I recommend consistently lifting weights only because I’ve tried other forms of exercise (all OK on their own) yet lifting was the secret solution to losing 10 lb., keeping it off for years, and maintaining my weight.

I don’t encourage any woman to strive to be bone-thin or look like a waif. As I’ve often talked against using pretty woman for face makeovers instead of letting average woman get beautified, I’m also against the use of Kate Moss skeleton body women in fashion shoots. Kate might have a beautiful face when Francois Nars does her makeup. Yet I’m no fan of her tape measure body.

I’m not certified as a personal trainer or nutritionist. Yet I’m certain carrying 5 or 10 extra lb. is no big deal. The goal is to be a healthy weight and that can be a range of numbers not one specific number. It’s also not good to constantly weigh yourself every day.

How I lost the weight: I started to train at the gym in February 2011 going on 4 years now. I have the trainer create a new routine every five weeks. Then I do the routine on my own and meet with him again to get another new routine. It’s cheaper than hiring a trainer for weekly one-on-one sessions.

You can go on YouTube and searching under the move, like “sumo dead lift” to watch a video that shows the correct form before you start the routine.

Hitting a plateau after 3 years is a good thing because you can continue to challenge yourself by lifting heavier weights. I want to hit women over the head with a pocketbook when they claim they won’t lift heavy weights because they’ll bulk up.

Do I look like the Incredible Hulk? I rest my case. The goal is not to be Kate Moss thin: the goal is to be fit. Remember: “Fitness is Forever.”

Women who have the money to do strength training at the gym should absolutely try to do this if they also feel they need to lose weight. You can spring for attractive workout gear from Nike or Athleta. My favorite place to shop for this is Modell’s. Gotta Go to Mo’s? You bet.

You might get overwhelmed thinking you’ll have to do strength training for the long-term. Yet the pounds didn’t magically appear: most of the time they got there because of what a person did (busted: I’m guilty of this too). So break your long-term goals into weekly, 3-week and 3-month goals, going as far as one year for your goals. Once you’ve reached one year, examine and set a new goal.

Keep a fitness journal in a small hardbound journal. Record your goals in it and the routines you did and whether the routines were easier or harder that day.

No kidding: I can now dead lift 190 lb. That’s how I know that when you repeat the mantra “fitness is forever” it doesn’t matter whether you’re bone-thin or not. What matters is that you build muscle so that you burn more fat as you get older and go through menopause with all its bodily changes.

Do you think. It’s a coincidence. That I kept the weight off for the long-term after I started to train.

I will end here by stating that aside from feeling better/having a glorious mood, you will gain emotional freedom and confidence, and alacrity in how you resolve problems. The self-doubt will come on, yet it will become fleeting and you’ll find yourself not caving in to it anymore.

You’ll start to take risks in other areas of your life.

What’s not to love about lifting?