It's not often that one can remember an exact day and time that changed one's life. But I know that my life changed on May 19, 1998 between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m.

Over the previous 25 years, I had suffered from a variety of physical problems. They had arrived randomly and gradually. I never thought they were related to anything but advancing age.

From the age of 25, I had gained weight steadily. By age 50, I had not only doubled my age but also doubled my weight. I had long since decided to be happy with myself the way I was; I joked about being twice the woman I used to be.

My entire adult life, I suffered from severe allergy colds. I popped allergy pills, used nasal inhalers, and ate cough drops like candy, trying to relieve the symptoms. Nothing helped. Allergy tests found nothing. I suffered from acid reflex so severe that I often woke with such severe nausea that I sometimes threw up. I gobbled antacid tablets.

Sometimes I slept in a lounge chair; the near-sitting position helped the acid reflex and lessened the severity of coughing. I ached all over. My neck, shoulders, and feet hurt all the time. My doctor finally prescribed orthotics for my shoes.

In December of 1997, my doctor directed me to go on a low-cholesterol diet. I decided it was time to change my life, so I followed her advice.

I felt like I was starving. If I was hungry, I ate no-fat, no-cholesterol, high-carbohydrate snacks, like carrots or pretzels.

I visited web sites advocating the Atkins Diet, the Protein Power Plan, and the Zone Diet. The first two seemed too radical for me. Even though I was convinced that the low-fat, low-cholesterol diet hadn't been right for me, a diet so low in carbohydrates and high in fat and protein seemed like the opposite extreme. I didn't think I could live with those.

Being one of quiet moderation, I decided I could live with the Zone. With the little knowledge I had, I started the zone diet the very next day. I didn't try the zone diet to lose weight. (I didn't even weigh myself before I began.) I started the zone to feel better ---have more energy and relieve myself of low-blood-sugar attacks.

Now (October 1998) that I have been zoning for five months, my cholesterol is down 62 points. I asked my doctor what I weighed the last time I was there (April) and I am down 34 pounds.

The bonuses are that I no longer suffer from acid reflex ---not at all. My neck, shoulder, knee and foot pains have decreased dramatically. I don't know if that's due to better nutrition or a loss of weight or a combination.

Best of all, my allergy symptoms have disappeared.

Even if I hadn't lost a pound, sticking to the zone diet would be worth it to rid myself of some of the physical problems that have made me miserable for the last ten years. And now that I have lost some of my excess weight, I want to stick with the zone to become the woman I used to be ---just about half the woman I was five months ago.