Best way to lose 2stone and keep it off?

[2children2cats]

My ds is 6 months old and I feel that my family is now complete (dd is 3) so there are no excuses for being fat, I need to lose 2/2.5 stone. I am a serial dieter and am always looking for a quick fix but I really need to try and make a permanent change to my diet.

I have been signed up to ww for 3 months and have lost a stone but I am not really doing it (I don't count my points, just try not to eat very much) and still have massive binges at weekends. I have joined a gym and bought 10 pt sessions, she is recommending slimming world- there are no weigh ins locally at convenient times so I would need to do it online and again I have tried in the past and seem to have put on weight instead of losing it! I do know loads of people who have had massive success (lost 5st plus and kept it off. I have just subscribed to the magazine on my iPad.

I have bought Paul McKenna but fall at the first hurdle of following the golden rules- I am a teacher so have to eat at certain times, my husband eats watching the tv and I only ever want to eat junk!

Somebody help me find the magic answer please?!

My Fitness Pal. It is brilliant. It has been a big eye opener for me and keeps me on track just as much as say WW or SW and the best thing is it is free.

I go to a Rosemary Conley class because they do exercise too. Have lost a stone so far, long way to go. But the people are like minded and we have a laugh. We are all going to a ball in September!

I'd second mfp-it's straightforward-calories in calories out-easy to use especially if you have the app-and it does retrain you to know about portion sizes. I lost a stone 6 years ago and pretty much kept it off-am using it again now to loose a few vanity pounds. I personably don't think slimming world would work for me because its portion sizes-even on the 'free' stuff that's my downfall-but I'm very short and put weight on really easily.

Taekwon do and 5:2.

Running and low carbing.

I've lost 4 stone 4 so far

The thing is, if you're going to just do it in order to lose weight and do one of these quick fix type things, then what do you do afterwards? Go back to the bad habits and put it all back on?

The best thing to do is to look at your lifestyle, look at your diet. What permanent changes can you make towards a healthier you? Don't take up running just to lose weight and then abandon it. Take up a sport or hobby which you will enjoy. Are there any sports you fancy? Are there changes you can make to your life? Do you use the car too much? Do you want to swim? Cycle? What are your downfalls with food? What causes them?

I really think that while you can kick start your health and fitness with a structured routine, the healthy thing to do is improve your lifestyle too so you find your ideal weight and improve your fitness and maintain it for life. Things like mfp are good for this because they force you to look at what you're doing and make changes. A crash diet on the other hand will just force your body to drop essential minerals and nutrients, not fat and won't improve your health or fitness and you'll become demoralised and hungry.