Weekly Diet News Digest
by John McGran, Columnist

A Diet.com Exclusive
by John McGran

Diet.com member Shannon M. is feeling the love - the love of a new and improving body! Our Diet.com super success is down 74 pounds and she's here to tell you how she accomplished such an amazing feat using the tools and knowledge served up by the only diet program that has worked for her.

"Diet.com has all of the tools that are necessary for long-term successful weight loss," Shannon says. "I have access to dietitians, trainers, doctors, as well as thousands of people to root me on.

"I have used the site to track my meals, find recipes, and hold myself accountable through blogging.

"The support from others is what really has kept me going. I have NEVER successfully stuck to a diet for as long as I have with my support team on this site."

Wow... 74 pounds lost. Just imagine 15 bags of sugar stacked on your kitchen counter. Now try to lift them. You now know what Shannon's weight loss feels like!

A frequent blogger and poster on the Diet.com website, Shannon isn't about to rest on her laurels. She still has more than 40 pounds to lose to attain her goal weight of 140.

After weathering a recent scale-stalling plateau, Shannon knows she will accomplish all her goals with the help of Diet.com.

"At my heaviest, I weighed 255 pounds... and I was shocked because I had never felt like I weighed that much and I had never had a weight problem before!" says Shannon, a fun, feisty 5-foot-3 former athlete.

"But those days are gone and I really notice the changes now. I don't get tired as easily. I can walk up and down stairs without huffing and puffing. I feel like I have a ton of energy now and I have built up my stamina."

Shannon at first had a hard time doing 5 minutes on her elliptical machine; she now keeps churning off the calories for a full half-hour.

"I was really depressed for the past 5 years, but that's all changed and I'm not on medication anymore -- the doctor took me off it!" she notes.

"I am a completely different woman and I view things so differently. Thanks to Diet.com I like healthier foods now and I don't feel a need to eat every hour."

Shannon had managed to drop close to 30 pounds "without really committing to her diet plan." That mindset changed when she kicked off the New Year by joining the Diet.com Fresh Start Weight Loss Challenge.

As the pounds shrank, Shannon's self-esteem ballooned. She did so well with the Fresh Start Challenge, she was named the overall winner of the two-team, 500-member event. It didn't hurt that she also enrolled in a fitness boot camp in her home state of California.

"I did the boot camp three times a week and I started walking," she recalls. "My life no longer revolved around fast food. I was losing inches, building muscle and feeling better overall."

Winning the challenge sure was fun... but not nearly as fun for Shannon as finding the energy to bond with her 6-year-old daughter.

"We can now do fun things like go to park, take walks, go to the beach and enjoy after-school programs," says Shannon who turns 27 this June. "Before, I would get home from work, sit down and watch TV with my little girl. Now we go outside!"

So what was Shannon's "a-ha moment"... that pivotal happening that triggered a desire to regain control of her weight and life?

"I realized my whole 20's had been filled with being overweight and unhappy," she tells Diet.com. "After Christmas 2006 I decided I needed to take on what ...    Continue

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