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.
SUCCESS STORY / Samantha Hammonds, 46: From 265 pounds to 200 pounds
Former weight: 265 pounds
Current weight: 200 pounds
Pounds lost: 65 pounds
Height: 5 feet 4 inches
Age: 46
How long she's kept it off: Started August 2014. Reached her current weight in 2014.
Personal life: "I'm single; my husband passed in 2013," says Hammonds. "I have three boys, they are ages: 24, 23 and 20 – they are the best things that ever happened to me … I'm a pharmacy technician. I work with Coram CVS/specialty infusion service." She lives in Jonesboro.
Turning point: "At my heaviest, I worked for Piedmont Hospital and I went for a physical and weighed 265 pounds. You could look at me and I would start sweating. It was a hard time for me. My kids were small. My eating habits were horrible. Growing up, whatever Momma cooked was fried. We had rice and potatoes. We didn't have three green vegetables. When you don't know better you don't do better. These were some habits I had to break with my kids." In 2014, she had an abdomonplasty. The doctor took 17 pounds off but told her to start getting active. "In January, I had the surgery, in April, I started roller skating, in August, I joined Casi's Bootcamp (www.casisbootcamp.com)…What makes her method such a success, it's the way you keep it off - the way she retrains you to keep it off."
Diet plan: "I follow Casi's method of lean meats, green vegetables and water, water everywhere." Breakfast is oatmeal, mid-morning, half a grapefruit. She eats every two hours. Lunch and dinner are chicken, fish or turkey and steamed or raw vegetables.
Exercise routine: "I work out six days a week," She does bootcamp Mondays to Fridays from 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. On Saturdays, she does a step class, kickball or rollerskating.
Biggest challenge: "My biggest challenge is getting up in the morning. Once I get up, the rest of the day falls into place."
How life has changed: "Tremendously, I have met so many people with the boot camp, the kickball, and all the activities - it takes me out and about to different places. I am constantly meeting people… My Wonder Woman powers were activated, my muscle tone got better…you have to keep muscles moving." Her advice includes: "Get out there. Whatever it is - playing with your grandkids…I love life, it's always a blessing or a lesson, either you are going to learn a lesson from it or be blessed in it as well — a lesson or a blessing."
