I have fought a battle with my weight my entire life. I have tried too many different diets to name, I even lost weight with many of them but I always gained it back. Sometime around the beginning of April my husband saw an infomercial on tv for the Michael Thurmond Six Week Body Make Over, he was impressed by the basics of the plan and called me over to watch it. I watched the end of the infomercial with the attitude of ?yeah right? and when I saw the price I said no we can?t afford it. My husband knowing that I was extremely depressed about my weight said, ?It has a money back guarantee, why don?t you give it a try.? So I decided ok, one last try. I was determined to do the program exactly as outlined so it would be the plans fault if it didn?t work not mine. On April 14, 2003 I started something that I KNOW, now, will be my final ?diet?. I don?t really look at it as a diet though, more of a lifestyle change. On April 14, 2003, weighing in at 250 pounds (I?m 5' 8"), feeling much older than my 33 years (severe knee pain, ankle pain, back pain and diabetic symptoms), I started what I figured would be just another one of those diets. I was miserable. One of the first things that made me start to feel more optimistic about the plan was that it included an online support community. I started searching the community to see how people had done on the plan. As I looked I started to see people who had lost large amounts of weight, people who were just like me. I even started talking to some of these people and they became my inspirations (feistyelizabeth, skyangel, ctdan, samthelamb, babs, and many others). The second thing that hit me was that WOW this plan works. The plan is very basic and to me is one of the most nutritionally sound ?diets? that I have ever tried. I eat 5 or 6 times a day, get moderate exercise, and drink lots and lots of water. I lost 14 pounds the first week. By the end of my first 6 weeks on the program I had lost 31 pounds. I have continued losing at somewhat of a slower pace but have still lost 80 pounds in 7 months. In April I was wearing a size 20 pant that was very tight, now I wear a size 10! I weigh 170 pounds now and although I am still about 10-15 pounds from my goal weight I now know that I WILL get there and that I have the keys to living a healthy life for the rest of my life. I have many new found friends that have shared this journey with me (Gwenfluff, Diva2B). I would love someday to get to meet some of them. This lifestyle change has given me back many things and some new ones. I have a new respect for myself and a new found confidence that I didn?t know I was capable of. I have been given back my health. I have the chance to be a healthy mom and model good choices to my 4 children. One of my proudest moments came when my 7 year old daughter put her arms around me and gasped, ?Mama, I can put my arms all the way around you.? Believe me I cried buckets of happy tears when that happened. I can keep up with them again. I can help my son practice baseball and my other children practice soccer. We recently took a vacation and I was able to hike and do other active things with my family that I would not have even attempted 7 months ago. I now spend lots of time on the very same online forums that helped me in the beginning, trying to help inspire others to find the person hiding under all the fat. All along this journey I have been setting goals and giving myself rewards when I reached them (usually new clothes). My last goal is set at 160, when I reach that weight and maintain a weight between 150 - 160 for one year I will get my last reward. My last reward is having laser surgery on my eyes so that I don?t have to wear glasses anymore. I am looking forward to getting that reward. Thank you Michael Thurmond and thank you Provida! Well as you can see I got off the program when I reached 160 and didn't get back on, as a result I have gained 50 pounds in a year. Ewww that sounds horrible, and it feels horrible as well. I am getting back on plan and staying there. I have found out first hand that this is not a DIET it is a life style change and I need to make it a permanent change. If you are new to this plan please don't get discouraged by my back sliding. I will be at goal weight again, and I will stay there by staying on plan.