The diet-book diet

Philadelphia Daily News, April, 2008 by MEGAN K. SCOTT Associated Press

KAELI MADILL is obsessed with dieting.

She subscribes to magazines like Self , Shape and Runner's World for their "I-Lost-40-Pounds" success stories. She watches pound-shedding transformations on "The Biggest Loser." She flips through diet books, and buys those with glowing testimonials.

"It makes me feel like I can do it," said Madill, 26, who lives in Saskatchewan, Canada, and is trying to lose 60 pounds. "If I get discouraged, I look at one of those stories, and say, 'That person did it. That person had results, so in time, I'm going to have results, too.' "

These days, Madill has plenty of places to find inspiration. Personal weight-loss success stories are cropping up in magazines, on television, on blogs and in long-form memoirs, and they seem to be resonating among the more than ...