Why not try an online tracker, its completely free unlike WW? When you register you put your current weight, goal weight, your age and how active you are, then it works out how many calories you can eat to lose weight. It has all the portion sizes worked out for everything you eat ie grams, oz, etc, so whatever you eat you can track it to know how many calories are in it. Eg 4oz chicken breast or a small banana, or 125g of yoghurt etc. It gives all the supermarket brands and most restaurants as well, and (if you have a smart phone) you can scan bar codes to give you the calorie count.
It also lets you put in your exercise - it starts you with 8 hours sleep and 16 hours resting and then you add your exercise in place of resting ie 5 hours sitting, 1 hour standing, 30 minutes walking, 1 hour housework etc
It sends you an email every 2 weeks to remind you to enter your new weight. So far I have lost 3lbs in 2 weeks which is not a massive amount but it makes me aware of what I'm eating. Today I had 2 mini Thorntons caramel squares (a mouthful) and they were 71 calories each! But I still didn't go over my allowance.
I found this site on the NHS website
www.fatsecret.co.uk but there are others. I find it really helpful to eat what I want but to try to stay within the calorie allowance and by tracking it like this (including drinks ie instant coffee and semiskimmed milk 25 cal - I drink about 6 a day) it really makes you aware of exactly what you are eating and drinking.
Also I don't feel deprived and I think most women at menopausal age know what foods to eat to keep them healthy and don't need to follow a faddy diet.
