A Successful Diet

No clubs, no books, no special diets, just discipline.  I cut out some of the really obvious stuff like all the Coca-Cola, alcohol and pizza and then just ate the same food I always have, just a lot less.  I put myself on a 1300 calorie per day budget, added an hour of walking per day and counted every calorie.  I felt hungry most of the time but I lost 50 pounds in 5 months (with a week off for Christmas).

This won't work for everyone.  Your mileage may vary.  But it worked for me.

Now comes the hard part: staying disciplined for the rest of my life so I don't put it all back on.

Postscript:  for the next 3 months I ramped up my diet to 1500 and lost about 1 pound per week.  For two months after that I went up to 1700 and am almost stable.  I've lost a total of 70 pounds and gained a lot in strength and endurance from the exercise. Now I'm holding a more or less stable weight and no longer feeling hungry all the time.

Postscript 2: It's now 20 months since I started and I've been stable for over a year with a 2000 calorie budget.  Keeping track of all my intake is now easy and routine.  The walking has become a pleasant habit.  My doctor says,  "Keep up the good work."