[SmootSmack]

I lost about 20 pounds last summer and I've kept it off. Moving in with my now wife really helped. She's a great cook, but she cooks healthy and I'm not tempted to just grab a Wendy's spicy chicken on my way home from work like I used to be. I'd say there are five things that have really helped me. (in no particular order)

- Exercise, even if it's just 30 minutes on the bike. At least 3 days of week of at least 30 minutes each time goes a long way.

- Avoid late night snacks. This is also coupled with going to bed at a decent time and getting a good night's sleep. I used to stay up all night just for the hell of it and snack away. Now I'm much more disciplined and only stay up late on a weeknight if I have to because I'm working late

- If you're hungry between meals, have a light snack. It's better to do that than starve yourself until the next meal. Because then what happens is you stuff yourself and you don't want that

- Don't deny yourself...but in moderation. I still get my chocolate fix. But instead of gulfing down an entire bar I'll just break off one piece from a dark chocolate bar and have that for dessert. After a while you get used to that being enough

- Pack your own lunch. This one is actually probably right up there with exercising. The food here at work is actually pretty good for the most part, and they do offer a good "healthy" selection. But at the end of the day you're better off packing your own lunch because you know what you've put in it and furthermore you can save a lot of money