With Atkins from 218 to 139 pounds

How I Ate Great, Lost 79 lbs!

Judy G. and Judy Garland have something in common: both spent a long time trekking the mystical Yellow Brick Road while searching for magical answers to their problems.

Judy Garland's fabled search ended when The Wizard of Oz finished shooting. But for Judy G., the search for weight loss answers went on far too long, ending only when she summoned up the brains, heart and courage to seek the help of eDiets.

The slimmed-down Judy G. -- who dropped a sensational 79 pounds -- is happy at home in Tennessee. The fab-looking 43-year-old vows no more Weight Watchers, liquid diets or fads ever again. She's at a healthy weight and she's staying there... with the help of eDiets and the Atkins Diet.

All of Judy's previous weight-loss efforts proved to be forks in the road to wellness. Our "Dorothy" reckons she spent nearly three decades trying to finally discover wizardry won't work.

Since adopting the low-carb lifestyle last year, Judy has watched her weight drop from 218 to 139 pounds. Instead of struggling to fit into size-18 clothes, 5-foot-6 Judy now slips into a size 8 with ease. The best part: This determined dieter didn't have to go looking somewhere over the rainbow to find her weight-loss solution. Nope, Judy found that when it came to losing weight properly, there's no place like home.

In a bit of a plot twist, it wasn't until hubby George started doing Atkins that Judy followed suit. Initially, she tried to go it alone by purchasing Atkins for Life (St. Martin's Press). Doing things by the book helped Judy drop 28 pounds. But then George discovered the Atkins Nutritional Approach powered by eDiets. It was everything they needed wrapped in one neat package. Judy signed up for her membership last November. George has lost 20 pounds.

"eDiets' Atkins Diet is the only way to go," Judy tells eDiets. "The book is good, but eDiets gives you portions."

With the eDiets personalized plan, Judy had weekly menus, recipes, shopping lists and many other weapons to use in her war on weight. Judy declared her latest effort a lifestyle change... one she intended to maintain for life. That meant altering the poor eating habits she blamed for her extra weight. Judy bravely waved farewell to the breads, pastas and other heavily processed foods that had been dragging her down.

The first big change was to add breakfast to her daily regimen. In the morning she often enjoyed three hardboiled eggs and an Atkins Diet shake. For lunch, she might have meat and cheese roll-ups. Come dinnertime, she and George feasted on a tasty recipe from the eDiets database. All Atkins Diet recipes can be easily altered to upsize the number of servings.

In time, Judy recognized that she was no longer under the spell of emotional eating. It was a nasty habit she traced back to the age of 9 and the time her sister passed away. Once she changed the way she looked at food, she no longer turned to eating for comfort.

"I eat to live, I don't live to eat," Judy says. "I don't get any joy out of eating. I don't get comfort. It doesn't make me feel better. I can enjoy a nice meal but my sole focus in life isn't ‘what's my next meal?' A lot of times I have to remind myself to eat."

Exercise was something Judy didn't have to remind herself to do. Physical activity has become a priority for Judy and her husband. Some nights they bike as many as 11 miles. She has no problem walking on the treadmill three times a week for a full hour. She also gets plenty of exercise from tending to her 10 acres of land.

There are nights this like-minded couple won't sit down until 8 p.m. New hobbies include boating and the restoration of an '81 Fiat. Since losing their spare tires, the dynamic duo has a new lease on life. Judy says she's come a long way from the days when her health was deteriorating from the extra weight.

"The weight was hurting me," she notes. "I had a bad back. I couldn't walk for any length of time. I couldn't run. I was out of breath. Everything was harder. I was actually diagnosed with mild incremental asthma and told it would only get worse if I didn't lose weight. Plus diabetes runs in my family.

"I'm not getting any younger and my husband and I want to enjoy life. But I couldn't do it at that weight."

Having George and Atkins Diet on her side proved to be a great recipe for success. For an extra helping of motivation, Judy used the eDiets chat rooms to interact when the urge struck. Once she started losing, Judy found it was just as easy to give advice as it was to receive.

When people ask her what diet she used to lose 79 pounds, Judy explains she's never been on a diet. For her, the Atkins Nutritional Approach is a lifestyle change. She's gotten rid of her old clothes and replaced them with a figure-flattering new wardrobe.

Her new goal: to enjoy the Golden Years with George in the healthiest, happiest manner possible.

Need a diet that'll let you eat filling, tasty foods while you lose weight? eDiets offers 22 personalized plans, including low-carb options.