Find Out How Three 'GMA' Viewers Lost 35 Pounds

ByABC News via logo
March 14, 2006, 8:58 AM

March 14, 2006— -- It's been almost three months since three "Good Morning America" viewers set out to change their eating habits in the new year by following Self magazine's "Jump-Start Diet."

Today, Zohray Hoistma, Lisa Torp and Amber Ceffalio returned to "GMA's" Times Square Studio 35 pounds lighter, 22.5 inches smaller, and much healthier after each found a combination of Self magazine's 31 tips that worked for her lifestyle.

"It's a healthy habit every day for 31 days so you can pick and choose which diet you like," said Lucy Danziger, editor of Self magazine. "We don't tell you what to eat. We tell you how to eat healthy."

Torp found her favorite tip -- keeping a food diary -- on the first day of the challenge.

"With my busy schedule, lots of time you're just eating on the go and lots of times I didn't realize how much I was taking in," said Torp, a surgeon and single mother, who has lost 16 pounds since January.

Hoistma, an e-commerce coordinator and mother of a young daughter, shed 12 pounds. She connected with the idea of thinking yourself thin.

"I had to find some motivation, and I found motivation in imagining how I would look if I stuck to my diet and worked out every day," Hoistma said.

Ceffalio entered the challenge not only for herself, but for her two sons.

"I realized they are going to learn from me through example," Ceffalio said.

Ceffalio lost 7 pounds and realized she was not eating enough fiber.

"I realized I had three grams of fiber instead of the 30 you're supposed to have, and that is the main reason why I was hungry," Ceffalio said.

She said her sons were already picking up on her new healthy eating habits.

"He [Ceffalio's son] wanted a cookie, but he stopped himself and said, 'I really like cookies, but I'm trying to cut down on my sweets because they're not healthy for me,'" Ceffalio said. "I was shocked and proud."