Be inspired by our That's Fit Success Stories. Then motivate others by submitting your own. Share how you've transformed your body through diet and exercise by sending us an e-mail at successstories [AT] thatsfit [DOT] com.

Name: Kara Masucci

Age: 33

Height: 4 feet, 11 inches

Before weight: 222

How I gained it: When I was younger, I ate all the time. Food was always around, and it was yummy. I was active, and I burned it off. But I remember my mom and grandma slapping my hand when I went for the second cupcake and saying things like, "Don't eat that, you're already too big."

As an adult, I enjoyed going out to eat, and I was apathetic because I was already overweight. I just thought, "I'm already big, I might as well have the cheese fondue!" As a Nurse Practitioner, you would think I would know better, but book smarts and street smarts are different. So I resolved myself to just be happy, and I thought I was.

Breaking point: When my daughter was one year old, I started to have some health issues. When I look back at my pictures now, I see how much weight I was carrying, but at the time, I thought I looked the same as when I was a freshman in college. I was overweight, but not "obese."

Last December, former "Cosby" mom Phylicia Rashad stepped up as the newest Jenny Craig spokesperson. She stuck to the program, and, slowly but surely, reached her weight-loss goal of 35 pounds.

In the video above, the Emmy and Tony Award winning actress says,"I don't just think I'll keep the weight off. I know I'll keep the weight off because of the way the weight was taken off." She eats foods she loves, because "food is not the enemy," and credits portion size and eating at regular intervals, along with exercise, for her fabulous results.

"It's really not rocket science," Rashad laughs. But, she does say that "working with a personal consultant, which is part of the Jenny Craig program, is a tremendous, tremendous assist."

Rashad loves her new figure, and what's not to love about her healthy attitude? Maybe this super skinny starlet could learn a thing or two from Rashad's new commercial, which airs tomorrow.

Spend any time watching cable TV and the hoards of dieting commercials you see might convince you that there's no way you can possibly lose weight unless you sign up with Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig or another major franchise. But if you ask Consumer Reports, this is absolutely not true -- the majority of successful losers lost weight on their own, without help.

The good news? There's no need to spend a bunch of money on weight loss gimmicks that evidently don't work. The bad news? If gimmicks don't work, that means that in order to lose weight, you've got to do it the hard way -- with good old healthy eating and exercise. Bummer, eh?

Want to know what works in weight loss? Check out the six habits of successful losers.

via Calorie Lab

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Whether you agree with Sarah Palin's beliefs or not, you have to admire her commitment to fitness -- she relies on running to stay sane, and fitness can't be easy during an Alaskan winter!

Gwyneth Paltrow not only eats healthfully and exercises -- she even does her own cooking! She might not be making the lightest, most low-fat foods, but it sounds like she really enjoys it.

Comedienne Margaret Cho has finally found the right diet for her, but it's not really a diet! She's sharing her slim-down secrets, and you might be surprised at how simple it sounds.

Jenny Craig is not just for women. And guys, while you might get some flack from your buddies when they see your diet food in the fridge, it'll all be OK in the end. Just ask NBA star Baron Davis, who is dropping weight and looking great, thanks to the Jenny Craig endeavors he started in August.

Davis, the 6'3" L.A. Clipper guard (effective July 1), was inspired by current Jenny Craig spokeswomen Queen Latifah and decided to jump on board and get ready for basketball season. He'd been letting his diet and fitness plan go by the wayside, you see, and it was time he made a change.

"In the off-season, it's kind of hard to maintain day-to-day," he says. "I don't want to get up and cook. And when I pig out, I'm the type of person where there's no limit to what I can do."

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Jessica Alba lost no time in losing the baby weight, but did you know she incorporated her love of video games into her fitness routine?

Are you tired of hearing about Jennifer Lopez's triathlon yet? She completed it last weekend. Find out whether she crossed the finish line with flying colors or not here.

There's no doubt that Jennie Garth looks just as good on 90210 this time around as she did the first time the series aired, but to get her body in rocking shape, she's relying on one really interesting technique -- keeping her muscles confused.

It's been one whole year since Valerie Bertinelli dropped 40 pounds as Jenny Craig spokeswoman and still, she's trying to get cozy in her new skin.

"I'm just getting more and more comfortable in this body," said Bertinelli. "It's still a journey. I'm not done yet."

Bertinelli, now weighing in at 132 pounds, just recently paraded down the red carpet at the Creative Arts Emmys, where she presented three awards and sported a dress by David Meister, who she says knows a woman's body: "It's okay to have a small waist and big hips," said Bertinelli, referring to her body and his masterpiece.

Next up for the former One Day at a Time star and author of bestselling book Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time: A daytime talk show. It's in the works, and is scheduled to air next year.

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Forget about any fat photos you've seen of Kirstie Alley lately. Valerie Bertinelli says her friend and fellow Jenny Craig spokeswoman is not packing on the pounds.

"I don't know what those photographs might say, and I don't necessarily see a lot of them," says Bertinelli. "I have heard of them, but I disagree. When I have been with Kirstie, she looks terrific."

Who knows what's going on. Maybe Alley is gaining back some of the weight she lost on the Jenny Craig program. Maybe the photographs splashed on across the Internet and on the pages of magazines were taken from bad angles -- hey, I've been a victim of a not-so-flattering photo on many an occasion. Maybe the media just needs to stir up some controversy in skinny Hollywood and Alley is their target. Something tells me Alley isn't so concerned about what the public thinks. She seems a pretty tough gal who is usually pretty happy in her skin, no matter it's size or shape.

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Kristen Johnson has dropped 60 pounds recently, taking her from a size 12 to a size 6. She thinks she might need to put a few pounds back on (she is six feet tall, after all), but she's not going to change her new habits, which include eating lots of veggies, oatmeal, and fish, skipping the booze, and making fruit pies.

Queen Latifah has reached the weight goal she set when she joined Jenny Craig. She aimed to lose five to ten percent of her body weight in order to manage her health, and she has accomplished that. She feels it's important that she continues to represent "the big girls," but now she's also representing folks who hit the gym hard.

Linda Cardellini of ER has a smart workout plan. She keeps her elliptical machine between the kitchen and the couch so she never sits around and wanders from the kitchen to the couch and back again without getting in a workout.

Queen Latifah has always been one to embrace her curves, and even as the face of Jenny Craig, that hasn't changed. The actress/singer stated from day one that her weight-loss goals weren't based on "getting skinny," but rather on being healthy.

She aimed to lose five to ten percent of her body weight, and she has reached that goal. She says that amount of weight makes a difference in health-related issues, and many of her fans appreciate the fact that she's losing weight for health, not Hollywood.

Queen Latifah has followed the Jenny Craig program in addition to hitting the gym five to seven times a week and spending an hour on various cardio machines. I think it's fantastic that she's working hard to be her healthiest, and it's great that she was able to reach her goal weight in just a few months.

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Celebrity moms Cate Blanchett and Halle Berry are out and about and looking amazing. Halle dished up the details on what she's doing to get her body back, but Cate, as usual, hasn't really made mention. Cate looked like she was right back to her pre-baby svelte figure this week at the Cannes Film Festival, and it's only been four weeks since she gave birth to her newest son. Do you think it's natural that her body bounced back so quickly, or does it have more to do with the pressure a 39-year-old actress faces in Hollywood?

Valerie Bertinelli, who dropped weight last year alongside Kirstie Alley with Jenny Craig, is working hard to maintain the slim figure she achieved, but she's not complaining about it. She's continuing to follow the good habits that helped her lose weight, which means no snacking in front of the television and making sure she gets in 10,000 steps each day. With her healthy new figure came another bonus -- a rediscovery of her love of being in the water. Valerie has gotten back into watersports, like surfing. It's great to see her maintaining her weight and living a healthful life!

Sarah Ferguson admits that she continues to have negative body image issues on a daily basis, saying, "I think I'm fat, ugly, and disgusting -- that I'm unworthy and nobody likes me." The formal royal has an interesting way of dealing with these problems -- after her daily morning workout, she takes an ice bath and feels "invigorated" for the rest of the day. Hey, whatever works, right?

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This just in: Kirstie Alley is headed for a new weight loss gig now that she's parted ways with Jenny Craig after a three-year relationship.

Alley, 57, hopes to pilot her own weight loss brand to launch in 2009. No hard feelings about Jenny Craig, she says, as she heads down her new hopeful path.

"I want to create something new that will help millions of people end the seemingly never ending fatty-roller coaster ride," reports Alley who acknowledges she and the Jenny Craig company did not come to an agreement about her continuing as their spokesperson.

Says Alley in a statement about her weight loss venture: There was a time when America was not fat, and that was in our not-so-distant past. I'm confident that I can create something exciting and innovative: something that if all goes well, will help change a fat America back into a fit America and will offer this country the healthiest, yummiest, easiest and most effective weight-loss program on the market.

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As 2007 gives way to 2008, many people are going to resolve to finally lose weight, and, tired of unsuccessful diets, many of them will sign up for one of the popular dieting plans out there. But diets are expensive. Want to know just how expensive? The Consumerist recently looked into this -- here's what the popular diets cost per month on average:

• Atkins Diet: $402
  
• Diet To Go (1600 Calories): $524
• Diet To Go (1200 Calories): $468
• Dr Siegal Cookie Diet: $224
  
• Dr Sears Zone Diet : $371
  
• Jenny Craig: $551
  
• MediFast: $275
  
• NutriSystem: $294
  
• Ornish Diet: $299
  
• Slim Fast: $310
  
• South Beach Diet: $314
  
• Sonoma Diet: $274
  
• Weight Watchers: $387

Wow -- that's a lot of moola, and some of them don't even include the cost of food. What do you think -- is it worth it? Or are we being ripped off by the diet industry?

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Ever had a morning like this, where nothing seems to fit and all you want are your comfy, roomy 'fat pants'? Ah, yes. I think we've all been there at some point or another. Kudos to Kristie Alley for having the guts to laugh at herself.

It's been a year since Kirstie Alley lost 75 lbs, so she's the one laughing now at all the naysayers. Even we had our doubts, but she's seemed to prove everyone wrong. For some tips on maintaining weight loss, check out Kirstie's Video Blog.

What do you think of Kirstie's weight loss?

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Well, after much scrutiny and a little doubt, Valerie Bertinelli has reached her goal and lost the 30 pounds she set out to lose, with a little help from co-spokesperson Kirstie Alley and a lot of help from Jenny Craig. Good for her! She's done what so many are struggling to do -- she's revamped her life, become healthier and lost a lot of weight in the process. Now the question is: Will she be going on Oprah in her bikini too?

I've known a few people who've done Jenny Craig with no success, but this is proof that it can work. Have you done Jenny Craig? Did it work for you? Or is her success down to the pressure of TV, paparazzi and a lucrative contract?

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