Shana Dezelle drops 95 pounds eating raw food

Former weight: 245 pounds

Current weight: 150 pounds

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Shana Dezelle weighed 240 pounds in this May 2005 photo.

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www.RonWitherspoonPhotography.com

Dezelle dropped 95 pounds by eating a raw vegan diet and she’s still losing. The 30-year-old now weighs 150 pounds.

Pounds lost: 95

Height: 5 feet 5 inches

• How long she’s kept it off: Started May 2005 and still losing.

• Personal life: Dezelle is a full-time graphic designer at Atlanta Technical College and an artist. She lives in East Point.

• Turning point: “I realized that I had to start living for myself and not others,” she says. “It registered to me that while I am here on Earth, I want to make the best of it for my body and wellness.”

• Diet plan: She practices raw veganism, which excludes all food of animal origin. Breakfast is typically two bananas, raw almond butter and fresh organic berries. Mid-morning she snacks on fruit and nuts. Lunch is a kale salad followed by a snack of mixed veggies and tahini dressing, and dinner is collard or nori wraps filled with sprouts, organic veggies and sunflower pate. And for an after dinner snack she has a fruit smoothie.

• Exercise routine: “I work out every day,” she says. “I usually start with hardcore cardio such as step aerobics, spinning, or running. I also do power yoga, Pilates, kickboxing and dance. Weight training has also become a big part of my life — I do it at least 4-5 times a week.”

• Biggest challenge: “Negative comments from others,” she says. “However, none of them fazed me because I am doing something positive.”

• How life has changed: “Everything is so much clearer now — I know who I am and what I want.”

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