Marcia Darling, 60, is a veteran of ''those classic, high-stress sorts of diets where you deny yourself everything and then you get to the stage where you can't cope with it any more''.
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Her weight, along with her calorie intake, fluctuated for decades.
About two years ago, she started trying to improve her eating in a steadier, more sensible way, and then happened across a Weight Escape seminar in Brisbane.
''It gave me the impetus to keep going,'' she says.
Today, she finds herself fitting into clothes four sizes smaller and feeling a lot more relaxed about food and weight.
''I think I've lost 20, maybe 25, kilos,'' she says. She doesn't really know because she's given up weighing herself. ''I just go by clothing sizes.''
Weight Escape does not offer explicit dietary advice.
''I followed my own eating plan, and the whole thing was easy, relaxed,'' Darling says. ''What stood out for me was the idea that you are successful as soon as you start living by your values - in this case healthy eating, healthy living.
''You don't have to lose five kilos or 20 kilos to be successful. If I did a bit of yoga or reduced the size of a meal or drank a bit more water, I was already successful. That was very freeing.
''And also when they said to expect setbacks. It's perfectly natural, then you just carry on. It took all that stress away. You get very uptight when you diet.''
