Help A Beautiful Young Woman Lose 40 Pounds

The lovely April Taylor wants to lose 40 pounds for health & appearance

How would you like to have your weight loss experience broadcast to thousands of people as you share your deepest, darkest secrets, setbacks and successes in a public forum?

Well, that's exactly what April Taylor has done with this weight loss blog journal column that appears in the Lafayette, LA-based Daily Advertiser newspaper.

As you can see, April is a gorgeous 24-year-old girl who really doesn't have a whole lot of weight to lose from her 210-pound frame. Desiring a modest 40-pound weight loss, April says she would be happy to weigh 170 pounds again and decided to share her story publicly to help hold her accountable.

I can most certainly relate to April's decision to go public with her weight loss. I did the same thing when I entered a local radio station's weight loss contest in early 2004 shortly after I had already begun livin' la vida low-carb. Every few weeks I would check in with the host and announce my progress, difficulties, and, of course, triumphs over my weight problem. And, if you read my book, then you know I ended up WINNING that contest (but in a most peculiar way -- you'll have to read the book to find out!). Click here to see my before and after photos from that contest.

The fear of letting people down can be an incredible motivator to get you to lose weight as April will undoubtedly attest to in the coming weeks and months. She's putting it all out there with pictures and what it feels like to live the life of an overweight person (and we can have some emotional issues to deal with, too, as this reader of mine so eloquently and painfully shared recently). Having so many people hold her accountable is EXACTLY why April decided to do this at this time.

April's primary reasons for losing weight are to improve her appearance (even though I think she's beautiful now!) and to help her get healthy to ward off such diseases as diabetes and hypertension.

"My nanny passed away last year," she told The Daily Advertiser. "It made me realize you have to take care of yourself. She was a diabetic."

Watching someone close to you die or get really sick because of their weight gets you to thinking about your own life. It really does. To this day, I NEVER stop thinking about my brother Kevin.

April is your typical dieter losing 20 pounds and gaining 30, then losing 30 and gaining 40 more, so forth and so on. She's taken risky diet pills and other such diets with temporary success while even joining a gym, but quickly allowed her old bad eating habits to overcome her again.

Can I get a witness?! We've all been there and done that way too many times, haven't we? It's almost become an American pasttime to go on a diet. But this is no fun joyride when you are talking about your health and the rest of a full life to live in front of you as April has.

To help her get back on track, April is going back to that gym again and taking nutrition classes to learn "how to eat right."

In looking at what her favorite foods are to eat, I'm very pleased to see she enjoys eating chicken breasts, broccoli and cheese -- all of these foods are completely acceptable and encouraged on the low-carb lifestyle.

She has also combined her better eating habits with "an ambitious exercise program" which includes pilates, aerobics and resistance training exercises.

GREAT JOB, April! As someone who was able to lose over 180 pounds through a healthy diet and regular exercise, I applaud the effort you are putting forth to lose weight and keep it off for good. Keep up the great work!

But there is something that concerns me.

In this week's blog journal entries, April admits she decided to "cheat" several times and ate such unhealthy foods as chips, a pack of crackers, and a full-sugar Coke. It is not clear from the information I have read about her weight loss strategy what program she is on (I'm assuming it is a low-fat/low-calorie/portion-control diet), but I would love to know if she has a clear plan of action to lose this weight. That is ESSENTIAL to the success of any "diet" that you are on.

She noted in one of her journal entries that she got sick this week and hasn't been able to go to the gym. Early on in my weight loss experience, I got sick with the flu for about five days with 105 degree temperature. I had been livin' la vida low-carb for about six weeks when this happened and had JUST gotten used to going to the gym every single day. I was so upset that I didn't get to exercise for NINE DAYS IN A ROW! It made me, well, sick(ER!).

But rather than allowing that time off from the exercise routine to discourage me, I simply picked up where I had left off BEFORE I got sick and made it happen -- AGAIN! And I've been doing it ever since.

If April can get her propensity for eating things she's not supposed to on the weekend under control and stay focused on her goal of losing weight and getting healthy, then she could easily reach her goal by the beginning of the summer (that's 2 pounds a week for 20 weeks=40 pounds lost!). See, when you break it down into manageable chunks, it really isn't as bad as we make it out to be.

That's what I did when I was losing weight, too. But my "chunks" were in 10-pound increments since I had a lot of weight to lose.

"Okay, I weigh 370 now and I need to get down to 360."

When I reached 360, I high-fived myself and said, "Okay, I weigh 360 now and I need to get down to 350."

And the process continued. When I got below 300, I did the victory dance in my underwear (okay, it wasn't such a pretty site, but it made me feel good! LOL!). But that's what you do to keep yourself going and to MAKE IT HAPPEN!

No excuses, just do it, never give up, make it happen, no matter what! THAT was my mantra!

I have no doubt in my mind that April can do it, too! If she stays focused, refuses to give in to temptation, puts forth her best effort, and executes a proven strategy for losing weight, then she will be the slim, trim 170-pound woman she desires to be by July 2006!

I do not have a direct e-mail address for April, but you can send e-mail to her through the newspaper by writing to news@theadvertiser.com. Let April know you are cheering her on and let's see her become the success that we KNOW she can be!

YOU CAN DO IT, APRIL!!! We are here for you 100%!!! YOU GO GIRL!!!