I've done the Weight Watchers plan a couple of times before, and it's always been a successful program for me. You don't have to buy certain foods or cut out certain categories (like carbs or fats). It's about portion control and making better choices, so you kind of train your body to make good decisions and eat well. Weight Watchers gives you a specific number of points you can eat each day (based on your current weight, age, activity level, gender, etc), and each food has a points calculation based on the amount of fat, carbs, fiber, and protein it has. You also get 49 flex points each week for those moments of weakness or special occasions, and you can earn more points by exercising. It all sounds extremely complicated, but if you have a smart phone or tablet, the online program they offer really makes it so simple. You download the app and track your foods throughout the day, then record your weight at the end of each week.
The other aspect of keeping track of what you're eating is that you can plan ahead for the day and know what you should or shouldn't have. This has been a huge part of what helped me do well, planning what I will eat for dinner each day so that I know how much I can afford to eat at lunch. If I know I'm going to have a heavier dinner or that we'll be eating out, I plan for a lighter lunch and extra fruit and vegetable snacks to keep me full. With the Weight Watchers plan, it's possible to eat out, to have the occasional cake and ice cream, to indulge every now and then but still lose weight in a healthy way. Ultimate Food Value Diary is another similar option if you want to try the WW plan but not commit to the monthly WW fees (although I find the monthly fee keeps me a little motivated to stick with it). *Side note: Weight Watchers also has a plan for women who are breastfeeding so that you can diet while nursing without worrying about losing your supply. This is how I was able to start the plan so soon after having a baby.
If you choose the Weight Watchers Meeting option, accountability is kind of already built in to the plan because you go to a group once a week to weigh in and talk with others who are also on the weight-loss journey. I chose the online plan and did well with it for about 5 months until my motivation started to wear off and the holidays rolled around. I had lost around 25 pounds and was back down to about 150 (my starting weight before I got pregnant with Roman), so I started feeling complacent and less enthusiastic. Then a friend from church approached me about wanting to join Weight Watchers herself and asked if we could be accountability partners. We decided to share our food journals with each other at the end of each day (so someone else would see the good and bad choices we were making) and then share our losses/gains at the end of each week on weigh-in day. A few weeks later, we added a third friend to the group, so we all work to hold each other accountable and encourage or sharpen each other when it's needed.
This has been a key factor for me because if I am only doing it for myself, it's easy to start getting lazy and not care as much. But if I know there are other people who are on the same path and who will see what I'm doing and call me out on it if I start to slip, then I'm much more motivated to keep going and do well. It is a risky thing asking someone for help and opening up to them about your struggles, but I'm very thankful for my accountability girls.
3. Jesus
This one is a little tricky because I'm very hesitant to put God and losing weight in the same sentence, like He is some kind of health coach or magic genie who I just consult for whatever personal needs I have. But at some point along the way, I came to the realization that food was an idol for me. If I was stressed, bored, tired, happy (pretty much any of your basic emotions), I would turn to food. I started realizing that I use food to comfort myself and to satisfy me in ways that it shouldn't be used. I was taking my need for God out of the equation and replacing it with a need for food. So when something stressful was happening, instead of turning to my Savior for help and wisdom, I would find myself retreating with something sweet and fattening because it made me feel better. This is nothing short of idolatry. Once these things occurred to me, I started asking God for help to fight my reliance and dependence on food because, if I'm being really honest, it is just as wrong for me to be a slave to food as it would be for me to commit adultery. So it became a matter of pursuing holiness and not just a pursuit for better health or physical appearance.