I totally agree with Diagoras, there is a lot that many of us can do to lose weight but it's about the will power that you actually have and if u are really deteremined and want to make that change for yourself. Excercising is one of the most important things when it comes to losing weight and the internet is a booming source of information with excercises that you can even do in your own home. They even have specific excercises listed for problem areas so you don't even need a personal trainer to tell you what to do, a personal trainer might help motivate you to actually lose weight by pushing you harder but maybe you can find a friend who wants to help you or go along with you on your journey if not sometimes you just have to put your foot down and realize that you are number one and have your best interest in heart do it for yourself. As far as the food goes I know that I have heard it's not what you eat it's how much you eat. When I hear this I don't think that O I can eat Mc Donalds every day only in smaller portions because we all know those foods are what has caused America to become obeste, but what we must realize is that we can not completely eliminate certain foods that we love from our diet just eat it in moderation once a week or every two weeks a lot of diets fail because people just start to crave things that they miss eating. Portion size is a big problem too a lot of people do not read the labels of the things that they eat. A lot of those bag of chips and other snacks which will say 300 calories on the back are actually meant to be eaten in two servings. That means that that entire bag of chips that you are eating or that snack cake in all actuality is 600 calories. I think it's messed up that these food manufacturing companies do that because they know that a lot of people aren't even going to take the time to notice things like that. When it comes down to it you can do it. You have to believe in yourself that it can be done and do it for you, Not for anyone else because it is all about you.