She might panic because some people take hunger signals as STARVING signals - and others (myself among them) take any excuse to binge :-) I've been following Mama Lu's advice and easing into IF *very* gradually (if I'm really hungry, I eat). I'm down to about a six hour window and if it takes me another month to get to five, that's okay by me.

For the OP: there are lots of tricks and tweaks out there, YMMV on each one. Try not to make the contest too important - in a year from now, will it matter that you won, or might it matter more that you took the "lifestyle" route and are still on low carb and look fabulous. It's so hard - I definitely want some instant gratification (hello, onederland, yoo hoo, you out there????) but it's really the long term that counts.

Good luck!
Chris