Former weight: 210 pounds
Current weight: 164 pounds
Pounds lost: 46 pounds
Height: 5 feet 6 inches
Age: 33 years
How long she's kept it off: Six months. She started in April 2010 and reached her current weight in November. Her ultimate goal is 145 pounds.
Personal life: Elliott is an accountant and completed a master's in business administration through University of Phoenix last June. "I remember when I lost my first seven pounds, my 8-year-old daughter said, 'Wow, mommy, I can really see it!' That was the encouragement I needed to keep going." Elliott and her daughter live in Kennesaw.
Turning point: "On April 5, 2010 I got on the scale and nearly fell over -- I was 210 pounds," Elliott says. "Somehow, deep down, I knew that my weight was ridiculously high, but for years, I refused to get on the scale and face that giant of obesity ... after I had my daughter, 8 years ago, I could never find time to take care of myself. It was everything and everyone first and then if I wasn't too tired, I would see about me, which was hardly ever." She set out to lose the weight doing "everything and anything that [would] burn calories … pills and diet supplements don't work."
Diet plan: Her day begins with scrambled eggs and wheat toast. Mid-morning she has fruit. Dinner is baked chicken or fish with veggies and she makes enough for lunch the next day. She traded sweet tea for four one-liter bottles of water per day.
Exercise routine: She started working out at 5:30 a.m. "I would complete a one-hour program of high and low-speed intervals and inclines. At points I was running but mostly it was a brisk walk. I did that seven days a week."
Biggest challenge: "I am constantly watching what I eat, but the actually working out has been a struggle. I blame it on the weather. Who wants to workout when it's so cold? I don't even want to get out of the bed."
How life has changed: "There isn't a day that goes by when someone doesn't ask me what I did to lose the weight," she says. "I feel like this is my purpose -- helping others achieve the success that I have."
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 e-mail address, a daytime phone number and before and after photos (by mail or JPEG). Write: Success Stories, c/o Holly Steel, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 223 Perimeter Center Parkway, Atlanta, GA, 30346-1301; or e-mail ajcsuccessstories@gmail.com.
