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 / Jorian Cox, 51: From 300 pounds to 199 pounds
Former weight: 300 pounds
Current weight: 199 pounds
Pounds lost: 101 pounds
Height: 5 feet 8 inches
Age: 51 years
How long she's kept it off: "On Jan. 14, 2014, my goal for 2015 was to lose 100 pounds – I've lost 101," said Cox.
Personal life: "I am the safety manager for the City of Atlanta's Department of Watershed Management Office of Safety and Security," she says. Cox lives in Jonesboro.
Turning point: "When I met with my kidney doctor in December of last year, I had hit 300 pounds. He said, 'You are now a candidate for gastric sleeve surgery and I'm sending you to a seminar. If you don't start getting the weight off, you are going to damage your kidneys,'" she said. "It was my choice between picking up the food and eating the pain, or changing my habits to change my lifestyle — I am an emotional eater. I cried out to God to place people in my life to help me … When I made that conscious decision, then the people were starting to be placed in my life." When Cox had to manage a health and wellness program at work, her change began.
Diet plan: She eliminated white flour and sugar. Breakfast is hot lemon water, two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, three egg whites, vegetables and turkey bacon. For a snack, she rolls turkey around spinach leaves. Lunch is salad with salmon. Afternoons include a protein shake and fruit; dinner is a turkey burger with quinoa. She drinks 120 to 130 ounces of water daily.
Exercise routine: She works out five days a week doing 20 to 30 minutes of cardio. She also works out with her trainer, Chaunda Walker Walls (www.bellafitnessgroup.com), who appeared in Success Stories in 2009.
Biggest challenge: The challenge was eating," she said. "Breaking the bad habit of eating late at night was the hardest. If I woke up in the middle of the night, I didn't want broccoli so I would drink my water or I would pray — that's how I started to break that habit."
How life has changed: "Life has become more enjoyable. It has motivated me to know I am not a failure," she said. "I made that conscious decision to not just lose the weight but to make a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. It's never too late to get started, you can do it. Why put off what we can start now?"
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