Sibrenna Shipman, 31, of DeKalb, loses 189 pounds

• Former weight: 334 pounds

• Current weight: 145 pounds

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Sibrenna Shipman at 334 pounds in December 2005.

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Sibrenna Shipman at 155 pounds in September 2007. Sibrenna says that taking the weight off was easy compared to the effort in keeping it off.

• Pounds lost: 189

• Height: 5 feet 4 inches

• How long she’s kept it off: “I started my journey Feb. 28, 2006 and I reached my goal Nov. 13, 2007,” says Shipman.

• Personal life: “I am currently a full-time student majoring in social work and minoring in criminal justice. I also work full-time with DeKalb County Schools,” says Shipman. “I am married with three children ages 15, 12 and 9, and we reside in DeKalb County.”

• Turning point: “I always wanted to gain the willpower to lose weight and never could get that oomph to ‘just do it’ like the [Nike] shoe,” she says. “But one day, I visited my son’s school and after leaving, the kids teased my son about how I looked and [when] defending me, he had to fight approximately eight to 10 little boys and got suspended in the process. That added fuel to the fire for me and I started Weight Watchers on Feb. 28, 2006.”

• Diet plan: Breakfast is usually oatmeal and fruit. Lunch is a salad with spinach and lean meat. Snacks are usually dry cereal or fruit. Dinner is baked fish or chicken and lots of vegetables. And for a treat, she indulges in Breyers Free ice cream for only 1 Weight Watcher point per serving.

• Exercise routine: She exercises five days a week alternating workout DVDs, including Denise Austin’s “Burn Fat Fast — Cardio Dance & Sculpt” and Billy Blanks’ Tae-Bo “Get Celebrity Fit.”

• Biggest challenge: “Actually, it was very easy getting off the weight, surprisingly. It is harder for me to keep it off,” she says. “If you [want to] have a free day, all you have to do is get back on the wagon the next day, and if you exercise faithfully, you will not see the weight gain from the free day.”

• How life has changed: “The changes are that I am more confident, I believe in myself, I am no longer sad, my kids and their friends are always wanting to be around me because I stoop down to their level and act like a big kid with them,” she says. “Actually losing weight gave me the oomph and the courage to go back to further my education.”

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