I'm 45 and, until last year, weighed around 235 pounds. (I avoided the scales then so I'm fuzzy on the exact number.) Then my husband left me, sparking the only weight loss plan that has ever given me stellar results: heartbreak. I lost almost 40 pounds between August '06 and May '07, simply because I was too depressed to enjoy food. So I ate less of it.

Now, though, I'm over my heartbreak and my enjoyment of food has returned. I have gained 10 of those unwelcome pounds back. But I wasn't motivated when I lost the weight; it just happened. I want to be motivated enough to keep the pounds off and lose another 30. At the moment, it feels like an impossible goal but I refuse to give up hope.

Expending the effort, though, has been difficult.