How does a 40-year-old who is 5' 3 and 190 pounds lose weight?

As a 5' 3" 40-year-old who weighs 190 pounds, you may be insulin resistant. Many overweight people (particularly those who have frequently 'dieted' and lost weight only to regain it later) have insulin resistance. The majority of people who have insulin resistance are unaware of it. If you feel that this may be your situation, a low calorie diet will not work for you. The best diet will be a low carbohydrate diet. Moreover, if your physician approves it first, the best low carbohydrate diet for a significantly overweight person is usually one that will put you in a state of benign dietary ketosis. Recent Excellent books on the subject are Protein Power, and The Protein Power Lifeplan, by Michael R. Eades, M.D., and Mary Dan Eades, M.D., and The X Factor Diet by Leslie Kenton. (If you wish to read those books but do not want to buy them, you can borrow copies from your local library, or buy inexpensive used copies on eBay.) In my professional experience, most overweight people (and many normal weight people) are carbohydrate addicted. In fact, about 3 out of 4 British and North American adults are carbohydrate addicted. Unfortunately, the average daily carbohydrate intake of British and North American adults is about 300 grams. Even worse, most of those carbohydrates are refined (processed) carbohydrates. You will find further details relating to all the above information, in the two related questions, further down this page, listed under "Related Questions." The above suggestions, and the related page links, will help you to naturally speed up your metabolism. Naturally increasing metabolism AND maintaining it long term will enable you to lose weight and avoid future weight gain. If you do decide to use this approach, buy or borrow the above-mentioned books. They will serve you well. ----