DATE: Monday, June 23, 1997                 TAG: 9706230060

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Correspondent Jane Harper researched and wrote this report. 

                                            LENGTH:   46 lines

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO. . . DEBBY OWEN AND HER FIGHT TO LOSE WEIGHT

Debby Owen has struggled for years to control her weight. In September 1993, she began telling Pilot readers about her efforts in a weekly feature. It ran until January 1995, when Owen was pregnant with her second child. Two and a half years later, her battle continues.

Owen, manager of promotions for The Pilot, said she has continued to work on losing weight achieving a healthier lifestyle. And she has continued to deal with failures and successes.

``It's going to be a constant battle all of my life,'' she said last week.

Owen stands 5 feet 7 inches, and when she began her public weight loss plan, she weighed 286 pounds. When the feature was last published a year and a half later, she weighed 222. She also was pregnant with her son, Nathan.

Today, Owen weighs 196 pounds and is in the 15th week of her third pregnancy. She hopes to gain no more than about 15 pounds during this pregnancy, which is what doctors often recommend for a women her size.

She has continued to exercise regularly, walking about two miles every day.

Keeping the pounds off has not been easy.

``Once the baby was born, it was harder than ever,'' she said. Her weight bounced back to 245.

She consulted her doctor, who prescribed a ``phen-fin'' diet drug combo. These drugs suppressed her appetite, and she reached 172 pounds - only 8 pounds short of her goal. She was able to get into size 10 dresses after having worn a size 26 at one time.

But once she quit the drugs, the pounds came back. ``I'd eat a sandwich and gain 5 pounds.''

``Starvation doesn't work, fads don't work and drugs don't work,'' she said. ``The only thing that works is eating a low-fat, low-calorie diet and exercising regularly.''

Sharing her experience with the public was a great motivator, Owen said, and ``one of the greatest things I've done in my life. I got a lot out of it, and I feel a lot of other people did too.'' MEMO: Whatever Happened To. . . appears every Monday, and we welcome

your suggestions for people and subjects to update. Dial INFOLINE at

640-5555 and press 7878 to leave a message for Jane Harper. ILLUSTRATION: Debby Owen

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu