat — teaching me how to eat better.”

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