A male friend of mine just went through the same thing. The only differences that gender introduced was that he probably did not have nearly the same level of socially-induced psychological trauma about having gained so much weight over time, and I’m sure that’s a relief. However, the flip side of the coin is that nobody really thinks twice about an overweight man with a belly - it’s accepted in our society. That makes it even harder to conjure up the motivation to reach a healthy weight. Especially when that isn’t such an easy task.

But the fact is that we evolved in harder times. We had to walk (or run!) everywhere, and each meal had to be obtained by hard work, often at risk to our lives. Meat was a smaller part of the diet simply because it was more difficult to obtain than fruits or veggies. In modern times, just about everything we do or can imagine is easier. Is it so terrible that the price of all this “ease” is that perhaps we’ll have to put a lot of thought and conscious effort into measuring the proportions of our food intake, so that we don’t overeat simply because there’s nothing stopping us?

Just thought I’d mention it here since it is based on the same philosophy as weight watchers seems to be (lifestyle changes you can live with for life without negative attitudes about food), but it’s not bogged down with the cheesiness factor. Plus it’s cheaper.