Former weight: 242 pounds

Current weight: 165 pounds

Pounds lost: 77 pounds

Height: 5 feet 7 inches

Age: 58 years

How long he’s kept it off: Provin-Wylie started his journey Jan. 20 and reached his goal in August.

Personal life: “My partner, Jerry, and I have been together since 1993 and were married in 2004. We enjoy the beach and traveling. (We) also enjoy spoiling our fur babies, Patrice and Stinky, our cats, and Frankie, our dog,” Provin-Wylie said. “I am retired. I worked for myself doing home renovation, painting and landscaping.” Provin-Wylie lives in Decatur with his partner. Editor’s note: Jerry’s story will be featured next week.

Turning point: “It was in late 2019 when I walked past a store with reflective glass windows while we were touring London. I saw my profile and decided I had to do something about my weight,” Provin-Wylie said. “... We had heard about the LockedIN Wellness program (www.lockedinwellness.com) from some colleagues. After meeting with Nancy Masoud, a metabolic specialist, we felt comfortable with the program and decided it was time to sign up.”

Diet plan: Breakfast is eggs and chicken sausage or yogurt and an apple. Lunch and dinner are protein with vegetables. “We rotated beef, chicken and tuna as our proteins and could have any vegetable if it wasn’t on our (food) sensitivity list,” Provin-Wylie said.

Exercise routine: Provin-Wyline said they are not “exercise buffs.” ”(We) could come up with 100 reasons why not to go to the gym. ... But as the weight and inches started to drop, we realized we needed to tone up and introduce some form of exercise to keep our metabolism going,” he said. “We started off walking 1 to 2 miles and using light weights. Now, we walk twice a day, getting up to 5 to 8 miles every day.”

Biggest challenge: “Our biggest challenge was keeping to the routine and changing bad habits,” Provin-Wylie said. “... It was also the elimination, temporarily, of foods I enjoyed but were identified as part of my food sensitivity analysis.”

How life has changed: “We both have more energy than we did when we carried around the extra weight. We do not get worn out or tired in the middle of the day, and at night we sleep much better. From the health perspective, our doctor has adjusted or eliminated several medications, and our blood work continues to improve,” Provin-Wylie said. “This was not a diet program; it truly was a lifestyle change.”


Share Your Success: Each week, Success Stories focuses on an individual’s unique weight-loss journey. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution does not endorse any specific weight-loss program but includes names and links for the benefit of readers who want further information. Have you lost weight successfully with a healthy lifestyle change? If you would like to share your story with our readers, please include your email address, phone number, and before and after photos (by mail or JPEG), and contact us at: Success Stories, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 223 Perimeter Center Parkway, Atlanta, GA, 30346-1301; or email reporter Michelle C. Brooks: ajcsuccessstories@gmail.com.