What works for me is to eat salads and soups mostly for dinner - exceptions always allowed once a week or so - and some form of exercise 4 days a week. I like to rollerblade and swim, but sometimes I have a lot going on in my life and I just do situps and pushups and leg lifts before bed. By doing this for a few weeks I usually get to my ideal weight... Sometimes I keep it up for a long time but eventually I gain 10 to 20 pounds and have to start over (usually in the winter!)