By Jane Norris

Published: March 12, 2006

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Charles Jones hurried across his front yard in Charlottesville on Saturday afternoon, leaving 10 months of service in Mosul, Iraq, and more than a day of draining travel behind him. He found more than cheerful posters by the walkway and balloons in patriotic colors floating around his front porch.

Behind a billowing sign reading, “Welcome Home from Iraq, Honey,’’ his wife, Nilou Jones, quivered by the front door in a trim linen dress, hoping to surprise him with her 66-pound weight loss.

When she tossed aside the sign, she got her wish.

He was home, safe and sound. After her months of carefully planned meals, sweaty Body Combat classes and mind-numbing miles on the treadmill, everything came down to a sheltering embrace that couldn’t hide eyes wide with amazement - and barely muffled a gentle exchange:

“Do you recognize me?’’

“No.”

Since July, 31-year-old Nilou Jones has been trying to lose 100 pounds before her husband’s homecoming, which the couple originally thought would come in May or June. She was determined to lose the weight by eating sensibly and exercising safely, ignoring fads and instead building a foundation for an active, healthy life with her husband and sons.

She invited The Daily Progress’ readers along on her journey in hopes of building in some accountability. What she hadn’t planned on was the wave of support she’d get from the community along the way - strangers stopping her in grocery stores and gas stations, telling her they were pulling for her. It often took her by surprise, but she has remained grateful for the support, even when the whole thing seemed a bit overwhelming.

Taking it all in

At Saturday’s homecoming, there was a lot for Charlie Jones to take in all at once, too. While his wife has been shrinking, their two boys have been growing. In July, Cyrus will turn 4 and Arman will turn 2.

Charlie Jones’s eyes seemed to drink in every detail of 20-month-old Arman’s face while he held his son.

“Arman wasn’t even crawling when he left,’’ Nilou Jones said. Now, as the welcome-home party geared up, Arman was dancing to a music video while his grandfather, Behzad Tamaddon, snapped his fingers along with the rhythm and cheered him on.

While Nilou Jones’s sister, Yasie Tamaddon, drove her brother-in-law home from Richmond International Airport, “he was busy with Cyrus in the back seat,’’ Tamaddon said, beaming.

That’s about where another story picks up - the tale of The Surprise That Almost Wasn’t.

Preparing to surprise

Nilou Jones admired her husband’s willingness to make sacrifices for his country, which will continue as he expects to return to Iraq soon. She figured that she, too, could step up to the plate - in part, by pushing away from her dessert plate. But she wanted to keep her weight loss a secret from him.

For months, she reminded friends and family not to mention her weight loss during their phone calls or e-mails with her husband. Visualizing his jaw dropping when he saw her leaner new figure kept her spirits up while she toiled in the gym, read countless nutritional labels in supermarkets and learned to recognize signals of hunger and fullness from her changing body.

She had envisioned a dramatic airport welcome and, to borrow a term from reality television improvement shows, her “reveal.’’ She knew his flight had left Iraq for Kuwait on Friday morning and thought she still had time to plan.

Then the call came at about lunchtime Saturday: Charlie Jones was at the airport.

The call did not come from Germany to let them know he’d be there in a matter of hours. Instead it came from Richmond. Shifting gears quickly, she arranged to have her father and sister pick him up.

Once Yasie Tamaddon reached the Shadwell exit on Interstate 64, she gave Nilou Jones the 10-minute-warning call they’d agreed upon, and the proud wife rushed to change into her crisp new dress.

Not long after he arrived, Nilou Jones said to her husband, “We were all going to the airport.’’

“I got to Germany, there was no phone,’’ he said. “We got to Atlanta, they rushed us through. I had 10 minutes to make my flight.’’

Sticking to the plan

The hurry-up-and-wait nature of her husband’s homecoming might have sent plenty of other folks seeking high-calorie comfort foods. But Nilou Jones drew on her growing trove of knowledge and resources - and also her faith.

The latest challenge in her calorie-control effort has been keeping her energy level up, and her weight down, during a religious observance that calls for fasting during daylight hours.

She and her family follow the Baha’i faith. They’re celebrating the holiday Naw-Ruz, meaning “new day,’’ which runs March 2 to March 20.

“It’s our calendar new year and [ends on] the first day of spring,’’ she said.

She can eat before sunrise and again after sundown, but needs to refrain during the day. To keep her weight loss on track, she needs to avoid devouring everything in sight once night falls.

Nilou Jones has been working with nutritionist Kate Bruno during her weight-loss quest, and she said Bruno suggested a daily 1,500-calorie plan to ensure proper nutrition while she observes her fast.

Her new skills paid off Saturday. While guests nibbled cookies and fruit from a festive arrangement after her husband arrived, Nilou Jones refrained, concentrating on spending time with her husband, sons and friends.

So was her husband truly surprised?

Keeping the secret

Charlie Jones knew that his wife had joined Gold’s Gym, because they discuss big purchases. Some of his friends and colleagues in Iraq had heard of Nilou Jones’s plans to lose weight. What if someone had slipped up and told him? For a few agonizing hours on Saturday, she worried while she waited.

Charlie Jones told his wife later, after the reunion whirl started settling down, that he genuinely didn’t know she’d lost so much weight. Glancing at stories chronicling her progress, lingering on the changes in the photos from month to month, he couldn’t conceal his pride and amazement.

“I’m thrilled that he didn’t know,’’ Nilou Jones said. “He’s got good friends, because they all kept it a secret. At the end of the day, he’s home, and I’m 60-some pounds lighter.’’

Among friends joining the Joneses for the welcome-home party were Jen Cote, her personal trainer from Gold’s Gym and now a close friend, and Deana St. John, the gym’s general manager.

St. John had another surprise for Charlie Jones - a free six-month membership for the active member of the military.

Friends had yet another one - a welcome night of quiet time at Keswick Hall at Monticello.

Contact Jane Dunlap Norris at (434) 978-7249 or .