I've been just counting calories for a bit over a year now and its been working really well for me. I started on new years of 2007 and have since lost about 67 lbs. (I did take about 2 months off in there due to a loss in the family and for me, greiving and dieting didn't mix.) I also exercise about 3-5 days a week, mainly walking/running and a weight lifting DVD. I've seen a nutritionist every few months and she agrees with what I'm doing. Basically I track my calories and aim for between 1200-1500 a day. I do try to make them highly nutritious calories. Whole grains, fruits and veggies, lean meats, and lots of fiber. I also take a multivitamin, vit D and calcium supplement. The great thing about just counting calories for me is that nothing is off limits and that I can occasionally splurge if I want to. For example if I know I'm going out to dinner tomorrow night to a nice resteraunt, I'll try to stay on the low end of my calories the day before, during the day of, and the day after. That way I can enjoy my higher calorie meal, but it doesn't derail me from my goals. Also make sure you are tracking everything with calories, including the drinks. If I'm going to happy hour with the gals after work, I skip my afternoon snack and use those calories for a recreational beverage. (And, because I'm restricting calories, one or two drinks is all I need to get a bit tipsy now.) I highly recommend some of the free calorie counting websites out there for tracking. fitday, sparkspeople, and calorie-count are some good ones.

Sorry about the delay in responding! I didn't do a six week plan because for me I know I can't be on a diet every day for six weeks. I'm sure it is a great plan, and healthy too, but I couldn't sign up to it myself. The six day plan is body-type based, and my body type's plan consisted of the following: Breakfast - 3 oz lean protein (egg whites, fish, chix or turkey breast, etc); 1/2 cup berries or 1/2 grapefruit Lunch & Dinner - 2 oz lean protein; 1/2 cup cooked brown rice; 1-2 cups vegetables (must be low-starch, the book has a specific list, but I would severely limit starchy vegetables. I did like to add a small spoonful of corn to dishes for flair, and it still worked fine. 2 snacks - 3 oz lean protein; 1/2 cups greens Nighttime snack (if needed) - 1 cup berries or 1 grapefruit I'm not going to sugar coat it - I was hungry. George Thurmond says you won't be hungry, but I was, quite often. I dealt with it by deciding to do the diet Monday thru Friday, just heap it on the M-F grind, and then on the weekend I would be able to live it up. Boy did I look forward to the weekend! Well following were my methods: For breakfast I usually ate smoked salmon - I make my own, so it's not so high in sodium and chemicals. My husband, serendipitously, had just bought me a Zojirushi rice cooker that had a brown rice setting, and this proved indispensable. I got creative with my combinations of vegetables, rice, and protein - fried rice, ceviche & rice, grilled vegetables, etc etc - I spent a good chunk of time cooking and prepping my meals. As for the snacks, they were primarily green salad with chicken and balsamic vinegar. I work full time, and there were days in which I did not think I could just whip out a salad at snack time, so I would bring cucumber sticks and broccoli stalks, and sneak a few grape tomatoes in there. It was much easier to manage. It was quite inconvenient and I was hungry often, but I was willing to do all this as long as I was losing weight. I would lose almost a pound a day. I would put on a few on the weekends, but I netted 1-2 pounds a week. This carried on for many weeks until I had lost about eighteen pounds, then the weight stopped coming off as fast and I switched to another plan. But it was an excellent jump start for me! I was so food addicted that I could not go from that to "lifestyle change" in one day, so I think I needed this type of regimen. After I lost 30 pounds I told my doctor how I did it, and she said it was not a good way to do it because of the swing from diet to feast every week. I wished she would have listened instead of just comparing me to the "textbook" because after several years this was the only method that worked for me. As my weight loss progressed my balance increased, and I am much better now, but not done. Now I am 7 pounds from my goal, and I will get in a groove and eat intuitively and have good results (I mean maybe a pound in a week or less) without hunger, but then I get a little out of balance, maybe pack on a couple, then go back on a diet. One more thing - I've found for me to lose weight I can't be afraid of a few hunger pangs. When I am successfully eating intuitively, I am usually a little hungry, but in a weird way it's not unpleasant. Maybe I went a little far with it, but like I said I am still seeking my balance. Woman's world had a good article on it -- basically you wait until you are quite hungry to eat (not the first hunger pang), eat slow in order to feel the fullness response, and stop at a certain level of fullness. To maintain my weight for the long term this is my ultimate goal, but sometimes my husband wants to go out for Polish food and mmmmm, it's hard not to finish that plate of cheese pirogies.... Take care!

You have just told us that your metabolism has changed, therefore neither you nor we have any idea what your maintenance level is. You will have to experiment - which means keeping records for a while. Start with something like 1500 calories, do that for a week and see what happens and then adjust accordingly. The other alternative is to step up your exercise.

Well, I lost a little bit this last week.....it's a wonder with having visitors here and eating cornbread! I have no excuse for not 'moving' around.....I found a Fit channel on TV....exercise 24/7! Now to find something my body will accept! Guess I'll set up a spreadsheet for recording what I eat. Maybe I'll put down the time, too. I don't eat on a regular basis. Today, I was up at 6 and I'm still working on coffee. I don't have breakfast til around 9:30 or 10 and by then, it's brunch, right? SharonG/FL