SUCCESS STORY: LaNita Jo Winston, 59: From 145 pounds to 126 pounds

Former weight: 145 pounds

Current weight: 126 pounds

Pounds lost: 19 pounds

Height: 5 feet 5 inches

Age: 59 years

How long she’s kept it off: She started in March and is still losing.

Personal life: “I have been married for seven years to my husband,” says Winston, who has three children, two step-children and six grandchildren. “I moved to Atlanta, [in April 2011] because of my Fibromyalgia and I have Reynaud’s, an auto-immune disease. It’s warmer here; I couldn’t stand the Ohio cold weather. I worked thirty years at AT&T, but now I work for Olan Mills.”

Turning point: “I had tried so many times, but then in March 2012, I started walking. The people I was walking with were older, and they walked slower, but I kept saying, ‘But I am walking —I need to sweat,’ ” she says. “I was [constantly] going to the doctor for aches, pains and depression. They just gave me more pills that made me sicker. I said no, I must take control of my temple, and I did.” She took a class at the Living Foods Institute (www.livingfoodsinstitute.com).

Diet plan: “I started juicing first — raw vegetables and fruits, chia, flax seeds, avocado, good stuff,” she says. “I may have a salad or chicken for lunch. I enjoy salmon, rice, sweet potatoes, chicken, fish…I am not hungry. The raw juice fills me up, and gives me a lot of nutrients.”

Exercise routine: “In July, I started going to the gym [four times per week]; twenty minutes on the treadmill, twenty minutes on the bike, and ten minutes on the stair master and some weights.”

Biggest challenge: “Getting started,” she says. “I kept saying I am tired, I hurt, didn’t feel like it, didn’t have time — poor excuses…”

How life has changed: “I was taking four Lortabs for pain and now, I don’t take anything,” she says. “When I tell people my age, they don’t believe it. One reason is I have good genes, but another reason, I take care of my temple…I have a lot of energy. I am trying to help others. [Next year,] I am planning two birthday parties… here and Ohio…I will only be sixty once. I hope I can encourage someone because it’s not about weight it’s about our health.”

Be an inspiration: 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 email address, a daytime phone number and before and after photos (by mail or JPEG). Write: Success Stories, c/o Patty Murphy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 223 Perimeter Center Parkway, Atlanta, GA, 30346-1301; or e-mail Michelle C. Brooks, ajcsuccessstories@gmail.com.