I think Irulan has the right idea. One problem I see with some of the weight programs is that you end up spending a lot of time thinking about what you can afford to eat. Like the saying goes, "Eat to live, don't live to eat". These days, I think the amount of crummy food out there is mindboggling. Personally, I am a salad freak, one of those people that sits down and eats a salad the size of your mixing bowl in the kitchen, with tons of dressing. But I never eat low-fat foods and hardly ever eat carbs like bread or fried foods. It works for me - I weight the same at 56 as I weighed in my teens. I don't eat out much, which helps, because at least for me, most restaurants serve about three times as much food as I can consume (unless it's a chef salad).