Hmmm, as the Diet Narrator related on the previous journal:

Well, the D&B Demon hath burned down the Winged Monkey Casino. Ca-ching. Athletea gained four pounds during what is now being referred to in the annals o' Diet Island as the Demon Siege

Accordingly, we, the erstwhile casino management now out of a job, are ... redirecting all visitors to Athletea's little grass diet shack in the Never-Give-Up sector of the island, where strange mutterings have been emanating all day: "I BELIEVE IN THE DIET FAERIE, I BELIEVE IN THE DIET FAERIE, I BELIEVE IN THE DIET FAERIE ...!!!

To ELABORATE further (as A always does), whilst managing the casino and playing the streak game in order to avoid using the D word (DIET), A hath gained weight ... X-( ... irritating, but there it is! So, in the night after the burning down of the gaming casino by the D&B (Depression and Binge) Demon, A was visited by the DIET FAERIE ... who whispered the soothing message in A's ear: "Let me help thee escape the demon, Athletea, dear. Diets DO work ... as thou hast always known! Didst thou not lose more than 100 poundies on a diet? Didst thou not invoke my kindly presence at every upturn in poundage since that time and haven't I always been there for thee?

"I BELIEVE IN THEE, DIET FAERIE," shouted A (in the night) and, just like that, quick as a bunny, decided to GO ON A DIET!

But WHAT diet? Do we do Weight Watcher's, BFL, Richard S, Atkins, Zone, low carb, high carb, low fat, high fat, Mediterranean, low cal ... yikes, the list is endless. THE BOTTOM LINE: WHAT WORKS FOR US is to generally count cals and keep 'em as close to the 1500-2000 range as possible on most days and exercise consistently most days. So that's what we'll do. We'll tick off the days o' THE DIET whether they be good days, bad days, whatever ... we will not set strict rules: THE ONLY RULE IS TO TRY TO MAKE EACH DAY COUNT TOWARDS OUR GOAL, which is, as always to reach 135 pounds ... we will not do this by the end of the year and are hereby amending our goal to 145 pounds by the end o' the year ... we will have another weigh-in on Sunday but are starting NOW! THIS IS DAY ONE

:up:

I do believe in faerie. :spring:

Ceara

Newly ordained DFA (Diet Faerie Athletea) bringeth peace and greetings to all and thankee Aria and Ceara for the greetings!!!

Today findeth A magickally transported to her new home Diet House in the pastoral setting o' Diet Village, East Dietshire, set amid green diet pastures, with peaceful diet sheepies nippin' away at the grasstops (to secure a healthful supply o' roughage in their pastoral bods). The CDF (Chief Diet Faerie) hath recruited A as a distributor o' the Magickal DDW (Diets Do Work) formula to the village population o' fit 'n healthy diet folkes! :spring:

A's first day on the job included steppin' up on a :sb and proclaiming to the countryside :coach: : "DIETS DO WORK IF YA WORK 'EM!" ... thus startling a few butterflies and bees as well as getting the attention o' some folke on the outskirts o' the village ... it remains to be seen whether any o' the folke will join in A's crusade.

Day 1: 2080 cals, 20 min walk! Huzzah!

"DIETS DO WORK IF YA WORK 'EM!" - a motto to live by.

it all boils down to the amount we eat vs. the energy we expend. So work whatever eating plan you are on, evidently counting cals, and success will be yours.

Yeppers, JoJo!!!! Success is in the bag, even if it's just the success of getting back into a more comfortable weight!!!

Your stats and continued determination are inspiring as always!!! Thanks for the visit!!!!!

Early this a.m., Athletea, Diet Faerie representative for the Diet Village area, upper East Dietshire, awoke in Diet House, ate a decent breakkie o' two whole wheat English muffins, milk and diet butter, packed her bag o' diet tricks for a day o' flutterin' about the village spreading the DIETS WORK philosophy and selling DIET products, such as the DIETS WORK T-shirts bearing the logo:

DIET = DETERMINATION, INTELLECT, EDUCATION, TRADITION!

A hopeth these will be a big seller! Others items in the Diet Faerie line are the Magick Diet Potion, with two simple ingredients: CALORIES IN AND CALORIES OUT; the Magick Diet Spell: "Stop Eating So Much;" and the Faerie's Diet Success Recipe, with two ingredients: WILLPOWER AND THE PATENTED CAN-DO ATTITUDE!!

:pass:

YES! :)

Hey girl. I can't believe your perseverance and self-discipline to not give up. You are doing so well and I know you will reach your goals. How you keep your positive attitude is beyond me, but more power to ya. Have a great week! :)

I hear ya! And let's not forget "Diets don't fail, People DO"!!! Can't forget that little slogan!

I need to make up the Anti Diet Fairy and we could battle and stuff...that would be fun... :D

Have a great day! Love Ya! j

PS...Thanks for the visit to my journal...the world of NDA!

Hi, Aria, CM and Jessi!!!! :wave: Thanks for droppin' by and leavin' callin' cards at the Diet Manse!!! Huzzah!

Faerie Athletea be gathering laundry and headin' for the village gym as she worketh tonight. The manse menu's been reasonable in cals and the fairies are gathering to burn off a few more in the weight room ... or build muscle that will burn off a few more, anyhoo.

:laugh: Jessi, speaking for the Diet Faerie Society of the Greater Dietshire area, we'd love to have the Anti Diet Fairy as a member as we're sure she has much to contribute to our movement as well! Please tell her to stop by for tea and scones anytime.

Yikes, I shouldn't have said scones .... ahhhhhh, blueberry scones and cold chai at Border's .... hmmmm ...

No, must go to gym!!! :pass:

No scones. :(

Night revels are planned in the Diet Village and Good Diet Faerie Athletea plans on attending. There are games and events planned and A hath signed up for the Diet Night Sprint ... it goeth like this: Participants report in on their diet logs early (like now) and SPRINT through the rest o' the night without adding any more cals!!! Winners receive a :rose: ... SO ...

REPORT ON DIET DAY 2: 1745 cals, exercise in gym: 10 min treadmill, 30 min weights (lightish, total body) ...

Working tonight and the sprint will keep me ON THE DIET!!!

Yay, DIET!!! Way to go DIET!!!

Sis boom and bah, Athletea's DIET will save the day and those Demon Pounds will go away!!!

DIET = DECIDEDLY IMPROVED, EVENTUALLY THIN!

Amen.

D - ecidedly
I - mproved,
E - ventually
T - hin!

You have a way with words, my friend. I always enjoy reading your journal.

Hey thanks for the posts in the journals. way to go on going to the gym and calories (now what were those made of?)

I noticed you like scones and chai at borders. . .
1. scones. ..mmmm but they have to be the right kind, especially with strawberries... well done on avoiding. only as a treat ...right
2. which borders? my husband is a manager at one.
I love bookstores and books. i could wander them forever ... : )

Thank ye, JoJo!!! :wave: And as ye know, I've long enjoyed reading thy chronicles in all the various places where we've met up over the years ... hey, 'tis that happy LITE season again, friend ... I intend to make it count weightwise this year.

Infiniti!!! :wave: Thanks for droppin' by ... I love bookstores also, especially Border's ... I live in Arizona. But yea, the big blueberry scones are only a sometimes thing ... they're extremely calorific ... re journaling, sometimes I do post my specific menus but usually I just keep a running tally of cals in a paper journal throughout the day ... I'll write down specific items only if I think I'll forget the cal count and want to eat that item again.

Hmmm ... I hear singing ...

'Over the meadow and through the woods, to Diet House we go ... we'll diet away to Thanksgiving Day and keep our weight quite low ... la la la

Well, this is a nice surprise!!! A small contigent of Diet Faeries from the next Diet Village just arrived at Diet House in a one-diet open shay for a THANKSGIVING DIET HOUSE PARTY!!!! Everyone brought gifts for Diet Faerie Athletea, to welcome her into the League o' Women Diet Faeries.

Items brought include vitamins, water and a healthy dose of OLD-FASHIONED WILLPOWER in a pretty pink bottle tied up with a ribbon!!! Athletea put this nice bottle next to her old favorite WON'T-NEVER-EVER-GIVE-UP cordial and laid the :rose: she earned last night at the DIET FUN FESTIVAL EVENT (by not adding anymore cals to yesterday's count).

Everyone drank some of the cordial and congratulated Athletea on being at Day 3 of her DIET!!! :cheers: Then everyone declared a WEIGHT GOAL FOR THANKSGIVING SUNDAY (November 28). Athletea herself pledged to be at 154 by that date and her faerie comrades each pledged a :rose: for her collection if she reacheth that solemn goal!!!

Having had a long journey in the one-diet shay, the faerie guests were shown to their rooms in the diet manse and Athletea made plans to continue her diet work in the local environs.

Film at 11.

Athletea:

Wow...I've read your journal through and I just keep thinking you sound so much like my friend from college...who's now at grad school in AZ! Yay for coincidences, huh?

I'm terribly entertained, my dear...I can't wait to read more!

Walk in bliss, long live the diet faerie!

morgayne

It took a while but I found the hidden entrance to the faery realm and I am, quite literally, ENCHANTED!
Athletea, the bottle labeled 'willpower' is doubtless magickal and will never empty, so I suggest taking it with you in your travels and having a good long swig whenever you find yourself in the land of the convenience stores!

Greetings to Morgayne o' the wonderful magickal name ... thanks be for the visit ... I shall walk in bliss, at least today, as the faeries and I have a special plan for today ... TBA!!!! Shall be droppin' in on thy journal anon also ... will leave calling card if thou be not at home! :)

:queen: E thanks for slippin' through the portal ... yea, the door to FAERIE be well hidden beneath many thorny bushes and the path to that door be likewise not well marked and meandering through diverse dark forests and monumental mountainous peaks 'n valleys. But all FAERIE struggles end in SUCCESS, so it be worth the journey.

:)

DIET FAERIE HOUSEPARTY 'N CONVERGENCE REPORT: DIET DAY 3 ... this was not a good day, calorically speaking. The faeries were all visited by the Stress Demon :lil: and enticed to take a couple (more than a couple) o' field trips to convenience stores in the Diet Village to solace their stress with SUGARY YUM YUMS! As a result, no cal report is being logged for day 3. (Everyone did make it to the gym, though, where they did a paltry 10 min on the treadmill ... they hate the treadmill ... BOOOOOOORING ... so nobody could stay on longer than that ... and 30 min of light weights for various bodyparts). Howsomever, in keeping with faerie policy that ALL DAYS ON THE FAERIE DIET ARE A SUCCESS (even though some way more so than others) THE GROUP IS NOW ON DAY 4! Can we go a little more?

Yes, we can! And the faeries, noting that it was the SUGAR DEMON yesterday (mostly in the form of ice cream bars and a sweet roll) they all used to treat the evil stress spell they are under and they've all signed the Calorie Police's ONE-DAY PLEDGE AGAINST SUGARY ITEMS ON FRIDAY. Under the terms of this agreement, no Diet Faerie attending this houseparty will EVEN THINK ABOUT inhaling or ingesting any obviously sweet item for any reason whatsoever ... this covers sweet rolls, ice cream, dulce de leche milk and the like, incidental sugar in NON SWEET ITEMS is allowed as is nonfat milk with SF strawberry syrup (as the diet manse cook has purchased 15 bottles of the syrup, which contains Splenda and cost many faerie dollars, so she saith, "Ya better drink this stuff!").

Those who successfully stay away from demon sugar for the day will receive a :rose: from the CP department and a bumper sticker saying: I BEAT THE SWEET ON FRIDAY!

Attention! The Calorie Police Department, Diet Village, Lower East Dietshire, is announcing that its NO SUGARY STUFF ON FRIDAY pledge drive was cancelled yesterday due to the appearance of the D&B (Depression & Binge) Demon in the local environs. :lil: The one-day pledge drive will be conducted Saturday instead.

The contingent of DIET FAERIES now in resident at Diet House, central diet manse for the DIETS DO WORK IF YOU WORK 'EM PROGRAM, was informed, since they'd all signed the pledge to eat no sweeties on Friday.

We, the undersigned Magickal Creatures, pledge to eat no sweets (except incidental sugar in nonsweet items and Splenda sweetened items) for 24 hours on Saturday! ~ Signed, the Diet Faeries.

Report, Diet Day 4: 1950 cals, one hour of weights with trainer. Current Diet Day: FIVE, no jive! Diets work if ya work 'em, yay!

:pass:

Dear Sister Diet Faeries Now In Residence at the Diet House Party, Diet House: The Calorie Police have again cancelled the Sweetless Saturday event. Please come to an emergency diet meeting in the Food Faerie Parlor later today. Banana cake and yogurt smoothies will be served. A new DIET will be revealed for the elucidation o' the Sisterhood. Signed ~ Your hostess, Diet Faerie Athletea :party:

Hello!

Just stopping by to see if the smoothies are ready yet!

I really like what you've done with the place!

I have been trying to break out of the same ol, same ol routine and get a new view of life. Also, miss you lots and lots so I thought I'd stop by ( sorry, should've called first ..)

And wouldn't you know, here's the coincidence... was just doing a 15 minute rescue on the pile of books next to my chair and what did I find?? A book called "Giants and Fairies".... Hmmmmmmmm

:D

Seems like me finding you was meant to be.....

So...

are the smoothies ready?

Hey girl! Stopping by to say "HI"! Hope you have a good weekend! :D

Cheerio, Kayletsiii and Jessi!!! :wave: So happy to have visitors on a dank day in the Diet Manse. All the faeries are napping after meeting for yogurts and (yes) banana cake in the library, where they had a secret diet planning meeting. More details to be unveiled after Diet Faerie Athletea finishes a bit more o' the payin' writing so' she won't have so much to do tomorrow.!!!

Here's hopin' you have a good weekend also, Jessi ... thanks always for thy support!!!

Yea, K (rhymes), the smoothies are ready and there's tea also, of course, for all visitors. No need ever for calling ahead ... I miss ya lots, too ... will be droppin' by the palace anon.

I'm also in the process, I think, of trying to revise my view of life ... for me, though, it seems to be less a breaking out into new directions than an attempt to unravel the tangled path backwards, to view life as I once viewed it, to understand that there are truths in the universe I once understood but have forgotten.

In a way that's what this "diets do work" journal is about, a sorting through all the confusion about where I am with the weight loss, a rededication to a truth I long ago acknowledged ... that for me the achievement and maintenance of a sane weight is a lifetime commitment and a priority ... and that, for me, there's only one true road to getting the job done: control calories.

This is what I mean when I say the word: DIET.

However, for me, there are other elements in weight loss/maintenance that are a part of the equation. The second most important thing in my DIET is to exercise to burn extra calories, as well as building a fitter metabolism through resistance exercise. Exercise also improves my health and makes me feel better mentally, not to mention muscles are just nice to have (easier to get about in the world and do things if we're strong).

Another element is :water: ... I need to go drink some and get back to work!

Film at 11.

At the Diet Faeries' weekly BANISH-FEAR-O'-DEMON-SCALE-'CAUSE-HE'S-OUR-PAL ceremony, the DF's all had a great time and confidently hopped on the :lil: 's back 'cause they knew they'd have success after five days of what they are now referring to as the FIVE-DAY GETTIN' THEIR HEADS TOGETHER SEMI-DIET! After the weigh-in an election was held and diet houseparty hostess Athletea was named Chairfaerie o' the Diet Board because she had the largest weight loss in the group: 1.4 pounds down! Details of Diet Phase II TBA later today!

Hey girly! Lookin' good as always. Just thought I would come in and show my smiling face and remind you that you're not forgotten and I am still here!! TTFN!!!

Melinda :D

Congrats on dismissing the 1/4 pounds from your faery frame. Looking forward to hearing the details of phase II later today or whenever the scheme is sucessfully hatched! :)

Greetin's to visitors Melinda and Eydie and thanks be for droppin' by!! :wave:

At a breakfast meeting, the Diet Faerie housesguests enjoyed the diet meal-o'-the-day: Polenta slices (2 for 70 cals), mushrooms and a sprinkle o' parm cheese (arrange on plate and micro ... can also make sweet entrees with polenta by just adding fruit spread or anything)! They discussed the long-term Phase II diet plan the Diet Faerie Consortium will be launching in the near future, but decided more study was needed.

As a test of one of the concepts of the plan (e.g., CALORIES DO COUNT), the faeries agreed to do a THREE-DAY CALORIE RESTRICTION RUN-THROUGH. Under this plan, calories will be, well, restricted to no more than 1700 per day for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (this week only). As a daring diet ploy (because we're tired), exercise will NOT be mandatory during these three days ... if we do it, fine, if not, fine.

At the end o' the three days, the data will be evaluated. :hop:

Okalee, dokalee (faerie incantation), following a 1.4 pound loss this week, the Diet Faerie Houseguests are resting on their laurels exercise wise and singing the DIETS DO WORK IF YA WORK 'EM song all about the place ad naseum ... how dost thou spelleth that?!!!! Anyhow, it remaineth for me, Lonely Diet Faerie Scullery Maid to chalk up the results of today's weight loss challenge ... inscribing it on the chalkboard in the scullery (what exactly is a scullery, anyhow?):

Faerie Diet, Phase II, Three-Day Induction of no more than 1700 cals, exercise optional:

Diet Induction Day 1: 1665 cals, exercise zip!

The Diets Work If Ya Work 'Em Song, by an Anonymous Diet Faerie

Diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!
Diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!
Diets work if ya work 'em so ya can't afford to shirk 'em ; diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!

:dc

Congrats on the loss!

If counting calories is what works for you, then count away! Take no prisoners! :lil: :whip:

Nice Song. Ad nauseum is what it'll be doin' in my head today. Jeeze.
Cheers to the calorie-counter extrordinaire!

Ceara

:laugh: Sorry, Sword Bearer!!!! :laugh: Thanks for comin' by!!!! Just sing along with the faeries and CLAP YUR HANDS!!!

Yeppers, Seweed, we Diet Faeries take no prisoners ... that CALORIE DEMON doesn't stand a chance when we take off the kid gloves and GET SERIOUS ABOUT OUR DIET!!!!

We may be kind, though, as he's kind o' cute (THE CALORIE DEMON) and very SWEET (mostly composed of simple carbohydrates in the form of donuts 'n dulce de leche) that are NOT ON OUR DIET!!!! :pass: If he'll go quietly, we'll let the CALORIE POLICE take him away in hopes the DIET JUDGE will be lenient and just banish him to a DESSERT ISLAND (get it? DESSERT ISLAND get it? hmmm, ok ...) far far away.

Ok, this is DAY 2 o' DIET PHASE II, three day induction challenge. Goal 1600s! Huzzah!

I am late.

:wave:

I find keeping my cals under 1700 a challenge, too.. I have NO idea how people do 1200. I mean, no one would survive around me! ;)

Corinna

I like your little ditty. Has it been set to music? It seems to fit an old tune that I once sang long, long ago. Are you going to get it copyrighted and make a bundle of bucks? And if you do make a bundle of bucks will you then throw a party in your Faerie Kingdom and invite us all? And if you do invite us all to your party, will you be serving diet donuts 'n dulce de leche?

I am just full of questions, aren't I.

Yowza!!!! The Faeries are havin' a really tough time workin' the diet today, so the Day 2 induction will take place tomorrow ... not a binge, everyone is eating a lot o' soup as it's cold in Dietland today!!! Calories are going to come in at around 1900 ... we WANT to go out for dulce de leche, but it's raining ... faeries dinna like rain. Sigh.

'Preciate the visits from Corinna and JoJo!!! :wave:

Yea, Corinna, I don't know how folks do 1200 either ... my doc says that's too low for me. It's never my intention to go that low, except by accident, like if I'd forget to eat or something ... small chance o' that!!!!

JoJo, the diet song is to the tune o' "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands ... etc." ... ye dinna think I'd have an original thought did ya? :laugh:

Believe me, if I ever make a bundle o' bucks, I'll throw a party and you'll be the first person I'll invite ... er, but dinna pack thy virtual duds 'n party hats just yet ... still working on my first million bundles!

I was thinking o' thee, today, JoJo, and here thou be. I was actually thinking o' the RS Food Mover again ... it was mentioned on another journal ... see the faeries 'n I are thinking of playin' some more with this DIET idea ... maybe having a diet samplin' party and trying different DIETS for a few days or even weeks at a time ... the Food Mover is one of the best I ever did ... so that might be an idea for Phase III o' the faerie diet ... if me and my faerie cohorts ever get through with Phase II ... the details of which have not yet been announced by the Faerie Diet Corporation, Ltd., East Dietshire, world wide distribution rights available.

Hmmm. Was thinkin' today that I like dieting ... it's the only fun I have! :)

Good thing, too, as with the metabolism o' a lovely sea cow and livin' in the land o' the stress-induced convenience store bingeorama, patent-pending, I have to be ever vigilant against the D&B (Depression & Binge) Demon, not to mention the IRSTGTTG (I'd Rather Sleep Than Go To The Gym) Demon.

Ah, well.

That be the waiteth it goeth.

N'est pas?

C'est la something-or-other!

C'est la vie, ma cherie! :) Tu es fantastique! Continuez comme ça! :peace:

Mais oui, Seaweed! :)

Well, the Diet Faeries are diet challenged again today. :pass: Some bad stuff happened in the nonvirtual world inhabited by the Chief Diet Faerie and DIET DAY BLOWN AGAIN resulted!!!

Is this any way to run a diet!!!

WE DON'T THINK SO!

Here's the thinking o' the group (of diet faeries): we've been trying to subtly reduce calories to a DIET of 1500-1600 cals a day. It ain't working 'cause we ain't workin' it.

It's simple.

We want to eat a lot of junk food to medicate our bad feelings.

We also want to reach our goal weights.

These are mutually exclusive behaviors.

TOMORROW, WE DIET!

Really.

You can take it to the faerie bank.

Gotta go.

ONE MORE TIME: The Diets Work If Ya Work 'Em Song, by an Anonymous Diet Faerie

Diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!
Diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!
Diets work if ya work 'em so ya can't afford to shirk 'em ; diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!

In the predawn chill o' a Dietshire country manse known as Diet House, candles are shinin' from every window and the sound o' Faerie Dietsong and the clappin' o' hands betokens an early FAIERIE DIET PEP RALLY!!! :cheer: Huzzah!

:coach: 'Yo, listen up, DF's,' said Peppy Faerie Coach Powerful Pauline, a franchised Faerie Diet distributor brought in yesterday from a neighboring diet village. 'Good News!!!!! Today is the first day o' the REST O' YUR DIET! Details o' the new FAERIE DIET PRODUCT will be forthcoming. Stay tuned, same diet time, same diet station! For today, our DIET FAERIE TEST GROUP is running a test on what's tentatively being called the FAERIES CARE DIET PLAN: Calories in the 1500s, 30 total minutes or more of exercise! Results will be evaluated before launching the final product. Film at 11.

Your diet ditty is ringing loud and clear throughout the known universe. I like the thought, and I am sure trying to work my diet properly.

May you and all your faerie friends have a great Thanksgiving.

Thankee, JoJo, you have a happy Thanksgiving also ... and I know you always work your diet properly!!! Thou art stalwart and consistent in that regard!!! :up:

Just passing thru the faerie realm to say "hi", Athletea! How goes it?

ONE MORE TIME: The Diets Work If Ya Work 'Em Song, by an Anonymous Diet Faerie

Diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!
Diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!
Diets work if ya work 'em so ya can't afford to shirk 'em ; diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!

At an early a.m. brainstorming session on the beta version of the Diet Faerie Diet possibly (we HOPE) scheduled for release soon, the faerie researchers and elven diet testers noted that ANOTHER day was needed for the countdown to the 1500s (calories, that is). Yesterday the testers were not able to achieve that golden number and instead ate 2100 (approximately). The decision was also made to remove the exercise component as a requirement for the diet plan at this time, although the testers did walk 30 minutes. The test of 1500 cals will take place today (Thanksgiving, but not going anywhere except mayhap shopping)! Film at 11.

Well, it's not 11, but the elven diet testers recruited by the Diet Faerie researchers have had their Thanksgiving dinners and are sippin' at their zero sugar strawberry syrup bottles :pass: ... these elfs need something sweet or they'd start binging ... they literally take little nips from the 2.5 cal per tablespoon syrup bottles whenever they start having ideas about going out for sweets. Cals so far today are 1550, neither elf nor faerie hath done a lick o' exercise. Accordingly, the FAIRIE DIET TEST DAY be endeth and now the researchers will be able to determine if the elfs can go the rest o' the night without imbibing more cals (except for the syrup nips ... we're not counting those as it'd be hard to have more than a few cals doin' this ... yes, it's bizarre, but then Chief Diet Faerie Researcher is bizarro. What can we say? We shall away!

Fairie Diet, Beta Version, Report: Elf Diet Tester No. 17 ~

All's quiet at Diet Manse this afternoon, as the Diet Faeries are off fiddlin' around the shire. :violin: As a member of the elf team assisting the fairie scientists in conducting top secret tests of what they hope will be the MOST PERFECT FAIRIE DIET OF ALL TIME,I can attest that our diet testers have left no stone unturned to replicate the experiences of real fairies in real diet world situations and to see what combinations of calorie counting, exercise and other diet factors work best before marketing this program to the general faerie population.

Anyhow, yesterday we were in the 1500s calorically speaking, so we wanted to test an idea Faerie Researcher Athletea had for a diet low in cals one day and higher the next. So today, we ate 1755 cals. We also worked out in the gym with A's trainer.

End of report. Tomorrow is the last day of beta testing. We are going live on the air with the new diet beginning Sunday. Check your local diet listings for time and stations.

Elf Diet Tester #17, addendum to Friday report: We did succumb to a half bag of M&Ms after filing our last report and some extra milk, ergo we can't give an accurate calorie count. We are doing a final run-through of the beta testing today, eating in the 1500 range. The fairie researchers have announced a week-long PERFECT FAIRIE DIET CHALLENGE for all elf testers. Diet Folkes from the Diet Village have been invited to Diet Manse to join in this event. Details forthcoming.

Elf #17 ... failed to achieve 1500 cals, instead ate 1950. Exercise was 40 minutes in gym: 10 core work on ball, 15 treadmill walk/jog, 15 walk/jog laps in aerobics room with intervals of step. Tomorrow Chief Diet Faerie Athletea will take over THE DIET research after the fairies' strange ceremony of WEIGHING IN. The elves have finished their work here as diet testers. We will slide off into the night again to help some other poor souls achieve DIET PERFECTION ... singin' softly in the moonlight:

Diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!
Diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!
Diets work if ya work 'em so ya can't afford to shirk 'em ; diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!

A word here about DIETS and the ceremony of weighin' in. We, the Diet Research Elves, who cobble together diets for hapless weighin' in fanatics like the diet faeries (a strange breed, friends, a strange breed), have noticed that CDF A (Chief Diet Faerie Athletea) often gains and loses weight; in fact, she once lost more than 100 pounds, put some on, took some off, never achieved her goal, continues to try.

Noticing her eating habits this week, we are sure the weight will be high this week.

We believe this is not the fault of the process of DIETING (which only means, in our opinion, having a plan for losing or maintaining weight), nor is it necessarily the fault of Athletea. It's kind of just the way it goes (in scientific elfen terms).

We have noticed that, all other factors aside (e.g., metabolism, stress-induced cortisol in body, current weight, exercise adherence, macro nutrient ratio), that it is consistent application of the principles of EATING LESS (but not too much less) that produces weight loss and it is the consistent application of eating just the right amount that produces weight maintenance AND it is the consistent application of eating TOO MUCH that produces weight gain.

The management of this equation (e.g., dieting) does take some amount of dedication. Faeries, elfs and village folkettes alike oft times find it cumbersome. We, however, continue to believe that this is a journey worth taking.

We know how much better off Athletea is from the days before the 100-pound loss. This is not to say that A doth not have a life outside of weight loss (sometimes she thinks so, but truly she does have a life).

We know how quickly the pounds come back, up and down, round 'n round. We know A doesn't mind a pound or two or even 10 ... it's the whole 100 she doesn't want back. To ensure this doesn't happen, she's come to terms with the idea that THE DIET (whichever diet game she's currently playing) is a lifetime affair.

It's Athletea's choice (kind of like Hobson's choice, only with fairies): Diet and maintain a reasonable weight, don't diet ever again and gain weight.

Those are our elven thoughts on the diet research we've conducted here. My fellow elfs are preparing to depart. I must go ...

Diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!
Diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!
Diets work if ya work 'em so ya can't afford to shirk 'em ; diets work if ya work 'em, clap yur hands!

Hello Athletea :)
You are so right about taking steps to keep the 100 pounds off forever! It certainly can be done while eating mostly healthy and interesting foods, drinking water and exercising regularly. Just have to hang in there. Any effort is better than gaining the weight back. But the results and YOU are well worth it. :*

Thanks, Aria!!! :wave: I appreciate the support!

Ho, ho, ho and ho!!! :) Inexplicably, Chief Diet Fairie Athletea hath beat Demon Scale :lil: by two pounds this week. She'd like to announce the closing o' the Diet Manse for the Christmas season and the beginning of a new DIET cycle. Accordingly, she's kicked out all faeries and lingering elfs and is moving into a small cottage within Diet Village limits. A new journal will be posted soon on the bulletin board outside o' the cottage. Closing this journal ...