The Jones Family
Debra, 53, Account Manager
WT: 241 lbs., HT: 5’6” LOST 32 lbs.!
Isabella, 12, 7th Grade Student
WT: 162 lbs., HT: 5’3”
Jordan, 10, 5th Grade Student
WT: 105 lbs., HT: 4’11”
Debra Jones, of Cambridge, Mass., is a widowed mother of two who lost her husband without warning six years ago when he died suddenly from a heart attack. In the past year Deb has been diagnosed with diabetes and the fear of leaving her two kids without a parent has taken over her life. Too scared to work out in case she hurts herself, she is at an impasse. Isabella and Jordan are both worried about the state of their mother's health and they know she has to start looking after herself, but they don’t know what to do.
As the sole breadwinner for the family, Debra works long hours and struggles to juggle her responsibilities. Increasingly she is leaning on her 12-year-old daughter to take the strain and Isabella is becoming a mini-mom. The whole family knows things must change. Deb needs to lose weight, conquer her fear and stop placing adult responsibilities on her daughter. Jillian has only one week to whip Deb into shape.
Six Weeks Later:
Deb looked like a changed woman. She dropped 32 pounds in just six weeks! She adopted new and nutritious meals that everyone one in the family benefited from. She stuck with her three night a week training schedule with her coworkers despite a bad knee injury. While her knee could have held her back, she pushed on and finished the 5K race with Team Deb — Jillian and her co-workers — running right by her side. She also saw her blood sugar levels stabilize enough that she will be able to stop her diabetes medication. She also was awarded $50,000 to help lighten the Jones family load.
Jillian Says!...
Living With the Joneses:
"Her house was like a train wreck. It looked like a tornado hit it. She was totally unorganized. It was cluttered. Yeah, I wasn’t going to stay there until I cleaned it up. I helped her get organized and get on a schedule — but you don't see that during the episode — and I galvanized the kids to keep everything together. It was intense, to say the least.”
Predictions for the Future:
“Deb did really, really well — she ran a 5K, lost 32 pounds, lowered her cholesterol, dropped her heart health risk number down from 14 to 6 — but I’m still a little worried about Deb. Her resources are really limited. She has a hard time asking for help, but she’s an amazing woman and I’m really, really keeping my fingers crossed for her...and her kids, who are the most amazing, adorable kids!”