DECATUR - Nearly five months after the Lose to Win role models attended their final weigh-in, they are still using the skills they practiced throughout the Herald & Review's healthy eating and lifestyle change program. And even with the holidays barreling forth like a sugarplum-and-butter-cookie-laden freight train, they said they feel they're on the right track.

Leanne Canaday, who weighed 184 pounds at the beginning, shed more than 26 pounds over the course of the 12-week program. She said she has since gained back about 5 pesky pounds, which she attributes to dropping the precise journaling system she had kept up during Lose to Win.

"I think if there was any kind of a letdown it was that I didn't set very specific goals for myself after we finished at the Herald & Review," Canaday said.

She also stopped attending some of her classes and workout sessions at the Decatur Athletic Club, choosing instead to walk outside in the summer and fall weather. She walks several miles two or three times each week.

Canaday plans to get back to the gym and has recently started going back to Weight Watchers meetings.

"I think what I've decided I need in my life is more accountability," she said in a phone interview.

"And less pie," her husband piped up in the background.

Canaday's son got married in July, and one of her goals throughout the program was to slim down in preparation for his big day.

"I felt like I had accomplished my goals," she said of the event. "It was a great time."

One tip Canaday has for anyone who plans to lose a significant amount of weight is to get rid of any clothes that become too big along the way.

"I got rid of all my fat clothes," she said.

Getting rid of her old pants has been a major motivating factor for Canaday because she doesn't have them to fall back on.

"If I would happen to gain a little bit of weight, and I would have to go out and buy a new pair of pants, that's going to hurt," she said.

Canaday is currently wearing a size 12, but she said she would like to get down to a 10 soon. She said she plans to lose another 15 to 20 pounds.

"I think overall I'm doing pretty good," she said.

This Thanksgiving, the family will gather at her mom's house, where there will be at least two kinds of pie. Canaday plans to bring a low-fat, lower-calorie pie with a reduced-fat graham cracker crust.

Marcia Williams, who weighed 213 pounds at the beginning of Lose to Win, said she hasn't lost any more weight since reaching about 200 pounds at the close of the program. But she hasn't gained any of it back either.

Williams faced a setback in August when her mother died. Because she is an emotional eater, she faced a great challenge in not turning to food during that difficult time, but she has recently started exercising again at the Decatur Family YMCA.

"It's getting better, and having just a little bit of exercise helps you," Williams said.

She rides a stationary bicycle and walks on a treadmill and on the indoor track.

"I don't think I can take my mind off of it ever and not think about it ever," she said of her healthy lifestyle habits.

Williams has also started a support group at Peoples Church of God for those who are struggling with weight loss and want to become physically, mentally and spiritually fit. She said she feels a lot of encouragement in the camaraderie of the group.

"You just can't forget and go back to your old eating habits," she said.

The group recently talked about healthy eating during the holidays. Williams, who is diabetic, plans to make her own desserts with a sugar substitute and watch her portion control.

"I'm trying to cut down half of what I usually eat," she said.

Williams said her goal is to dip below 200 pounds. She said she plans to use many of the tips she learned during Lose to Win to help those in her group.

"When you help others, it helps yourself," she said.

John Davis, who went from 284 pounds to 274 during Lose to Win, said he's maintained some of the healthy lifestyle changes he started during the program. He plays a lot of golf and recently joined the Decatur Athletic Club. But he said he doesn't go as regularly as he should yet.

Davis was trying the mail-order NutriSystem diet plan during the second half of the program, but he decided against continuing with the prepackaged meals. Instead, Davis, too, is working on portion control.

"I'm just trying to watch the intake and doing that kind of thing," he said.

Davis, who has had both of his hips and knees replaced, used the swimming pool at his home a lot this summer and did some water therapy for his hip through a doctor's order.

"I want to get back into a more regular routine of working out," he said.

Ideally, Davis would like to work out every day, but he hasn't gotten back into it yet.

"I'm really going to try and concentrate more on the exercise than on a real diet," he said, adding that he believes an emphasis on cardiovascular health will eventually lead to more weight loss.

Linda Constant lost 31 pounds altogether throughout the Lose to Win program, but she has since gained around 6 pounds back.

"Doing the actual weigh-ins helped me out a lot, I have realized," she said. "Because I only have myself to weigh in, and I'm not as accountable to myself as I am to other people."

Constant said she had lapsed a little on her healthy eating habits since her weight loss, but she recently made an effort to increase her attendance at Image Health and Fitness and started eating low-carb.

"I feel like I'm back on track," she said. "I hope I am."

Constant said she still has aspirations of weight loss despite her setback after the program ended.

"I had always had it planned," she said. "Like, I was going to be under 200 by Christmas, and now here it is November, and Thanksgiving is coming, and it's like, 'Oh my gosh, there's no way I can get under 200 by then.' So I had to change my goals."

She still plans to get under 200 pounds and wiggle into the pair of goal jeans she has hanging in her closet. Right now, they're still a few sizes too small, but Constant knows she'll get there eventually.

After all, throughout the program, she and Canaday bonded over the words of "Star Wars" Jedi Master Yoda: "Do or do not. There is no try."

Keep reading the Herald & Review in January for information on how to become one of next year's Lose to Win role models.

agetsinger@herald-review.com|421-6968