YORKTOWN, Va. — Marcie Jones danced her way from more than 200 pounds to her current trim 142-pound figure in less than six months. "When it became fun, then I wanted to do it," says the 45 year-old, 5-feet-3-inch Yorktown mother of four. Now she wants to pass the message along and get others motivated to take control of their lives.

A registered nurse and director of a home health care agency, Jones' epiphany happened at a Hampton, Va., 7-Eleven on March 1, 2007, when a store clerk mistakenly assumed she was pregnant. Too embarrassed to correct him, Jones left with her Coke, chips and Snickers bar. After consuming them she found a solitary place to pray and cry and four hours later she vowed to change her life.

The next morning, she discovered "The 50 Million Pound Challenge" online. She went cold turkey, giving up her four or five daily Cokes and fast food, and embarked on Dr. Ian Smith's weight-loss program using his meal-tracking methods, menus, food choices and encouraging words to shed more than 60 pounds. She has maintained her desired weight of about 140 pounds ever since, and this month she won the 2008 national Challenger of the Year title from more than 700,000 entries.

A veteran of Weight Watchers, the cabbage diet, the no-carb diet, the gym, and B-12 shots to speed the metabolism, nothing had worked for her previously for more than a month or two. "You have to get your mind right," says Jones, who dealt with the stress of her job and a failing marriage by eating. "A guy I didn't know and everyone in line at the store saw me as six-months pregnant. That's what did it for me."

And with the 50 Million Pound Challenge she found she had a choice. "You're in control. You have the power," she says. "Other programs want you to do it their way or eat their foods. This way I have a choice. If I eat McDonald's for lunch, then I can't have dinner or breakfast." And she started reading labels and seeing what she was doing to her body.

What does she eat and drink in a typical day?

Jones' day now starts with a 16-ounce bottle of chilled water from the small refrigerator in her bedroom. "It gets your metabolism going," she says. She drinks at least half a gallon of water daily, a dramatic change from when she might not drink water for a week at a time. In place of Cokes, she'll drink either Sprite Zero or Lipton's Diet Green Tea. She likes Weight Watchers' cereal for breakfast with vanilla soy milk; for lunch she'll either take a turkey sandwich and a 100-calorie pack of Pringles chips, or go out for a Chick-fil-A chicken strip salad and a diet lemonade.

She developed a quick-fix dinner so that she could feed herself before cooking for her children, Ashleigh, 18, Mareo, 16, Alexus, 10, and Myles, 9. When she gets home from work, she'll wrap frozen tilapia, broccoli (which she loves) and fat-free Italian dressing in foil, and put it in the oven to cook while she changes. Ten minutes later her meal's ready. "Now I'm full; I can cook fried chicken for them," she says.

When she broils or bakes chicken, she cooks a lot at one time, so she has a constant supply of cut-up chicken in a container in the refrigerator, along with almonds, fruits and salads for quick snacks. "You have to keep yourself full. Your mind has to know that you're not hungry. You can eat six meals a day."

What role does exercise play?

Jones used to munch while she watched TV. Now, she says, there are so many other things to do. She doesn't believe in the "no pain, no gain" philosophy. She doesn't walk in the cold, and if it's raining, she skips going to Gold's Gym, where she's been a member since before her diet took hold. (Sometimes if she's on the fence about going, she'll drink a sugar-free Red Bull to get herself psyched.) What she does is a lot of dancing "because that's fun."

She practices salsa dancing at a friend's house; she'll dance while she's cleaning up, downloading all styles of music — salsa, jazz and old school — to her Zune for a few dollars for an hour's worth of entertainment. For her it's the key to losing weight while having fun and laughing (another calorie burner).

At Gold's, she started by going alone to the cinema room, where no one could see her in her size 18 sweat pants and 2X T-shirt. Now she's down to a svelte size 6 or 8, but she'll still run on the treadmill and use the bicycles there when she likes the movie that's playing. Jones advocates finding a friend to work out with because "you're more likely to go" and asking others at the gym for help. To get over the inevitable plateaus in weight loss, she kept switching her routine between the treadmill and elliptical, salsa and line dancing, and so on. "I switched it up so it's never boring." She recommends heading to the gym immediately after work before getting settled at home. "You do what you want to do, and then do five more," she says.

And when she has cravings for the foods she's given up?

"At first you can't fight it. If you do it on an empty stomach you won't win. Do it on a full stomach and have just one chip or take just one forkful of cake, whirl it around make sure your mind has got it then swallow it and wait. In 15 to 20 minutes the craving will be gone." Then you have to throw the rest away and not leave it around, she insists.

What are the barriers to losing weight?

Two things had Jones, a size-3 model in college, in a weight-gain spiral: a feeling of depression accompanied by a loss of control and her family's acceptance of her size as hereditary.

It was a stranger's words that shocked her into self-realization and she decided that the acceptance would stop with her. "I'm in charge of this 'house,"' she says, indicating her body.

How has it changed her life?

"Everything has improved," she says. "I handle stress a lot better, I think clearer, my posture and self-esteem are better." And though she never had any health problems, she's no longer out of breath and she has more energy. She has also learned to stop trying to be everything to everyone and to say no: "And I don't have to give a reason. Now it's me first."

That said, as the winner of the first national Challenger of the Year, Jones wants to help others.

She has formed a company called Power House and says, "I would like to do a talk show to inspire and encourage others."

She's hoping, too, that the Challenge, which has sent her a video camera so she can keep a blog, will use her as a spokesperson.

People can help but no one can do it for you. "I really feel happy."