The Incredible Shrinking Nortons

While watching television every night, Roy and Julia Norton used to wolf down more snack food than some people put away in a month. They'd each devour a bag of microwave popcorn—doused with butter. Bags of chips and cookies would be empty before they knew it. And that was after a big evening meal at home or a trip to the local Chinese buffet.

"We were like little pigs," says Julia, 63.

She weighed 233 pounds, and Roy, 62, beat her out by almost 100 pounds. "It's hard to believe that we were that obese," she says.

These days, it's equally hard for the two Asheville, N.C., retirees to fathom their new physiques. After little more than a year of healthy eating, daily exercise and weekly Weight Watchers meetings, Julia has shed 90 pounds from her 5-foot-6 frame; Ray, who stands 6 feet tall, has dropped 143 pounds. That's a whopping 233 combined pounds.

"It doesn't seem real sometimes," Julia says.

But it is—a radical change not only in how they appear to others but also how they see themselves and each other. The Nortons weren't overweight when they married in 1966; the pounds crept up on them year by year. Though it was Roy's medical problems that prompted the couple's weight loss campaign, he had been better able to handle his bulkiness emotionally. Julia, on the other hand, coped by turning inward.

"You feel like people are looking at you," she says. "So I'd just kind of stand back and hope nobody said anything to me. I just wanted to hide."

Now she's coming to terms with a new public persona, one that entices witnesses of her transformation to approach her, pay compliments and ask for advice. "You want to be able to encourage people that it can be done," Julia says. "But we still watch what we eat and keep track of everything. You live with that constant fear of gaining it back."

The pair smile shyly at each other when discussing what they both consider the greatest accomplishment of their lives—one achieved as a team.

"It made us feel closer," Roy says.

"Being in it together made all the difference in the world," says Julia. "Even so, I don't think we really thought we could lose what we did. It took us several months to really believe what was happening. We'd look in the mirror a lot."

They continue to exercise together, often getting their recreation at the mall, starting with morning walks and ending with afternoon clothes shopping.

"When we go shopping now, we go wild," Roy says.

"Roy is after me to wear my clothes tighter," Julia adds. "He says, 'You should be showing yourself off a little,' but it still feels funny." She recently bought the unthinkable—a bathing suit.

Healthier, closer and more confident, the Nortons just celebrated their 40th anniversary. "It sure came at a good time, didn't it?" Julia says.

Diane Daniel is a freelance writer in Durham, N.C.

Additional Related Links

A Matter of Fat (June 2005)

Taking Aim at America's Waistline (November 2004)

Diabetes: Win the Fight (Segunda Juventud)