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Because the opportunity for us to appear on CBS' "Early Show" Saturday Slim Down last summer came about over the course of two days, we were pretty much left to our own devices the first week. However, with Saturday's weigh-in looming above, Taia and I did everything we knew to lose weight. We were ridiculous. We counted calories, carbs, protein, fat, cats and dogs. We were practically zombies from starving ourselves. I'm pretty sure the ashy lips we had meant dehydration, but we didn't care. We could die after Saturday's weigh-in. At all costs, we had to lose some weight, because the nation would be watching.

Saturday arrived, and there we were again, preparing to step on the gargantuan fire-breathing scale from hell for the country to see how well we'd done our first week. The producer brought us up on the stage to do a dry run and position us where we were to stand. Me, being the Curious George that I am, I glanced at the scale to see if I could sneak a weigh-in to avoid any surprises before the eyes of the entire nation. I eased over and stepped on lightly only to have the giant digital display show a net loss of .8 pounds. Though disappointed at how little I'd lost, I was certainly thrilled that I hadn't gained. The producer hurried us off the stage where Taia and I chatted nervously with the other participant as we awaited our turn.

All too soon, we were shuffled back to the stage for our live weigh-in. Having no fear of surprise since I'd just gotten off the scale, I boldly stepped up to weigh in first. The host, Erica Hill, chatted with the nutritionist, Keri Glassman, who we'd had the pleasure of meeting that same morning. She'd asked us to brief her on what we'd done during the week, but we had spent all of five minutes chatting with her as a group. I hopped on the scale after the host gave this glowing brief on my past weight-loss success, only to have gained five pounds more than my starting weight. To this day, more than a year later, I'll never know how I gained five pounds in a matter of 10 minutes, but I did. On national TV. Needless to say, I was mortified.

The nutritionist was shocked and tried to recover by saying that muscle was heavier than fat. Nice try, lady, but no cigar. I eased off the scale in total shock, not understanding what had just happened. Taia eased onto the scale, only to have it claim she'd gained three pounds. Now I didn't feel so bad. But when the third lady jumped on, and it showed a gain of nearly two pounds, folks finally started to question the scale that I knew was evil from the very beginning. The scale showed we'd gained 10 pounds between us. Now that they were all questioning the scale, live, on national TV, the other host, Chris Wragge, jumped on and announced, "no way that scale's right. I haven't weighed a pound more than I did in my college days, but this says I have."

I quit the show. Taia quit the show. I was too embarrassed to do it again and couldn't bear the thought of a national repeat of my most embarrassing moment. After this incident, I was depressed. Even though people knew the scale was wrong, it still affected me negatively to work hard and have my results tossed in my face on national TV at the hands of a defective scale. Of course, when I'm depressed, I have to eat, right? Wrong. I decided to keep going. Both the nutritionist, Keri, and the trainer, Liz Neporent, were gracious enough to extend themselves beyond the TV screen. I took them up on their offers. I worked out with fitness expert Liz, and I learned how to eat from Keri.

I am certain that I have had other and probably more-embarrassing moments, but I don't remember what they are. In a past life, this bad experience would've deterred me from any goal I'd set. Me, standing on a broken scale on national TV, would have been grounds for complete derailment. I guess making up your mind to do something has a power of its own. When it comes to my health, that's just what I've done. Needless to say, I'd consider this event a sour note in my life. However, it did catapult me to get serious about my fitness -- and that's pretty darn sweet.

Here's how the whole story started.