The Cooking Light Diet Was Like "Finding Buried Treasure" for Woman Who Has Already Lost 26 Pounds

Northern California native Joan Rasmussen worked as a corporate accountant and now has her own bookkeeping service. She's been riding horses her whole life and takes care of two horses in her own backyard. We recently spoke with Joan about how she discovered the Cooking Light Diet, and how it's changed her life since joining in April 2016.

How did you find out about the Cooking Light Diet?

I joined in April 2016, but I found out about the diet via Facebook through the first owner of my horse. When we became friends, I saw on my Facebook feed that she had liked the Diet. This happened at the same time when I looked in the mirror and thought "that’s not me." I actually had looked at the Diet earlier this year, started signing up, and then read the part of the agreement that asks if "we can share you story." I thought, "No one is going to want to share my story," but look where we are now.

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How has the Diet changed your cooking, shopping, and meal-planning habits?

I’ve tried Weight Watchers in the past, but I’m not a food person. I like to eat, but I’m not one of those people who really likes to cook. I'm definitely not a gourmet. I’m busy, and I just needed someone to tell me what to eat. The Diet plan is really good because it does the meal planning for you, but it gives you choices, so I always scroll through the week and set it up and then I have the shopping list for the week.

It’s gives me a nice framework. I only have to go to the store once a week, and I’ve saved a fortune on my grocery bill because I’m only buying what I need to buy for these recipes. It’s easy and personalized and everything takes 30 minutes or less to prepare. It sets you up for success which I haven’t had in a long time.

How successful has the Diet been for you?

I have a lot more control on my willpower when it's time for office bake sales and holiday meals. I’ve lost 26 pounds, and I still have a little ways to go, and I’m hoping by the time the holidays hit I’ll be where I want to be. The fact that the Diet can tell me what to do, buy, and cook for dinner just makes everything so much easier. I come in from caring for the horses and dinner will be ready to go. I do way more cooking on the Diet than I would off the Diet because before I’d come in and just say, "Oh man, I don’t know what to do for dinner." That would turn into something easy and probably not very healthy. So I’m whole lot healthier than I was before as well. 

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Why would you recommend it to others?

It’s easy, the food’s good, and it works. That’s really in a nutshell why I would recommend it to others. Other programs were not me—the whole weight thing has been a driving force in my life. I didn’t expect the diet to work so well; it’s been so nice to have my body back again.

Any favorite recipes?

I’ve really enjoyed the breakfast parfait. It was easy and quick, great in the morning. The variety has been really nice, but the shopping list makes sure you have overlap. I’m kind of embarrassed to even think that before the Diet, "Wow, how much was I eating and buying?" I’m buying fresh ingredients and not buying packaged foods. I’m truly a much bigger fan of this than I ever thought I’d be.

How has it changed your life?

I've been battling the weight war my entire life, and finding a diet that actually works with my lifestyle is like finding buried treasure. A few years ago, after watching "Julie and Julia," I tried to blog my way through my older version of the "Cooking Light" cookbook. I don't have any record of that blog any more, but it was fun, and my old cookbook still has all my handwritten notes about the recipes. So I am really looking forward to trying this with new Cooking Light recipes! I'm kind of surprised myself by how enthusiastic I am about the CLD because I can be a curmudgeon, especially when I'm dieting, but when I find something that works this well, I like to get behind it 100%.

By the way, my horses also like the Cooking Light Diet, whether they know it or not--they just appreciate that they now have 26 fewer pounds to pack around when I hop on them.

Joan has lost 26 pounds* using the Cooking Light Diet. Join the Cooking Light Diet community today and see what Joan and thousands of other members have discovered using this revolutionary meal planning service. Thanks for sharing, Joan!

*Members following the Cooking Light Diet, on average, lose more than a half pound per week.