'Dateline' diet challenge: Reunion time

Ah, the memories. When you hear them laugh, you can almost imagine them back in high school. But 25 years have passed since these five graduated from Edison High in Minneapolis, and now they have more than memories in common: ice cream, chips, pizzas and other indulgences.

So we got to thinking. With their 25th high school reunion on the horizon, a time when many might worry how they measure up, we wondered if there was anyone who might want to lose a few pounds.

We sent a letter to the class of 1979 at Edison High School in Northeast Minneapolis looking for volunteers. They could select one of five weight loss methods. Each had to weigh in and set a weight loss goal. So which diet will work best? Who among these 40-somethings is going to look great the night of the reunion?

And now our starting line-up:

Name: Jim Wentland
High School: Star athlete
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 229 pounds
Loss goal: 30 pounds
Diet plan: USDA Food Pyramid
Link: USDA Food Pyramid information

High school couldn't have been better for Jim. He lettered in three sports and was popular all around. Today he's a carpet layer, the father of six and at age 42, the former star athlete is facing some extra pounds. Jim picked the USDA Food Pyramid diet, the government's low fat food plan that emphasizes portion size. He also has an extra incentive. If he loses the crown, he says the guy who beat him out for homecoming king has promised to crown him at the 25 year reunion.

Name: Carrie Newman
High School: Band member
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 314 pounds
Loss goal: 60 pounds
Diet plan: South Beach
Link: South Beach Diet information

Well liked in high school, Carrie was on Student Council, the swim team, pep team, speech club and pretended to play the flute in the band. She says she was so nervous when they marched, that she didn’t really play. Carrie married her Edison sweetheart. They have two children and over the years, her weight kept going up. She developed diabetes, but was so in denial she couldn't see what was obvious to everyone else. She's decided to re-invent herself. Carrie entered law school, and now she says she's ready to tackle her weight. Carrie selected the popular South Beach diet, based on eating the right fats and the right carbs. With it she also hopes control her diabetes and take on her nemesis -- chocolate.

Name: Lorri Pecoraro
High School: Wallflower
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 204 pounds
Loss goal: 50 pounds
Diet plan: Bob Green, personal coach
Link: Bob Greene's 'Get with the Program' information

Lorri has bitter memories of Edison High. She was called names for her weight. But 25 years later, Lorri is the heaviest she's ever been, even on her scale. She says between the demands of motherhood and working full time, she's been last on her list of priorities and is determined to turn it all around. Like so many women, Lorri was inspired by Oprah Winfrey's successful weight loss with the help of famous weight loss coach, Bob Greene. Lorri will have Bob Green himself as her very own personal coach.

Name: John Memorich
High School: Quiet kid
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 197 pounds
Loss goal: 40 pounds
Diet plan: Train to climb mountain

Back in high school, John was a quiet skinny kid in the AV club. Today he's a Russian Orthodox priest. The Russian church allows its priests to marry, and Father John married an Edison girl. They have four kids. Why the diet challenge? Well, believe it or not, his job has occupational hazards. He's offered food almost everywhere he goes. But he now says there's too much flab under those robes. Instead of dieting, Father John is going try to exercise his weight off and train to climb one of the greatest mountains in the U.S. -- Washington State’s 14,000-foot high Mount Rainier.

Name: Dawn Singh
High School: Student council president
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 182 pounds
Loss goal: 30 pounds
Diet plan: Become vegetarian
Link: Mollie Katzen information

After high school this straight a student moved to Jamaica where she married a local man with whom she had two children. She remains an island girl at heartland a long way away from her Edison days as student council president. Today Dawn is single and a working mom. To support her girls, she cleans houses for a living, but her domesticity ends there. She can't stand to cook. But Dawn's going to have to get creative. The lady with dreadlocks has chosen the vegetarian diet. She says the Dateline Challenge is just what she needs, a rut buster.

Let the Dateline challenge begin. The date was March 15, deep into Minnesota’s cold and sometimes dreary winter. In the end, all the dieters agreed that exercise was critical and they had all managed to find time for it. And one other thing -- no one stayed on his or her diet 100 percent of the time. So how did they do?

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