3 Fat Chicks weave a tangled web to fight flab

SISTERS Jennifer, Suzanne and Amy wanted the whole world to make sure they didn't slip back into their bad old ways when they all decided to go on a diet. And so far it's working...thanks to the thousands of Internet users clicking on to their website, 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet.

"If someone had called me a fat chick six months ago I would have punched them in the nose and then cried over a bag of chips," says 29- year-old Jennifer Honeycutt. "Not any more. The first step in our battle to lose weight was to stop publicly denying we were fat. And boy did we do that."

Suzanne adds: "Early on in the diet I craved for a pizza so badly I could have scoffed one down just like that. But if I put on weight thousands of people on the Internet are going to know about it. This is going better than any diet programme we have ever done."

The three sisters tipped the scales together at more than 54 stone when they launched the 3 Fat Chicks site in September.

Since then, 32,000 Internet users have read the sisters' weekly weigh- ins, diary, and recipes.

The E-mail messages never stop coming. Some days there are 1,500 from followers of the world's most public diet.

"We have hit a nerve," says Jennifer. "The title is catchy and it's fun. We are three ordinary women who people out there can relate to. The E- mail messages often say, 'We are just like you. If you can do it, I can do it.' We have heard from people from all over the world." Suzanne, 35, a single mother came up with the Internet idea. "We only set up the website to give us an extra boost," she says. "But I don't think we'd have made it this far without the site. We have been inspired by the response."

All three sisters weighed over more than 18 stone when they started four months ago. Jennifer has now lost 2st 11lbs, Suzanne, 2st 5lbs and Amy, 3st 7lbs. By the end of the year, the sisters from Tennessee in the United States are aiming to get down to ten stone.

Jennifer, who is married to a lorry driver, was always a chubby child but her weight shot up when she became pregnant five years ago.

"I ate everything that sounded good," she says. "Hot Chinese chicken for lunch, authentic Mexican for dinner and fried mushrooms then ice cream for snacks at night.

"By the time my son Cody was born I weighed 19 stone. I was ashamed of my appearance."

Amy, a 36-year-old mum of four, adds: "I never thought I could get so fat. When I gave birth I was 13 stone and I reached 18 stone in the end. My family never bugged me about all those extra pounds, but I know they are happy that I am getting slimmer."

The sisters' diet tips are simple, no-nonsense rules like drink more water, cut down on fried food and count your calories. They plan to carry on with the 3 Fat Chicks on a diet website when they reach their ten stone goal later this year. "We feel better because we have been able to help others just like us," explains Jennifer.

http://pages.prodigy.com/FatChick/Index.htm

INTERNET ghouls trying to cash in on the death of Princess Diana are being hunted down by her brother Earl Spencer. Speculators have been registering World Wide Web names with a Diana connection so they can sell them and make a fortune. Now Earl Spencer has called in Web wizards EMAP Online to stop the name game. EMAP Online's joint managing director Roger Green says: "In Britain a judge has jurisdiction over site names, but a company in America started registering Web names connected with the Spencers soon after the accident. The worst is the domain name of the car's driver Henri Paul, which is on the market for pounds 3,000. But the situation is difficult because the names are registered in the USA."

The official Althorp site is full of useful information, and can be viewed at: http: //www.althorp-house.co.uk

WIN! WIN! WIN!

HERE'S your chance to get your hands on a state-of-the-art modem. I've got five fabulous 36.6K fax modems to give away. We've hooked up with BT whose Wireplay service let's you play games over the Internet. The modems are the most reliable available and can be upgraded to 56K. Wireplay is also the most reliable game system with special software which maintains a constant high speed flow of data. There are more than 40 games you can play against opponents including the Doom series and Quake which can handle up to 32 players at one time.

For your chance to win the modem made by US Robotics just put your name and address on a postcard and send it to: MODEM COMP, Sunday Mirror, 1 Canada Square, London E14 5AP. The first five selected at random after the closing date of January 25 will win. Normal rules apply, no cash alternative.

Send your news, views and comments via e-mail to david@nataraj.demon.co.uk

STAY one step ahead by checking out your horoscope on the Net. This site has the lot, whether you take the idea seriously or think it's a bit of fun. Get a daily personalised reading by e-mail or check out the astrology e-zine. ASTROLOGY: http://www. astrology.net/

Games review

TAMAGOTCHI (pounds 19.99 PC CD-ROM)

VIRTUAL pets that you can carry around in your pocket were a neat idea that caused a worldwide craze.

But on a PC they lose the special bond that children found so exciting because you can't take them with you everywhere you go.

Like keeping rabbits it might be nice at first to come home from school and switch on the PC and feed your pet, but the novelty will soon wear off. Nice try, nice price and they are still cute as you hatch, nurture and clean them. But it looks like the last milking of a once good idea.

Rating 74 per cent.

NIGHTMARE CREATURES (pounds 34.99 PlayStation)

THIS is an interesting beat-'em-up set in the underworld of Victorian London. It has bags of atmosphere as you roam round a third person perspective 3D environment, plenty of night demons - like zombie (inset), werewolves and banshees - to destroy, and 15 different levels ranging from smart Chelsea to sewers. But there just aren't enough different combination moves to get into to make the game special. You seem to either attack quickly or slowly and that's it.

Rating 78 per cent.

THE COUNCIL WARS (pounds 14.99 PC CD-ROM)

HERE are 16 new add-on missions for anyone who has the strategy game Dark Colony. Real time strategy games were all the fashion last year, and this is worth checking out. The new missions offer updated terrains with eight human and eight alien missions. The graphics, which include flying saucers, are stunning and the gameplay challenging. Don't forget you need the original.

Rating 83 per cent.

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