I lost about 35 pounds (205 to 170) after I got out of college and have kept it off for an entire year. Here are the things that worked for me, maybe some will work for you as well. 1) Track the calories that your meals contain and set target levels for your meals. Many people think that calorie counting is obsessive but for me it really helped me to understand exactly what I was eating. I actually created an excel spreadsheet with a table containing all the foods I buy and their nutritional facts. Before I made a meal, I would select components to get nutrition fact information for my entire meal. My guess is that you will be surprised as to how many calories are in some foods and create new recipes/combinations for meals. After a while, you will begin to understand what you are eating and may no longer need to track. 2) Gain an understanding of how many calories your activities burn and set a daily/weekly goal. Different types of excercise burn calories at different rates. Some people like to mix up their workouts, but try to make sure the result stays consistent. Consistency is key to losing weight. For me, I started off using an eliptical machine. Once I got in better cardiovascular shape, I switched to a treadmill because I could burn the same amount of calories in only 60 percent of the time required on an eliptical. 3) Lift weights For some reason when I lift weights I really get this feeling that my muscles are "absorbing" the calories I eat. The thing to remember about weight lifting is that you are not only burning calories during the workout, you are also using calories when your muscles are repairing in your sleep. Different people like to lift different ways. I prefer to challenge myself but have no desire to be incredible "pumped". I just want to look fit. Any lifting helps. 4) Develop a "10 Commandments" list or something similar that you know you can stick to. I think it is important to implement some permanent changes in your life. How aggressive the changes are depends on the person. You have to remember though, the changes should not only be geared towards making you lose weight but also at improving your health and general well-being. I ended up using two lists. One for normal eating (on my own) and the other for when I eat out (it is impossible to not eat out on occasions). I felt that that the rules needed to be different because when you go out to eat, you do need to enjoy it. My two lists look like this: Home eating rules 1. No junk snacks kept in the house (Chips, Cheetos ..etc) 2. All grains must be whole grains (pasta, rice, bread, cereal) 3. 3 different pieces of fruit must be eaten each day 4. Every meal must contain a vegatable serving 5. Meat must be kept to what is considered an actual serving 6. No soda (water for all meals except breakfast) Eating out rules 1. No burgers 2. Nothing breaded (primarily the case with chicken) 3. No appetizers 4. No bringing food home (doggie bags) 5. Drink water with meal 6. Stop when full (there is no need to eat "because you paid for it") Everybody is different but these are the things what worked for me. If some of them work for you, great! If not, hopefully you will find other things that do. Good luck!