I lost 64 pounds over a little short of two years. I reached my goal of 128+ fourteen months ago, and lost 4 more pounds besides.

1) The most strenuous exercise I get is usually going up and down stairs.
2) I'll soon be 65
3) I rarely truly "cook" anymore.

My point: it CAN be done. It's not easy, but it's possible. I used various sources to compute how many calories I should consume daily to maintain my goal weight--I figured if I kept eating at that calorie level, I'd eventually get there. For me, that's around 1350 calories. (I'm only 4'11")

I do a lot of label-reading, and choose the bread/yogurt/salad dressing or whatever with the least calories. I try to keep things sort of balanced, but nutrition isn't as critical to me now as it would have been when I was younger. I hardly ever go out to eat, so it's probably easier for me than someone who is frequently tempted. I don't have any problems with blood pressure or cholesterol, so I have some leeway there.

DelMonte green beans taste better (to me) than the other brands. I wait until they're on sale and buy a boatload of them.

Apples keep pretty well, and apple slices with just a whisper of sugar and cinnamon tastes like a treat. Grapes are my favorite fruit. I like carrot sticks dipped in light ranch dressing. Sometimes we only get to the store every couple of weeks, so we buy canned or things we can freeze.

I have a kitchen scale and weigh meat, potatoes, etc. For me, guessing leads to cheating.

It took me a few weeks to figure out what works and what doesn't. The ONLY way I'll ever avoid gaining it all back is to add up my calories every day. It doesn't work for everybody, but it works for me. After a while you memorize the things you commonly eat anyway.

Dove dark chocolate promises are 42 calories each. I eat two almost every day, unless I'm having some other splurge. It's a high point of my day, right after putting my jammies on