I have done both WW and South Beach Diet...her are my opinions about the two of them.

WW - I felt that WW was a healthy diet, but here is the list of cons:
1. By the time I was getting close to goal, I felt hungry all the time (the allotted points weren't enough to keep me satisfied and I couldn't look at another carrot stick, or 0 point food to keep me from being hungry. Consequently, I started to feel deprived and ended up abandoning the program - gaining back 40 of the 70 pounds lost.

2. Keeping track of points was a lot of work.

3. DH was travelling a lot at the time and I used the travel for my vacations. Since much of the food on international travels was very foreign to me, I wouldn't eat anything that I was not completely sure about. On one such trip, I ended up starving myself (I existed for 3 weeks basically on Slim Fast bars that I had taken with me). By the time we arrived in London, I was almost a basket case and really, really hungry.

4. I found eating out difficult, even though WW has many suggestions. I spent a lot of time explaining how my food had to be cooked, what to put on it and what to leave off, and trying to manage the portions. I often ate unhealthily (or not at all) for the first part of the day to save enough points to dine out. I don't believe that is a healthy lifestyle.

With SBD, I thought that it was too good to be true. Fortunately, I am not a starch lover (except pasta), so the WOE is a perfect fit for me. On the plus side:

1. I don't have to diarize my food, with the exception of foods that are limited. I usually take a quick scan of my day and decide which meal or snack that I will include the limited no. of nuts, or the starch or fruit that I will have that day. Once eaten, I know that I cannot have another until the next day. BUT, I can still eat a variety of OP foods until I am satisfied.

2. I have made dining out more simple. I usually look for a grilled chicken breast, or some kind of fish, or lean beef and always ask for extra veggies to replace the starch. It is simply ordered and I have never been denied.

3. Travelling has been more simple, although not necessarily a variety of food. Most places that we have travelled where we eat out, or hotel food has been easy and I can have a variety of food items without too much fuss. The exception to this was last summer at an all inclusive resort in Mexicao. I was recovering from surgery the previous month, so the trip was planned to rest and relax. Since I still wasn't a ball of fire, we did not do too much site seeing, but stayed at the resort. The food was not geared to any form of low carb eating (especially no sugar), consequently, I was severely restricted in the variety of food that I was able to have.

4. I have been at goal for just over 6 months and keeping at goal without feeling hungry has been a breeze. I have given myself a 5 pound leaway. When I get close to the 5 pounds, I revert to Phase 1 for a few days, take the extra pounds off and, voila, am back to goal again.

On the negative side with SBD...It is easy to eat too much fat (which I love). I try to eat lean cuts of meat (chicken, fish, bison are best), and keep the egg and cheese consumption to a minimum. However, if I need a snack, I will gravitate to a low fat cheese stick rather than a cookie which is a plus for the cravings.

Lzl, I hope some of our SBD/WW people will chime in here (SoCal? Ellis? Mauv?) and tell you their thoughts. I know they'll have a lot of good info.

Still, it sounds like you know what you should be doing. If you pick WW because of the cheats and don't pick SBD because it sounds like it would be more work, I think you'll be letting yourself down. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you need to make a commitment and a life change. If you keep eating the way you were (i.e. cheating) I think you end up either sabotaging your plan or gaining it back.

I've done WW a couple times. It didn't work for me because I always felt hungry and because I kept eating unhealthy things. Some people really can handle eating a fun size candy bar and be satisfied. I never could. I'm an all or nothing girl.

I hope you make a decision that's right for you!

Peggy, as always, you are inspirational. I love that you are keeping your loss off...and 6 months...WOW!