I was 215 pounds (on my 5'7" frame it meant I was wearing a 3x), unhappy with my health, and unsuccessful with the usual line of diets. I read everything I could about what helped other people be successful with their weightloss goals and started putting two and two together. Just so you know, I'm not an expert, I do however know that what I tried worked.
My husband was fit, strong, athletic, but wanted to help and suggested that he wanted to eat what I eat. This solved the problem of cooking two meals, but it also solved the emotional issue of feeling like I was sacrificing or depriving myself. So I approched it this time as not a "diet" but a new way to look at food.
So much of my problems in the past have been psycological and deblt with how I thought about loosing weight. This "stinking thinking" was part of my previous failure. This new approach provided a way to keep my husband healthy without endangering his fitness, but still enable me to loose the fat in a healthy manner that I can maintain.
I'll spill more details later, but just wanted to get you started with a few things... small steps helpled me achieve! I'm now 85 pounds lighter, fit, healthy, skinny, and feel 15 years younger. A lot of my aches and pains have diminished or disapeared too - added bonus! Here's a starter recipie for you to enjoy - one of my favorites:
Fried sweet italian sausage appetisers
Start with ground turkey sweet italian sausage. Cut into small bite-sized pieces and brown in a skillit. Remove from heat when fully cooked and set aside.
Make up a small batch of my tortilla dough (detailed photos of this in a later post). In a medium sized bowl combine about 1.5 to 2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour with 2-3tablespoons of baking powder (just eyeball it, it's not rocket science - just food). Stir dry mixture thouroughly with a fork. Drizzle in a couple teaspoons of olive oil and cut into dry mixture with the fork untill well distributed. Add just enough warm/hot water (the heat activates the baking powder) to make a kneedable dough (add a little at a time to make sure you don't get it too sticky - if it does just add a little more flour). Pinch off a small amount (about the size of one of the pieces of cooked sausage) and roll out flat on an ungreased unfloured plate or clean work surface. (if the dough is the right consistency it will peel right up)
wrap the tortilla around a piece of sausage. pinch the edges shut. 
repeat till all the sausage has been wrapped.
Fry these wrapped pieces in 1-2 inches of olive oil (olive oil is a must - do not substitue for any other kind of oil - I know it's more expensive, but what is more important, a few coins or your health?). Just fyi - olive oil is the ONLY kind of oil I use now - it's high in Omega 3s and doesn't convert to fat like other oils do.
Serve while hot. Dip in honey - it's yummy! I usually eat them accompanied by some collard greens, but your favorite veggies work too (just make sure to cook them without butter).
Enjoy - here's to a thinner you :-)
Trudi
