There's a gal at my gym who quit smoking several months ago and has been gaining weight. She's driving me nuts trying to come up with different plans to lose weight......not that I care what she does but every time she comes up with a new plan she insists that it's the ONLY thing that's going to work. I go to the gym 5 or 6 mornings per week and I work hard at staying in shape........weight-lifting 4 days per week, cardio several times a week (somedays I do both a cardio class like step-aerobics and a weight-lifting class) Pilates, etc. I was gone(vacation) all last week, and at jury duty the beginning of this week, so I hadn't seen this gal in a while..........and her greeting to me yesterday after not seeing me for a week and a half was to tell me that she's now decided to take spinning classes 5 mornings per week.........and I thought to myself, well, we'll see how long that lasts! If she'd put as much effort into eating right (and maybe consuming less alcohol, according to her they're big partiers on the weekends) as she does into figuring out her next weight loss scheme she'd probably wouldn't have gained the weight in the first place!! I love my weight-lifting and yesterday she tried to convince me it wasn't doing anything for me. She also talked about going to another gym to take different classes. She needs to take a look at how much effort she puts into the exercise she's already doing (not much!) She's constantly looking for the easy out........let me tell you ladies, there isn't one........not when it comes to weight loss...........been there and done that.

And I also wanted to say, that I have nothing against reading books like Chatty recommended when she started this thread.........I'm all for it, whatever works. I've read a few diet books myself and plan on looking for that one,too.

Somebody asked about Alli. I've seen the ads, read about it in magazines, looked it up online. It is supposed to help you lose weight, but they talk a lot about the commitment you must be willing to make,still suggest that you exercise, and also state that if you eat off your plan, whatever it is (I'm assuming low-fat or low-carb or a combiantion of them both) you can have side effects. I'd be interested in talking to anyone who has tried Alli and hearing what they had to say about it.

Oh, and as for what worked for me for successful weight loss...........the old Susan Powter "Stop The Insanity" which was basically eating the way the Heart Association recommends.........no more than 30% fat in anything. Weight loss is all about what works for YOU and this worked for me and continues to do so.