CRANBERRY TWP — A township woman is on the cover of a magazine found in nearly every pharmacy, grocery store and convenience store across the country.

Casey Foreaker, 36, is one of two women on the cover of the January issue of People magazine, which features stories of ordinary people who have lost weight without surgery.

The magazine with the headline “Half their Size! Real People Real Diets Real Success,” hit newsstands Dec. 29 and boasts that Foreaker lost 105 pounds.

The stay-at-home mother and her husband, Robert Foreaker, have lived in the township for 10 years. They have two sons, ages 5 and 8.

Foreaker was one of six people chosen to be photographed and interviewed out of thousands who submitted their stories along with before and after photographs of themselves.

She said she always looks forward to the inspirational stories in the magazine's annual weight-loss edition and decided to submit her own story via e-mail in September at the suggestion of a friend.

“I always bought it,” she said about the issue. “It's real people.”

She lost the weight over one-and-a-half years, starting in 2002.

In the People story, Foreaker said she gained weight at age 20 after turning to food for comfort after her father took his own life. At her heaviest, she was 220 pounds and wore a size 22.

But she decided to join Weight Watchers and started exercising regularly. She saw results in the first week losing 8 pounds.

To keep the weight off, Foreaker maintains a strict diet, though she allows herself one “cheat meal” per week, and runs or rides an exercise bike nearly every day.

The article lists a typical day of food as: “an 80-calorie yogurt for breakfast, mixed greens with turkey, pickles and tomatoes for lunch and a piece of chicken with steamed vegetables for dinner.”

In 2012, she had surgery to remove excess skin from her stomach.

After corresponding with the staff of the magazine in September and October, she was flown to New York City in November to be interviewed and photographed along with six other people.

However, she did not know she would be on the cover until last week, just before it was released.

“It was a little shocking,” she said.

People officials had asked her to stay mum about the story so she had not told anyone outside of her immediate family. When the issue came out, Foreaker started getting a lot of calls and messages congratulating her.

“They are so proud of me, and they know my whole journey with my dad. All the support is so overwhelming,” she said.

One question a few people asked was: Were the photographs edited to make her appear thin? The answer, she said, is no.

“I do crunches every single day of my life. So yes, that is my true stomach,” she said.

Foreaker grew up in the Philadelphia area, and it was there where she underwent her transformation and met her husband while she was part-way through losing the weight.

She also inspired him to become healthier and he has lost 60 pounds from when they met.

In an e-mail, Robert said he had a feeling that she would be chosen for the cover.

She has been able to keep the weight off and to pass on her healthy habits to the rest of the family by making them part of her daily life.

“It's become a routine for her. She loves to workout and doesn't feel like herself if she doesn't get the chance to exercise,” Robert said.

“She is an inspiration to our whole family.”