A lot of people have asked me about my weight loss, why I started alt.support.diet, etc...

A few years ago I suddenly realized that I needed to lose a substantial amount of weight, which I had slowly put on over the course of law school. My "epiphany" came during a trip to a dressing room with a 3-way mirror. I was horrified by what I saw.

I created alt.support.diet at that time, for my own selfish needs . I envisioned it as sort of an online Weight Watcher's meeting. Having others to talk to, for support, to share ideas and tips, etc., was very helpful when first starting out and working on modifying one's diet.

I modified my diet such that I cut out as much fat as I possibly could, eating only non-fat and very-low-fat items. My "diet" was that I could eat as much as I wanted of whatever I wanted, provided it was non-fat. I ate a *lot* of pasta, potatoes, and Entenmann's fat free stuff! I lost over 40 pounds. I did try to keep what I ate fairly balanced in terms of veggies, starch, etc.. But the main thing was that, in eating as much as I wanted of the "ok" things (which was anything I wanted, provided that it was very low fat, or fat free) I _never_ felt deprived, or even like I was dieting. And let me tell you - when you start reading labels diligently, you will be _amazed_ at how much fat is in some things, and how little fat is in other things! Pudding is _fat free_! [Unless you make it with whole or 2% milk.] A _grilled_ chicken sandwich (supposed to be healthy, right?) at Burger King has *25* grams of fat!!!

Today my maintainance diet is such that I *still* eat as much as I want of whatever I want so long as it is non-fat, during the week, and I eat whatever I want on weekends. I work out 4-5 days a week, and I am in *excellent* health, and people are continually amazed that I am my daughter's mother, and not her sister. And yes, I *do* attribute this all to my original weight loss (it is, after all, what provided the further impetus).

Here are my before and after pictures:

Before: After:
NOTE: The "before" picture was taken during a celebrity lip-synching contest at, of all places, our church. They asked me to please pretend to be Cher. Not even close, huh?