Krystal Sanders

Before: 185 lbs After: 120 lbs Although she stands only five feet tall, 27-year-old Krystal Sanders was never petite. Growing up, she subsisted on fast food and "anything you could microwave." A size 14 when she moved to Austin, Texas, in 2005 to work as a revenue services specialist, she continued to hit the drive-through five nights a week. When she began planning her wedding in early 2008, the added stress drove her to...

Read More

Tracey Dickson

Tracey Dickson, 44 BEFORE 158 lbs AFTER 117 lbs Although her job as a flight attendant forced her to eat out at least four nights a week, Tracey Z. Dickson, 44, of San Antonio, Texas, stayed trim by teaching cardio and boot camp classes and running about 20 miles a week. But in April 2008, Tracey discovered a cancerous lump in her breast. "My life hit a wall," she says. Chemo sapped her strength, while steroid pills left...

Read More

Shannon Mooore

"I feel amazing inside and out!" Playing softball helped keep Lincoln, Nebraska, native Shannon Moore, 31, a slim size 6 throughout high school, but her weight started to creep up after she landed an office job. Tethered to her desk, she never exercised--and she started ordering pizza or a giant burrito for lunch. "I ate whatever was most convenient," she says. "I never thought about nutrition." In 2006, Shannon wore a size 14 dress to...

Read More

Loida Fraijo

BEFORE: 173 lbs AFTER: 125 lbs At age 12, Loida Fraijo moved with her family from Hermosillo, Mexico, to Tucson, where she discovered fast food. "I supersized everything," she says. "My sister and I would each eat a foot-long sub and then split a third one." By the time she was 19, Loida was carrying 173 pounds on her 5'7" frame. She dabbled in crash diets while attending Pima Community College in Tucson, but she could never...

Read More

Tricia Minnick

Tricia Minnick, 28 Before: 278 lbs  After: 150 lbs Years of crash diets did nothing to help Tricia Minnick, 28, control her weight, and by the time she got married in 2006, she was carrying more than 200 pounds on her 5'8" frame. In 2007, she got pregnant, and a complication resulted in four months of bed rest—and a 75-pound weight gain. Shortly after Tricia had her son, she and her family moved from Texas to Stuart,...

Read More

Deana Custer

Before: 225 lbs After: 140 lbs Although Deana Custer was on the volleyball and golf teams in high school, she carried 150 pounds on her 5'4" frame. Her weight began creeping up when she started cosmetology school in August 2005 while working two part-time jobs--she couldn't find time to exercise or cook. Fast food took its toll, and she was 200 pounds at her December 2006 graduation. She got a job as a hairstylist in Washington, Iowa,...

Read More

Mechelle Wingle

I feel like I'm finally in charge of my life"  Before 175 lbs After 132 lbs  When Mechelle Wingle married her college sweetheart in 1994, she weighed 140 pounds. But over the next 11 years, she had four children, and as a stay-at-home mom in Layton, Utah, she was never able to lose the baby weight. In 2006, after the birth of her last child, Mechelle peaked at 175 pounds.  "I'd eat 10 chocolate-chip cookies...

Read More