Week 4: Kate faces her diet demons in Italy Week 4 has begun, and honestly, I am beginning to feel the dieting lull. I am chugging along and adhering to the F-Factor rules… mostly. But it’s been about a month since I’ve seen Tanya, and since my proverbial tank has been filled with her motivational fuel.

Week 3: Think you’re eating healthy? Check out these little-known diet saboteurs I might be crazy, but all I want to do is get on a scale. This has never happened before; usually I run in the other direction with arms flailing like they do in horror movies. But I just know in the past two weeks, I’ve made progress, and I would give up a whole lot more than dessert to measure how much.

Week 2: Kate vs. The Full English Breakfast

When dieting, there is no moment more encouraging than feeling a difference in your body from one week to the next. In most cases, watching that haunting number on the scale shrink to a smaller, more agreeable number may be the only motivation necessary for one to keep up the hard work. Since my arrival in London, however, I’ve had a difficult time finding a scale that caters to the American system of measurement, and with my regrettable math skills it’s been quite the challenge to convert kilograms into pounds. So because a scale is not a viable option, I need to use alternative methods to track my progress over the next 6 months. Therefore, for the remainder of my stay, I’ve decided to use my clothing as a gauge. Unfortunately, I won’t have a scale to see those numbers go down, but I will (hopefully) feel my clothes get looser. And call me zealous, but in one week I think I already can see a difference! I have more flexibility in my just-washed-jeans, and my favorite patent leather “rib” belt has become the waist belt it was always meant to be!

Week 1: Meet Kate! She’s ready to give up scones and get Skinny

One of New York’s most idolized Brits infamously said, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” And although Kate Moss received more backlash for this statement than Elliot Spitzer did for engaging in – ahem – foul play, I am beginning to think that not only was she misunderstood, but she actually had a point.

Week 15: Rachael takes the next step — and gives you her best tips! Hi Skinny Friends,

This is going to be my last column for a while. I’m not going far away, I’ll still be plugging away on my diet and meeting with Tanya to stay on track, but I want to make way so you can meet the next Skinny Size Me candidate! I wish her much luck! But really, it’s not about luck, is it? It’s about hard work, a positive attitude and stick-to-it-ness! There are SO many things I’ve learned over the past months.

Week 14: Rachael experiments in the kitchen — and succeeds! I feel like there are so many things that I’ve learned on my weight loss journey. I really have started to look at food in a new and different way. Food used to be comfort. And I have a lot of memories associated with food — learning to bake Christmas cookies with my mom; making my first Thanksgiving turkey for my friends our first year out of college — so that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But the new element of comfort that I am getting from food is that it’s fuel. Food is full of goodness that helps my body run. And right now I want the cleanest and purest foods to run my new little improved machine! But this new outlook doesn't mean I don’t have fun with food. I love cooking, and now I love finding new ways to make the foods I love in healthy ways.

Week 13: Rachael gets the motivation she needs

Hi Skinnysters!

This week was my first time meeting with Tanya in a while. Yes, I’ve checked in, and we’ve chatted. But I hadn’t actually seen her since Thanksgiving! So I was both excited and nervous to stop in. As you know, I’ve been keeping up with my F-Factor eating plan and I’ve been working out a lot more too. (I’ve been doing my weigh-ins at the gym.) And slowly but surely the pounds have been coming off.

Week 12: Rachael has fun and still loses weight on vacation!

Do you remember me? It feels like it’s been so long, but I’m still here plugging away on Rachael 2.0, my revamped diet and lifestyle. You may remember back in December, I told you hubby and I were going to Aruba for vacation. Well sadly our plans didn’t go so well. A giant snowstorm swept through the East Coast and our flight was canceled. All of the airlines were so overbooked because of holiday travel, they were completely unable to rebook our flight. Ugh. So we called up the resort (a big name chain) and asked if there were any hotels in driving distance from New York they would let us swap for... And that’s how we ended up in Colonial Williamsburg for Christmas.

Week 9: Rachael hits Step Two of F-Factor! Hi Everyone,

I can honestly say this was one of the most stressful weeks of my life. I had my last day at my old job, and it took a lot of work to get things squared away. It was also devastatingly sad to say goodbye to the people that have been my family for the past seven years. But I know it’s time for me to begin the next phase in my career — and my diet.

Week 8: Rachael’s tricks for keeping her diet fresh Hi skinny-sters! I’m feeling pretty good about myself. I’m back on track with my diet again, and I keep losing weight, slowly but steadily. But now I’m facing a new problem: food boredom!