Well over the summer we held a contest for our members to see who would STAR in our latest commercial production.

Are you dying to find out who that was?  Well we're dying to share!  We brought 6 of our most fabulous and inspiring members out for our commercial shoot and we had an absolute blast.

We laughed, we cried, we sang, we hugged - and we came home with a FUN, upbeat, and catchy commercial that we can't wait to share.

Can't wait a minute longer, so here it is!!  Tell us what YOU think, and watch for us on TV!!

By Cathy Cox

eDiets Testimonial Manager

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!

Are you ready to start losing weight like Alane? eDiets can help you, too! Click here to see the diet that worked for her, or check out our 22 other plans. Can't decide? Start with our Free Diet Profile and we'll help you find your best match!

eDiets Fresh Prepared Meal Delivery Commercial Contest

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.  A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING.

The Contest is sponsored and administered by eDiets.com, Inc. 1000 Corporate Drive, Suite 600, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334 (“eDiets”).

Contest Term: The Contest begins on July 10, 2009 at 12:00:01 A.M. Eastern Time (“ET”) and ends on July 17, 2009 at 11:59:59 P.M. ET.

Who May Participate: To participate in this Contest you must  be or have been a registered user of the eDiets Fresh Prepared Meal Delivery Program (the “Program”) between January 1 and July 9, 2009. You must also be a legal resident of the continental United States and 18 years of age or older at time of entry. You must be available for filming for 2 days the week of August 10, 2009, and for travel on or around that week. Void outside the continental United States and Washington DC and where prohibited by law. The Contest is not open to employees of eDiets, its affiliates or subsidiaries, or to members of their immediate families or people living in their households.

How to Enter: Send an email to Commercial Contest!, including:

1)      Your full name

2)      Your eDiets username

3)      A daytime or cell phone number

4)      At least one photo of yourself before and after your weight loss using the eDiets Fresh Prepared Meal Delivery Program (family-friendly photos only, please!)

Your email must be received during the Contest Term to be eligible. All submissions become property of eDiets and will not be returned. Limit one entry per unique username.

Selection of Finalists: Ten finalists will be selected by a panel of eDiets judges from among all qualifying entries, based on which photos, in the sole opinion of the judges, provide the most inspiring depiction of transformation. Finalists will be notified by phone and e-mail not later than July 23, 2009. Each finalist has 48 hours to contact eDiets regarding their selection as a finalist to secure his/her finalist status. A finalist must complete and return an affidavit of eligibility and liability/publicity release within five (5) days by return prepaid Federal Express overnight notification or his/her status as finalist may be forfeited and awarded to an alternate finalist.

Participant Prize: Each participant who submits a qualifying entry will receive one Tote-n-Tone gift bag containing (i) one Spri Fitness Band, (ii) two CDs with specially selected workout and relaxation music, (iii) one CleenFreek Antimicrobial gym towel and (iv) one bottle of eDiets DietSmartä supplements. Each gift bag has a maximum value of $120 and will be delivered approximately six weeks after the end of the Contest Term. eDiets will pay shipping and handling costs.

Finalist Prize: In addition to receiving a Tote-n-Tone gift bag, each finalist will also receive two free weeks of Program meals (max value $320). By accepting a prize, each finalist consents to eDiets’s and its designees’ use of his/her name, city and state of residence, biographical information, voice, statements relating to the Contest or eDiets, and photographs or other likenesses, for advertising and publicity purposes in any and all media now or hereafter known throughout the world in perpetuity, without further compensation, permission or notification, except where prohibited by law.

Possible Selection for Commercial: eDiets will contact each finalist to learn more about his/her weight loss and transformation story. Based on a review of each finalist’s story, eDiets may offer one or more finalists (each, a “Featured Finalist”) the opportunity to feature in a new eDiets television commercial. In that event eDiets will provide each Featured Finalist one round-trip economy class plane ticket for travel on or around the week of August 10, 2009 between an airport within 100 miles of his/her home address to a filming location designated by eDiets. eDiets will pay for all travel, hotel accommodations and incidental expenses. Featured Finalists will  be filmed and may be included and/or featured in a new eDiets television commercial.

No Substitutions: No substitution or transfer of prizes may be made, except if prizes become unavailable for any reason eDiets may award substitute of equal or greater value. The recipient accepts responsibility for all federal, state and local taxes and fees in connection with a prize. Prizes are not redeemable for cash and must be accepted as-is. eDiets does not provide any warranty on a prize.

Odds: Odds of being selected will be determined by the number of entries received.

General Conditions

Participants agree to be bound by these rules. By entering, participants release and hold harmless eDiets and its respective subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, prize suppliers, employees and agents from any and all liability or any injuries, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with this Contest or acceptance or use of prize. If for any reason this Contest is not capable of running as planned due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of the eDiets which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, eDiets reserves the right at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest. eDiets assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of entries. eDiets is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or telephone lines, computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or entry to be received by eDiets on account of technical problems, human error or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to participant's or any other person's computer relating to or resulting from participation in this Contest or downloading any materials in this Contest.

Under no circumstances, including negligence, shall eDiets be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages that result from the use of or inability to use a prize, or out of any breach of any warranty.  This exclusion or limitation of liability will not apply to the extent that any applicable statute prohibits such exclusion or limitation of liability. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, EVERYTHING ON THE EDIETS WEB SITES IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES; CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS FOR ANY RESTRICTIONS REGARDING THESE LIMITATIONS OR RESTRICTIONS. Except where prohibited, all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the participant and eDiets in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Florida, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of Florida, or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Florida.

For a list of the finalists (available after July 23, 2009), send a self-addressed postage stamped envelope to: eDiets Fresh Prepared Commercial Contest Finalists List, 1000 Corporate Drive, Suite 600, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334, to be received no later than August 9, 2009.

By entering the Contest, you agree to all of the terms and conditions of eDiets’s Privacy Policy, which is available at www.ediets.com/company/PrivacyPolicy.jsp. In the event of any discrepancy between the privacy policy and these Official Rules, these Official Rules shall control and govern.

Starting at eDiets at my highest weight, I weighed 253 pounds.  That's a lot of weight to carry, and it felt miserable.  Now soooo many years later, that number has a new meaning, and who could imagine how incredible it feels?!

Below is my report from my very first USA Powerlifting Federation meet.  It took place on Saturday April 18, 2009 in Orlando Florida.  Crazy when I think about where I was, to half marathoner, and now to powerlifter.and now...record holding powerlifter?!  Crazyness!  It's happening, and yet I can still hardly even believe it!  253lbs has new meaning, now :)

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I didn't sleep at all the night before - typical.

30 lifters total, 7 of them (including me) were women.

Turns out that I'm the FIRST lifter of the day, which has me totally freaked out.  The time between when we got to the convention center and when that lift took place was ENDLESS, I was so nervous.  But once that first squat was overwith...I settled down, all was well.  Here's how it went:

Squats = 9 white lights!  And yes, they mocked the weight ;)

My squats were lame weight as far as powerlifting goes - but you know why as I mentioned - I had a specific goal in mind for squats  and it wasn't weight related (to get 3 white lights on each attempt - 3 perfect squats).

So I go out there, I was the FIRST lifter of the day with my opening squat, hahah...lame-o 66lbs LOL.  I make this with no problem, and the announcer goes "Hey Cathy I dunno if you know this but warmups are done in the back"

So second attempt, I went up by 10lbs and I make that with no problem and the announcer continues to rib me, "Hey Cathy this is *power*lifting..")

I also made my 3rd attempt squat and at the end you can hear them start to say something about being the announcer's new training partner..."reps all day" or something.

S'ok I don't care, I know they were just messing, and now I know I've *got* the squat, I've got a full meet under my belt, experience with all the lifts in a meet setting, and so in Charlottesville (my next meet, planned for late July) I can go in with confidence on the squat and at least do *some* weight :)

Sooo....onto Bench!

The plan for bench was to open with 80, then 95, then 110!

Decided to go conservative on the opener, then 95 again, and what I SHOULD have done at the first meet - 110.  I got the first two lifts with no problem, but on the 110, I missed it, gah! My coach/training partner says he thinks what happens is that I "go loose" in the lats/relax a little at the bottom of the bench, and that doesn't matter so much for me until it gets heavy, then I just die in the water.  I dunno - better than any theory I can come up with.

Benching took FOREVER, since in addition to the full meet lifters, there was a "bench only" class that consisted of another near 30 lifters.  Then after THAT, they did some cash prize contest, whoever got the most reps at 300lbs, 400lbs, and 500lbs.  Seriously - waaaaay too long of a wait with all that business going on, until we finally got around to deadlifting.  NOT to mention that this is inherently sexist, as very very very few, even elite female lifters, can do a whole lot with a 300lb bench press, nevermind out "rep" a guy at that weight.

When I FINALLY went out for my opening deadlift (209lbs), one of the judges said to me, "I see you finally decided to lift some weight today!"

Hah ;)

From a technique standpoint, these deads were a huge improvement from the first meet.  In watching the 2 heavier lifts from that meet, we noticed some "hitching," which was sucking power away from me off the floor.  You can see it, because the bar rolls away from me and then back into me on those lifts. 

We worked on correcting that in training since then, and I think it made a big difference!  Before lifting I am now setting my chest/arch, and then dipping my hips juuuuuust a little right as I started pulling, and that keeps the weight pulled in, no hitching!  Stronger lifts!!

So here are the 2 record lifts :)  When I went out onto the platform for each, I can't even tell you how my heart was racing, and how I was shaking!  It was nuts!

2nd Attempt - USAPL Raw American Record 148lb/Open Class @ 105kg/231 lbs

3rd Attempt - USAPL Raw American Record 148lb/Open Class @ 115kg/253.5 lbs

On my 3rd attempt, I did get 1 red light, boo!  When I asked why, I was told it was for "downward movement," of the bar.  That means one of the judges saw the bar go down at some point, after it started up - not allowed.  I don't see it at all, but no matter - I still got the lift!!!

And I officially broke the record!  And then I did it again, hahah that is some kind of CRAZYNESS :)  And I qualified for C'ville, woot!!

I also got to see Honu, which was really crazy!  I mean how was she even there?!  Totally whacky coincidence!  But it was soo great having here there through that, even though I felt bad because at times it got soooo long.  But the added cheering section and the super GF hugs and support was excellent.  She's also quite the videographer :)  YAY!!

My coach/training partner was also super sweet and supportive all day long, totally wouldn't be able to do all this without that coaching uber-awesomeness, and also without those "voices" Honu talks about in one of her posts on her thread - the ones from here at eDiets cheering you on, the ones that won't let you give up on anything :)

I'm super tired today (Sunday 4/19) and low on energy, no sleep the night before and no sleep again last night..just really dragging.  This week will likely turn into another deload week for workouts, I'll just do some cardio and maybe 2 light fullbody workouts as I recover.

Raphael is going to try to help me with my nutrition, because I'm still struggling with that and ultimately it affects my strength and recovery - that'll help with the energy level too no doubt :)

Thanks so much you guys...:)

Hey guys...we all know that sometimes life throws us a curveball, it can come when we least expect it, or sometimes it comes when we are expecting it, but it still throws us for a loop.  Nancy's curve ball was pretty big, but here she shares a big success in dealing with some of the after affects, and how she's making the changes she needs to come back healthier and stronger than ever!

Way to go Nancy! Read on to see how Nancy is getting it DONE!

Excerpted from a post on the Exercise and Fitness Board, with Nancy's permission!

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Good afternoon all.

Another pound down this week!  I love feeling like I am back on track again.  I have been tested and I am not following a perfect plan - however I am on plan far more often than off plan and it is showing.  I'm still journaling my food - did I mention that I'm doing that now?  It is making a difference.  Last night we were heading home after working on Mom's house and dh said "lets just stop at culvers" - eeeek - What I really wanted to do was head to the gym - despite all the work I had just done, I wanted to have a release, ya know?  Well, my dh is needing some attention as well and I need to find that balance.  I don't think he as everasked me to skip a gym run so I knew he needed me.  So off to Culvers we went - do you all know Culvers?  They advertise "the Butter Burger"    So I am looking at this menu and feeling a bit overwhelmed.  I asked the cashier - do you have a plain chicken breast?  She said "sure" - sweet!  One chicken breast for me with water thank you very much.  Well turns out it is a battered fried chicken breast (a real chicken breast, bone in and everything) I actually peeled off the skin and ate the just the chicken, plus one (yes ONE) french fry from my husbands order.  Soooo... made the best out of what was available and it pays to ask for things that may not be on the menu.  Trust me, after the time at my Mom's house a big ol' burger with a heap of fries was tempting - however, feeling good, reaching my goal and making a healthy choice felt SOOOOOOOO much BETTER!  Yay me.  :)

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Read Nancy's original Success Story here!