I finally hit a loss of 45 pounds over this last year and owe it all to two great tools, my bike and DietPower. You can download this program and the price was quite reasonable (dietpower.com). I'm a chef so eating rabbit food, Weight Watchers, or any plan that you eat from a box was not going to work. The program is like a calorie checking account. It tells you how much to eat today in calories and the choice is yours. You earn more calories with exercise. If you get "overdrawn" you gain. Before I found this program I had been on every miserable diet out there and always gained all the weight back and then some. I also cheated a lot because the foods offered were (IMHO)not very interesting or tasty. Not this time. Then I found the leaner I got the healthier I wanted to eat anyway. The program even tracks all your nutrients.

I have given up nothing, not potatoes, or french bread, or Trader Joe's ginger sandwich cookies, or a thick rib-eye steak. And it certainly took the stress off to see that if I just spun around the block (for about 10 miles) I could actually enjoy a small piece of birthday cake without gaining or guilt. What I love about this plan is that it treats you like an adult. This is how many calories you get, use them wisely.

This may not work for everyone, but it certainly worked for me.