Michele Wallis of Carrollton loses 93 pounds

By Michelle Brooks

For the AJC

Former weight: 
220 pounds

Current weight:
 127 pounds

Pounds lost: 93 pounds

Height: 5 feet 4 inches

How long she’s kept it off: Four months. Started January 2008, and met her goal July 2009.

Personal life: She works part time at a gym and is job hunting full-time employment in customer service training.

She lives in Carrollton; her children are in college.

Turning point: “When my mother passed away Dec. 1, 2007. I read a medical report from when she was 41 that said: ‘If this young lady diets, exercises and lives right, she could live a long healthy life.’ I found this while cleaning my mother’s things in her room. Why in a stack of 200 papers did I read that paper, that section, those words? I felt like it was my mother speaking to me, telling me not to do the same mistakes. I don’t believe I ever loved myself enough to lose the weight, but I did love her enough,” Wallis said.

Diet plan: “The reality is we all know what is bad for us before we put it in our mouths, but we choose to do it anyway. Well, I chose not to do that anymore,” she said.

Breakfast is low-sugar oatmeal. Lunch is a turkey sandwich. Dinner is chicken, broccoli and sugar-free chocolate pudding.

Exercise routine: “Went to the gym every single day — made no excuses,” she said. “I did my first 5K in November 2008. I have participated in numerous ones since then and even a 10K. I’m training now for a half-marathon.”

Biggest challenge: “Being honest with myself,” she said.

“I had to come to grips with my past. I had to get real and lay it all out on the table.”

How life has changed: “My only regret in life is that I didn’t do this sooner,” she said.

“I get very upset when I look at my belly. Despite all the ab crunches and my abs being tight at the core, I still have skin from where I was fat. I didn’t do this to be a model — I did it because I didn’t want to die like my mom.”

If you’ve made positive changes in your diet and/or fitness routine and are happy with the results, please share your success with us. Include your e-mail address, a daytime phone number and before and after photos (by mail or JPEG). Write: Success Stories, c/o Suzanne Van Atten, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sixth Floor, 72 Marietta St. N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303; or e-mail ajcsuccessstories@gmail.com.