JOANNE SGRO LOST 185 POUNDS

STATS: Single 33 years old
HEAVIEST WEIGHT: 340
CURRENT WEIGHT: 155
TIME IT TOOK: Three and a half years

HOW SHE GAINED: During her junior year of college, Sgro found out she had a benign tumor on her pituitary gland. It wasn’t life threatening, but it caused her to gain around 50 pounds. Later when she started working the night shift at a TV station, Sgro gained more weight. "The weird hours made it tough to be healthy," she says.

TURNING POINT: As the pounds piled on, Sgro felt less and less able to fight back. If she took an aerobics class, she’d want to hide in a corner of the room. She dreamed of being an on-air news reporter but knew that her appearance hurt her chances. "I felt entrapped by my fat," she says. "Being overweight was holding me back."

HOW SHE LOST: When Sgro first started exercising in 1997, she couldn’t last longer than ten minutes on the treadmill. But each week, she added five minutes to her routine. "I had this vision of what I was going to look like," says Sgro. After losing 80 pounds, she began lifting weights four times a week to tone her body. At the supermarket Sgro avoided processed foods and focused instead on veggies, whole grains, and protein. But to this day, she always rewards herself with a weekly "cheat meal," when she can eat whatever she wants in modest portions.

HOW BOB GREENE HELPED: He made her understand that it’s unhealthy to lose more than three pounds a week. Any more than that and you may be losing lean muscle. "Before I read his book, I’d get discouraged about shedding only a single pound in a week," says Sgro. Greene’s book also helped her understand why her clothes felt bigger even though the scale wasn’t moving-she was losing inches: the pounds would come off later.

BEST COMPLIMENT: "At my ten-year college reunion, my friends kept showing me off to people, saying, ‘Can you guess who this is?’ My own sorority sisters had no idea it was me," she says.

GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Proving her doctor wrong, Says Sgro, "She once told me that because of the tumor and genetics, I was never going to be less than 200 pounds. But now I’m 155."

HER NUMBER ONE RULE: Plan your meals around whole grains, lean protein, fruits, and vegetables.

THE ULTIMATE PAYOFF: After losing nearly 200 pounds, Sgro became a fitness instructor to help others. "I understand women who are afraid to put their foot in the gym," says Sgro. She also got to appear in front of the television camera – as an exercise expert for several local TV shows.
-S.F.

Copy the never-go-hungry secrets that FIXED HER METABOLISM!

She lost 185 lbs. and 9 sizes eating metabolism-healing foods all day long! You could lose a pound a day on her plan.

Even in high school, my friends would have burgers, I’d have salads and I was still the fat one," remembers Sgro, a Philadelphia-area 33-year-old whose weight soared to 340 pounds after she took a night-shift job and was treated for a pituitary-gland condition. "I didn’t have a slow metabolism, I had NO metabolism." Three diet groups failed her, "Finally I said, You have to figure it out for yourself,’" she says. And she did. She read, took nutrition classes, experimented. Today, she’s a 155 pound size 10 who eats twice what she used to. Her secretes

Joanne’s Miracle Plan
1. Stop eating diet foods
"I used to think anything fat-free was safe. But I couldn’t lose weight!" Now Joanne skips all-starch meals in favor of ones with more protein, fiber and health fat.

The science: Protein has a well-documented metabolism-stimulating effect and has recently been found to raise levels of an amino acid that forces a dieter’s body to metabolize more fat. This is just in from Australian researchers: Good fat stimulates metabolism, too!

2. Eat every 2 hours
Mini-meals are the best metabolism enhancer out there. "As soon as I learned to eat smaller amounts more frequently, I started to lose," says Joanne.

The science: Breakthrough research at Japan’s Nagoya University and elsewhere shows that eating small amounts at regular intervals signals a woman’s metabolism to burn more fat. Why? If the body can anticipate its next refueling, it lets go of stored fuel—aka fat—more readily.

3. "Overdose" once a week
"I have one cheat meal a week," says Joanne. It helps me stay on track." How? By keeping deprivation at bay and jumpstarting metabolism.

The science: Occasional splurges jolt our calorie burners. The effect is so dramatic, dieters indulging in high-calorie days once a week or so begin burning 28,000 to 42,000 more calories per month, says Valley Stream, New York, nutrition researcher, Barbara Crosby, Ph.D.

4. Catch high metabolism Zzzzs
When the working the graveyard shift led to skimpy and erratic sleep habits, Joanne says everything she ate ended up on her hips. Now the former size 28 gets a solid eight hours every night.

The science: University of Chicago researchers found that when dieters slept eight hours, the burned up to 40% more calories than when they were fatgued.

"The routine I have now just makes me feel too good to ever give it up!" says Joanne, who became a fitness instructor to help other folks fix their broken metabolisms. Wanna see if her tricks will have a feel-good, get-slim effect on you? Then just try the tips—and yummy meus—on these pages. Pros say they can help you lose up to a pound a day!
--Christine Garson

Medical Conditions that pack on the pounds
Without treatment for a benign pituitary tumor, Joanne wouldn’t have been able to jumpstart her metabolism and get skinny. Is a health problem standing in the way of your diet succes?

If you have these symptoms…
Fatigue, hair loss, headaches, vision or memory problems, muscle weakness, decreased sweating, dry/coarse skin, menstrual irregularities, poor wound healing, easy bruising, high blood pressure

Ask your doctor about…
Glandular problems (thyroid, pituitary, adrenal)

If you have these symptoms…
Fatigue, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a tendency to carry more abdominal fat, difficulty focusing, mood swings, early-day irritability, jitteriness before meals, sluggishness after meals, cravings for sweets after meals, insomnia

Ask your doctor about…
Insulin resistance

If you have these symptoms…
Headaches, indigestion, heartburn, canker sores, chronic respiratory conditions, joint pain, arthritis, fatigue

Ask your doctor about…
Food Allergies

If you have these symptoms…
Dandruff, dry hair, eczema, PMS

Ask your doctor about…
Essential fatty acid deficiency