Issue link: https://alabamapower.uberflip.com/i/1087775
Jones has lost more than 150 pounds. 23 Ferrell Jones is rocking a new aitude. Thanks to losing more than 150 pounds, feeling healthier and planning to shed more weight, Jones is experiencing all the new possibilities of being his best self. In May 2017, Jones had reached his peak weight, topping 430 pounds. As of February 2019, a mix of brisk exercise, a strict diet with healthier food choices and surgery helped him get his weight to 282 pounds. People oen ask why, at 64 years old, Jones made a life-altering decision to lose weight. There wasn't just one reason: Jones was simply sick and tired of being sick and tired. "I used to walk about 100 yards and I'd have to sit down," said Jones, a telecommunications technician at 12th Street Headquarters in Birmingham. Concerned about his health, Jones' wife, Kathy, had encouraged him to lose weight for about five years. "When I got up to 400 pounds, it was embarrassing," Jones said. "When you're geing older, you think about things. A few years back, I had large, multiple blood clots in my lungs. The doctor thought that one of the clots passed through my heart, and they put me on blood thinners. It was scary, but the good Lord kept me here – it makes you really appreciate life." SEEING SCALES GO UP MADE HIM FEEL DOWN The health scare was just one factor behind Jones' transformation. Like many people, Jones' weight inched upward as he got older. When he married 30 years ago, Jones weighed about 280 pounds. On his 6-foot- 7-inch frame, a few extra pounds weren't too noticeable. In 1990, Jones began his career at Alabama Power as a meter reader. Four years later, as the company made strides with automatic metering, Jones decided to go back to school. He earned degrees in telecommunications and electronics, allowing a move to his current position. The only downfall, he said, was that his new job was more mental than physical, employing later nights and late mealtimes. He saw his weight creeping upward in 2000. A New Man TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECH NO LONGER SICK AND TIRED by DONNA COPE PHOTOS BY PHIL FREE HEALTH