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" Starting weight: 225 Current weight: 160 Pounds lost: 65 How long it took: 9 months MY STORY I&amp;#039;ve always rewarded and soothed myself with food--which became a real problem after my son, Arman, was born in 2003. The slim moms in my playgroup would go for two-mile walks and run around the park with their kids all day, but I could never keep up. When I got home, I&amp;#039;d throw myself a pity party and eat anything in the kitchen that wasn&amp;#039;t nailed down--bread sticks, potato salad, you name it. Then, appalled at my behavior, I&amp;#039;d cheer myself up by having a steak-and-potato dinner at The Cheesecake Factory with my husband. Food became my medication. MOMENT OF TRUTH At my checkup after Arman&amp;#039;s first birthday, I weighed in at 225 pounds. My doctor was alarmed--especially because my dad had diabetes and heart disease. Right then and there, I knew I had to make some changes. I didn&amp;#039;t want diabetes, and I didn&amp;#039;t want to be the mom who was too out of shape to go down the slide with her son.    THE PROGRAM I signed up for NutriSystem immediately. It&amp;#039;s really easy: A month&amp;#039;s worth of preportioned, prepackaged food is delivered to your doorstep. I lost seven pounds that first week. For exercise, I began walking three days a week and picked up a dance DVD for bad-weather days. I also barraged my NutriSystem counselor with e-mails, asking questions like, &amp;quot;How do I keep from overeating at Thanksgiving?&amp;quot; She&amp;#039;d answer: &amp;quot;Substitute asparagus for corn, and zucchini for sweet potatoes, then fill your plate with those foods.&amp;quot; It worked. Then, a couple of weeks later: &amp;quot;Help! I&amp;#039;m plateauing.&amp;quot; Her response: &amp;quot;Exercise an extra hour a week.&amp;quot; I added an interval step aerobics class and continued losing weight. In nine months, I shed more than 60 pounds. FAVORITE DIET SNACK I&amp;#039;ve always had a weakness for Reese&amp;#039;s Peanut Butter Cups, so now when I need a fix, I mix NutriChocolates (low-fat, low-sugar chocolate made by NutriSystem) with one tablespoon low-fat peanut butter. It&amp;#039;s less than 100 calories!  HOW TO CONQUER CRAVINGS Surround yourself with support. When I&amp;#039;m seriously tempted to indulge, I go on the NutriSystem message board and post a plea: &amp;quot;Help, I need chocolate!&amp;quot; Inevitably, 10 people will write back and say, &amp;quot;Natasha, think how far you&amp;#039;ve come. Don&amp;#039;t do it!&amp;quot; BEST COMPLIMENT The day I wandered into a plus-size department of Macy&amp;#039;s and the saleswoman said, &amp;quot;What are you doing here? You&amp;#039;re a size 8!&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a16221/slim-secrets-hopkins-apr07/>