Your success story was well written and inspirational. One point that jumped off the page to me was (1) your fierce motivation AND (2) an adapted foodplan - South Beach - that worked for you. At various times before in your life you had one but not both.

As someone who has in the past found it difficult to lose - who knows about the future, I'm optimistic - I am as interested in what "clicked" to make it happen for you. Clearly it always takes a lot of work and dedication, but it also takes dieting/healthy eating smart. I honestly believe the tailoring the foodplan to an individual is the key.

Tricky key because the self-sabotaging behavior is operating at the same time as the tailoring. South Beach's structured Phase I and adding in foods Phase II is a good tool for this tailoring.

I feel that - not sure yet - that I can have controlled portions of selected fruits in Phase I. I think the "mistakes" are on spacing my food and selecting enough vegetables and lean enough proteins.

I pretty well recognize a long, long list of foods that I should avoid which include sugary carbs, most starches, and fatty foods. The jury is still out on dairy (skimmed milk to cream, yogurt to ricotta). I suspect dairy may need tight portion controls or even be a food allergy. I know that ice cream of any kind (lc, nf, sf, or regular) is my comfort nemesis. I really need to keep it out of sight although I think I can eat a 1/2 c portion occasionally without problem. I cannot live around it.

Enough about me, but your success story got my creative problem solving flowing.

Thanks.