I've been a member since my daughter dragged me there the week before Thanksgiving 2002... I weighed 250, was so out of shape I couldn't stand at my sink & do dishes w/o pain in my back & feet. ( not that I WANT to do dishes.....) I had always been a healthy weight until 30, then the the lbs slowly started coming on until I quit smoking in 1999 , at 170lbs.then w/i a year I packed on 80lbs. ( I would take 200 hundred lbs if that's what it took to get off the smokes!, I had a 3 pack a day habit for 24 yrs...) Anyway... I'm down to 170, they say my goal s/b 160, my cholesterol went from 275 to 119 ini 6 months; Most days I do the program 'in theory', but I am the healthiest I have ever been in my life, when I'm not activly doing the program I'm still maintaining my weight w/i 10 lbs for the last 3 years. i've been able to start running at 45, and participated in a sprint triathlon last year. The winner finished in 1 hr 6 mins. I finished in 1hr 48 mins.... okay that's a big spread for a race, but, considering where I came from.... that's not that big of a spread! The biggest thing about WW is everyone there knows EXACTLY how you feel and think. I say find what works, somethng you can live with for the rest of your life, and stay with it; you'll have days when you're 'off' and days when you're 'on'.. but stick with it.