by Lauren Thornton Tobin for the FCT

Success fits for a Russellville woman, Dana Copeland, whose weight loss story is featured on Curves.com.

Copeland, 34, joined the Curves weight loss program on March 7, 2012 and has since lost 70 pounds.

“I like that you get a full body workout in 30 minutes,” Copeland said.

Copeland said she lost the weight through the Curves Complete meal plan and exercising four times a week.

Copeland said she’s lost weight through other diets, programs and prescriptions, but was never able to keep it off. This is the first time in her adult life that she’s been in shape and has been able to maintain her weight loss, she said.

The mother of two said during her second pregnancy, she lost her mother. It was a combination of the pregnancy and grief that caused Copeland to gain 75 pounds.

“I’ve never been small, but then I had really gained some weight with my daughter,” she said.

Copeland said she was able to lose some of her weight, but after three and a half years, she decided it was time to get serious.

When she saw a post on her Facebook from Curves in Russellville sharing a story about a friend of hers, Copeland said she knew she could do it too.

“The hardest thing for me was walking through the door at Curves,” she said. “The workouts are specified based on the individual.”

She said she liked this program more than standard gyms because everyone was focused on themselves and she didn’t feel as self conscious.

“When I first started, I could barely move my feet and now I run on the platforms,” she said. “Everything just seems so much easier to do.”

The Curves Complete plan recommends people lose approximately 20 pounds in 90 days. Copeland said she lost 30.

“If it wasn’t on the meal plan, I didn’t eat it,” she said.

Copeland said she has not only learned portion control and better eating, but she also drinks at least 64 ounces of water a day.

“They’ve done all the work for you, and if you just follow it, you can do it,” she said. “Anybody can do it.”

She said the workout plan is designed for people to walk five thousand steps in a day, and then increase to 10 thousand in a 90 day period.

Copeland said she would walk a mile in the morning or she would get on the treadmill at night, but her primary workout came from Curves.

Since her weight loss journey, Copeland has completed a 5K and placed second in her age division.

Copeland said she had to maintain her weight loss for a year to be selected as a success story.

Curves set up a photo shoot in her home, complete with hair and makeup artists, and a professional photographer from Atlanta.

Jenilee Flanagan, owner of Curves in Russellville, said she sends local success stories to the corporate office, and then they decide who gets chosen.

In order to be considered, someone must maintain healthy weight loss for approximately one year, Flanagan said.

Flanagan said she’s known Copeland since she signed her up for the program in 2012.