On Saturday, more than two months into her New Year&8217;s resolution, Ruby Richard of Natchez was found by The Dart walking around Natchez High School&8217;s track at a steady, sweat-breaking pace.

And she shows no sign of slowing down. She&8217;s already lost three pounds &8212; and a total of 12

inches.

&8220;I&8217;m at 225, and I want to get to 200 pounds,&8221; Richard said. &8220;Once I get to 200 and lose this belly, that&8217;s my goal. &8230; I&8217;m diabetic, but I&8217;m also doing it for me.&8221;

Richard is employing a two-part strategy to lose the weight. For one thing, she works out at the Curves women-only fitness center four times a week.

She seems to have gained as much as she&8217;s lost from that experience. At Curves, she said, &8220;you meet all different kinds of people, young and old.&8221;

She also supplements those workouts with Saturday and Sunday walks around the NHS track. And on Saturday, she wasn&8217;t alone, having enlisted daughter Debra Richardson, son Adrain Richard and family friend Portia Johnson to walk with her.

But it wasn&8217;t much of a hard sell for her daughter.

&8220;I&8217;ve got to get right for the prom,&8221; which is in mid-May, Richardson said. Will she meet her goal? &8220;Oh, I&8217;ll make it,&8221; she said.

It doesn&8217;t hurt that Richard has revamped the way she and her family eat. For example, they&8217;ve traded fried foods for the broiled versions.

&8220;My son&8217;s getting skinnier, too, because I don&8217;t cook like I used to,&8221; she said with a laugh, gearing up for yet another lap around the track.