"Healthy, Happy, Accomplished."

That's how Diet.com member and slimming sensation Cassie sees her ideal self. And if her past 3 months are any indication of her future, she's well on her way to achieving all three!

When Cassie - who goes by Elvara33 here on Diet.com - first started her weight loss journey back in September, it was to fulfill her dream of one day joining the US Navy. Now, 3 months later and 30 lbs lighter, she’s discovering new reasons for getting slim!

Joining Diet.com in September was great timing for Cassie, who at that time weighed 208 lbs. We were just kicking off our 8 week long Fall 2010 Weight Loss Challenge! The Challenge, in which Cassie was named one of the two runners up, was a great form of motivation for her - she ended up losing a whopping 15 lbs during those 8 weeks!

So how did she do it?

Committing to signing onto Diet.com once a day was just one of several changes that Cassie began to make to her lifestyle back in September.

"I did my best to make my weight loss fun for myself," Cassie wrote in her end-of-Challenge narrative. "I played my music a little louder than I needed to when working out and danced between exercises (dancing can burn a lot of calories)."

She gets in additional fun workouts with her Wii Fit Plus.

Cassie also re-evaluated her nutritional intake, as well as her relationship with food. She decided to base her diet on what she calls "real" foods. "I wanted to avoid processed foods as much as possible. I never denied myself the right to eat. If I was hungry I would eat carrots or applesauce. I occasionally would turn to a frozen Lean Cuisine meal if I had little time or energy to prepare a healthy meal for myself."

Getting her family involved helped build her support system. "I made healthy meals more exciting by making them with my family."

One of her top diet tips is to keep herself occupied, away from the kitchen! "I find that staying out of the kitchen helps keep your mind off of food. I also try to limit my carbohydrates as much as possible."

"My key to success is having a variety of healthy foods available to me so that I can enjoy eating right."


Another super important part of her weight loss? Good ol' water! "I made sure I was hydrated well at all times. I focused a lot on my hydration on days that I would exercise. It's important to hydrate your body when you are physically active. I also tried to drink a glass of water before meals to help me keep up with my water consumption."

With so many positive changes going on in her life, it's no wonder that a positive attitude followed suit! She began looking at weight loss in a whole new light: "When it came time to weigh-in on Monday I was excited to see what the week had done."

Excited to weigh-in? That's a sure sign of a woman who knows she's on the right path!

With an ultimate goal weight of 150 lbs, Cassie wanted to get to the 170s by Christmastime - and she succeeded with time to spare. By early December, she was down 30 lbs - her halfway mark!

Of course things haven't been perfect for her the entire time - but it's the way we handle those bumps in the road that separates the winners from the losers! Or the gainers from the losers, in this case.

"I did hit a plateau in my weight loss in week 7 of the Challenge. I lost no weight. It upset me a little but I kept going and... What do you know!? I dropped four pounds during week 8. It just goes to show that weight loss isn't an easy thing to understand but you have to keep going. JUST KEEP GOING!"

Being named a runner up during the Fall Weight Loss Challenge has made Cassie super excited for the next Challenge (stay tuned - details of our January 2011 New Year's Weight Loss Challenge to come!).

But the Weight Loss Challenges aren't the only thing keeping her around Diet.com.

"Diet.com has ...    Continue