World Wide Waist

By Chris Taylor

Journalists who cover technology tend not to be the world's most active people. Take me, for example. Until a couple of months ago, the most exercise I got in an average day was the walk from my car to a Silicon Valley press event, at which the refreshments generally ranged from chocolate-covered pretzels and Coca-Cola to chocolate-encrusted peanut clusters and Coca-Cola. Despite repeated right-index-finger exercises (mouse clicking, Palm Pilotactivation and cell-phone dialing), my extra pounds were starting to tip the proverbial scales. By how much? Let's just say that if my weight were my age, I would have been born some years before George Washington's Administration. This is a problem.

The other thing about technology journalists is they take as a matter of faith that there is no problem that cannot be solved on the Internet. Which is how I ended up at eDiets.com the Web's most popular diet-and-exercise program. Since it charges $10 a month (plus a $15 sign-up fee), eDiets' own bottom line is quite healthy. Here's a three-year-old dotcom that is not only still in business but also turning an annual profit of $640 million. It does so in part by being shamelessly overzealous: as a recent Tufts University review pointed out, even if you tell eDiets you are 15 lbs. underweight, it will recommend you join immediately.

Since I can only dream of being 15 lbs. underweight, however, the site's unflagging enthusiasm was not an issue for me. A few questions in, eDiets determined that I needed to lose 20 lbs. It set my calorie intake (2,100 a day) and whipped up a weekly meal list that was surprisingly edible and offered an inexhaustible supply of substitutions. We settled on an exercise plan--I wanted to do cardio and toning on alternate days--and the site designed a day-by-day exercise routine based on the equipment I own (dumbbells and a rowing machine). Full-size 3-D animations demonstrated each exercise--including walking, in case I had forgotten how.

The eDiets program is like a blend of personal chef, trainer and nagging mother figure. The mother part comes from the coach program, which pairs every newcomer with a successful veteran. Although I was 238th in line for a coach when I signed up, my first e-mail from Sheri arrived within minutes. Sheri is a stay-at-home mom in Washington State who lost 38 lbs. in 18 weeks. She answered every question and torpedoed every whiny excuse with e-mails packed with exclamation marks.

Sheri's secret, she says, is hanging out in the site's chat rooms, bulletin boards and daily online seminars. eDiets has an active community of users who give one another motivational speeches at all hours. Trouble is, they're nearly all women. I couldn't find one other man in the chat rooms, and the only male bulletin board gave its members military-style rankings based on how much weight they'd lost. "Private" Taylor backed out of that one pretty quickly.

My biggest problem is that I find it hard to stay on program when I'm away from the computer. I've lost a handful of pounds (almost reaching Washington's second term), but those press-event meals are killing me. I want someone to slap my hand when I reach for the chocolate pretzels. Where's Sheri when I need her?

To check out the weight-loss program, visit ediets.com Questions or suggestions for Chris? E-mail him at cdt@well.com