New York City, home of the stars -- singers, actresses, models... a hotbed of the fashion and entertainment industry, where size really does all too often matter! Alane M. lives in the center of it all, a single, 43-year-old legal secretary and part-time graphic design student. She has always had a whole world of opportunity and adventure just out her doorstep, but she felt too fat and out of place in her own skin to go out and explore it.
Alane says she lacked confidence to get out there and meet new people, to come out of her shell and enjoy life, because she felt "fat and flubby," and often felt like a third wheel when she went out with others.
Then one night, dateless at New Year’s Eve party, she decided that something had to give, and she declared, "This can’t be, this is not who I am and this is not who I want to be! I do not want to be wearing a size-14 party dress at any New Year’s Eve to come!" And that was the big "a-ha moment" when Alane decided to lose the weight once and for all!
She started with eDiets at 178 pounds and wearing a size 14. After unsuccessfully trying several other weight-loss plans, she saw a link to eDiets.com and began exploring the Web site. Alane liked that she could see sample menus from all of the various meal plans that were available, and that she was able to change between plans to find what works best for her. The Glycemic Impact Plan looked like it would work best for Alane; she liked the idea of eating several smaller meals throughout the day. But she says it was not just the diet, but the Community she found with eDiets that made the biggest difference in her ultimate success!
With the other weight-loss plans she tried, Alane says she felt alone. As a single professional living in the city, she felt she couldn’t relate to the majority of people who were part of the other weight-loss plans she had previously tried. But when she joined eDiets, she found an entire community of people just like herself -- people that held lifestyles similar to hers and that had still managed to successfully lose weight! Alane now moderates the "Living Single and Healthy" Support Board, helping others to find a successful path to weight loss while living the single lifestyle. She also frequents the Exercise and Fitness Board, and says the support she receives there helps her with accountability and the friends she made are always helping to cheer her on towards her goals.
Alane found the expert advice available on eDiets to be an indispensible tool as well. She says, "It was an eDiets expert that helped me to make a lot of changes in how I cared for myself." All in all, she says of the Community, "It was a godsend -- I couldn’t have done it without them!" The Support Boards helped Alane to find tips and tricks she needed to make it all work when you’re working full time, dating and going to school.
After dropping an incredible 44 pounds with eDiets, Alane exclaimed, "It’s nice looking better in my 40s than I did all the way through my 30s!" She is now actually maintaining at 134 pounds… that’s 4 pounds BELOW her goal weight of 138! Go Alane! Now going to New Year’s parties in stylish and sexy size 6 dresses, Alane has gained the confidence to get out there and enjoy the single life and all it has to offer! She also says it’s unfortunate, but her weight loss has also improved how people view her at work. "It seems professionalism and ability are unfortunately often partially judged on how you look. I am more effective and better respected now than I was before. I don’t feel like people will immediately dismiss me, and I’m more confident!"
Alane cautions that it was not an easy journey for her. She has numerous physical limitations and was on several types of medications that slowed her weight loss and served to compound the lifestyle obstacles that she needed to overcome. But perseverance is the name of the game, and Alane is a true champion of making the best of what she had. On the Support Boards, she’s often heard saying, "If you can’t do what you think you’re supposed to do, do what you can anyway!" That is to say, even if you can’t be perfect, doing what you can is better than doing nothing at all.
Alane’s last bit of advice? "If it’s overwhelming, all of these lifestyle changes, don’t try to make them all at once, do it in baby steps! Practice each new change before you incorporate a new one. Approached as practice, slowly it all becomes part of what you do, your lifestyle will change and you won’t even know it!" Great advice from someone who’s been there!