Ebony Lugo, 23, a switchboard operator at a college in New York City, turned her weight-loss journey into a savings plan.
She has lost 48 pounds over the past year and slashed her food budget by more than half. She weighs 157 pounds, down from a high of 205.
Lugo used to eat out several times a day but now cooks healthful meals at home and packs her lunch, saving several hundred dollars a month and thousands of calories. "It is a good time to lose weight if you want to put a little extra money in your savings account," she says.
Her story was selected by a panel of experts to be featured in the sixth annual USA TODAY Weight-Loss Challenge in the newspaper and online at dietchallenge.usatoday.com. This year's series, which runs every Monday through mid-May, focuses on how to lose weight on a budget.
Lugo says she used to overeat for emotional reasons, both when she was stressed and when she was happy. "Living here in the city, you can go out and get a 7-ounce burger, fries and milkshake at 1 in the morning."
She was inspired to try to trim down when she read and heard about others who had dropped 100 pounds or more. The first thing she did was join an inexpensive gym. "I didn't go there right away because I was so embarrassed that I was so out of shape. I started walking on a path in the Bronx, and around my neighborhood. I lost 5 pounds immediately."
Three months later, she got up her courage and went to the gym. She started with cardio machines -- treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical trainer, stair stepper. And she began changing her eating habits, using the free website sparkpeople.com for nutrition guidance.
She knew her dining-out habits had to change. She frequently grabbed breakfast on the way to work and ate lunch out, often spending $100 a week on those two meals. And she and her boyfriend went for dinner three times a week, which cost them $120 to $160.
So Lugo did an about-face on dining out: She started eating breakfast at home. "I bought the big box of oatmeal, and that thing lasts forever. I started bringing lunch to work instead of buying lunch out. No more big burgers at night."
Now, she and her boyfriend, Sherard Morton, 28, spend about $275 month on groceries and occasional dinners out. "We don't buy extras. Nothing goes to waste. I cook three times a week, and I have leftovers for lunch and sometimes for dinner."
Another cost-saving measure she has taken: exchanging old exercise videos with a friend. "It's fun, and you can try a DVD for free."
Lugo is thrilled with her transformation. "I don't look back at photos and think, 'Oh, I was so fat.' I look at it like that's not me anymore."
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