Shannon Hammer believes her struggle with food started at age four when a well-intentioned aunt put her on a diet. "I started to sneak eat, so I wouldn’t eat 'fattening' food in front of anybody lest I be judged and subjected to criticism,” she said. At 230 pounds, her weight didn't register with her until she saw a picture of herself taken at a Christmas party. "It looked like somebody had superimposed my face on a fat woman’s body."

Her Magic Ingredient: Changed her thinking. "I changed my philosophy from one of just wanting to 'get skinny' to one of wanting to 'get healthy.' I realized I needed a bigger goal than just achieving a number on a scale if I was going to remain motivated to change my life."

At 233 pounds, Marcia Noyes avoided catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "Nothing I put on made me look any better," she said. Every birthday, she wished to be thin, once and for all.  When she turned 50, she realized, "I was wishing my life away but not doing anything to change the situation." Time, she felt, was running out. "I wanted to finally become thin and not die a fat person."

Her Magic Ingredient: Photography. “When people bring cakes and things into the office, I wanted my hands busy, so I began taking pictures of all the beautiful sweets," she says. She uploaded the photos onto her computer for an entire year. "I have a file of sweets on my computer and not on my hips. That helped train me to no longer want them.”

Even though blogger Jane Cartelli's husband loved her unconditionally, at 385 pounds, she felt repulsive, like "a lump of fat." Yet she felt powerless to change her appearance. "Every night I was back into the food," she said. But when her family began gaining weight, she knew, as the alpha personality in her home, she needed to change her diet for everybody's sake. "If I ate healthier and moved more, everyone else would follow suit--to a point."

Her Magic Ingredient: Acceptance. "Acceptance that I am a food addict. Acceptance that I cannot have certain foods and sanity at the same time. Acceptance that I do not control the world, but I can control what's on my fork by not picking up the foods that cause the addiction to manifest."

When Kathie Anderson saw herself in her son's high school graduation pictures, she cringed. "I hid behind my weight and used those 50 pounds as an excuse not to do things," she said. As she flipped through the photos, she was saddened that at such an important milestone event, she was reluctant to have her picture taken because of her weight. "I made a promise to myself to lose that weight, to regain my confidence, and to be happy and proud in that photo at the next big milestone event. No more hiding for me!"

Her Magic Ingredient: Counting. "I tracked my food intake and exercise using an app on my phone. I didn’t pay too much attention to low-fat or carbs in the beginning but quickly learned that more fruits, vegetables and fiber would keep me full longer with a lot less calories."
 

A former collegiate athlete, at age 35 blogger Jen Hendrickson could no longer shop with most of her friends because she’d reached size 16/18. But it wasn't until she saw pictures of herself from a Lung Walk in which she weighed 232 pounds that she took action. "I had gotten to the point where I no longer recognized the face looking back at me," she said. She wished to set a better example of healthy living for her two little girls.  

Her Magic Ingredient: Her support system. “I joined Weight Watchers with my best friend. We promised one another that we would do this together and we would not quit--it was not an option. Two months later my mom joined WW. Another month later, my brother and sister-in-law joined WW. When you surround yourself with people who want to be, or already are where you want to be, you're motivated and inspired to keep going."  

After having two children, Sally Shields wanted to lose weight, but her body wasn’t budging--plus she felt constantly hungry. "My mother would say, 'You have two young children, give yourself a break. That's how mommies look!'," says Shields. But she saw how easily some moms snapped back into shape. As a writer, she decided to interview 101 slim women from 20-69 to uncover how they stayed thin. 

Her Magic Ingredient: Fiber. "To eliminate cravings, I supplement with SkinnyFiber, an all natural fiber supplement that helps you feel full and eat less, as well as helps support weight management, metabolism and detoxification." (Shields is a representative for SkinnyBodyCare.)

As a mother of three young children, photographer Lisa Erickson struggled to find time to care for herself. With her first pregnancy, she had gained over 80 pounds, and never lost more than 30 pounds with each additional pregnancy.

Weighing 220 pounds prevented her from being the mom she wanted to be. "I knew it wasn’t fair to my kids or myself not to live the life I wanted and my kids deserved," she said. "I decided I had had enough with my weight and lack of energy."

Her Magic Ingredient: Consistency. "I made small changes and stuck with them. I made a conscious effort to follow through on what I committed myself to for that day. Eventually that lead to bigger changes."

Amanda Dwyer says she was in denial about her weight. "If my jeans felt tight, I'd tell myself, 'Oh gosh, the dryer must have shrunk these'," she said. Or, she'd think water retention. But one day, while grocery shopping, she hopped onto the big scale out front after her young boys did. "The elder of the two, then seven years old, looked at the dial and announced at full volume, 'Mommy, you weigh 200! Isn't that quite a lot?' And it hit me. Yes, for me that was quite a lot," Dwyer said. "I wasn't just fat. I was clinically obese."

Her Magic Ingredient: Willingness to always try something new. "As soon as I became tired of one method (pre-packaged delivery meals), I'd try another (food journaling with calorie counting). If I'd just thrown in the towel when the pre-packaged meals got tiring, I can tell you where I'd be right now: I'd be right back at 200 pounds... if I were lucky."