Sandra Cirone, 33, will never forget the day in March 2005 when she realized she had to do something about her weight, once and for all. She was flipping through photos of that year’s family trip to Walt Disney World when she spotted a woman she simply didn’t recognize. She was about Sandra’s height, but so overweight that her bright clothes were shockingly tight.

“I actually stared for a minute before it hit me,” says the Franklyn Square, N.Y., insurance sales supervisor, who was carrying 251 lbs. on her 5-foot-8 frame at the time. “The woman in the photo was me.”

Sandra had so little energy during the trip that she remembers having difficulty keeping up with her family, including her teacher husband, Paul, now 35, and her children, Francesca, 7, and Paulie, 3. “My sister-in-law was taking the kids on rides because I couldn’t do it,” she says. “My knees and back hurt, and the heat made my thighs stick together.” Worst of all, she confesses, “I was wearing maternity-size XXL outfits, and I wasn’t even pregnant!”

The Yo-Yo Years

“I was always the biggest kid in school,” says Sandra, “but I wasn’t obese.” Landmark high school events — like proms — triggered the beginnings of a yo-yo dieting cycle that would go on for nearly two decades. “I’d lose 60 lbs. and keep it off for a couple of years,” she says, “but not for much longer.” Like most women, Sandra had trouble taking off the pregnancy weight after each of her kids were born. When she’d donned those maternity clothes at Disney, her second child was 13 months old!

A Big Decision

Sandra was seriously considering gastric bypass surgery — and had even gotten a surgeon’s number from a friend — when she saw a Jenny Craig commercial with Kirstie Alley. “I decided to give it a shot,” she says.

For a while after joining the program, Sandra ate its prepared low-cal meals and fixed other food for her husband and kids. But after learning the basics of calorie counting and portion control, she realized that serving her family separately wasn’t the best way to permanently change her eating habits.

Today, the family sits down to the Italian meals they all love — together. “I eat the same things everyone else does,” says Sandra. “I just eat smaller portions.” Sandra’s also learned to lower the fat content in her favorite treats with ingredient substitutions. She now uses low-fat ricotta, for example, to make a mean lasagna!

The Payoff

When she started Jenny Craig in March 2005, Sandra’s goal was to hit 170 lbs. She got there in just 11 months, and shortly thereafter, hit a healthy 159 lbs. Ninety-two pounds were gone in a little over a year! “This is the thinnest I’ve been since I was a teen,” says Sandra, who’s also managed to drop six dress sizes.

Yet when the urge to do something naughty — like indulging in a luscious dessert when she’s out — strikes, Sandra doesn’t always resist. She just burns the extra calories with a workout at Curves gym, where she began circuit-training about the same time she joined Jenny Craig.

Every year, Sandra and her family return to Walt Disney World and pose for new photos in front of the same landmarks. These days, she has no problem recognizing everyone in the pictures.