It's the old story, the struggle to lose weight. But the goal is often impossible.
"Every diet will help you in the short run to lose some weight. 95 to 98 percent of people will gain it back," said nutrition counselor Judith Matz.
That's why Matz calls her clients diet survivors.
Tara Sullivan's struggle started after a growth spurt.
"By the time I was 10, I was five three, and wearing a size six," she said.
Then the dieting started.
"I was always too fat -- that always overrode every other success in my life," she said.
Because she either binged or starved and never exercised, Tara says she felt horrible. Now, despite a thyroid problem that's caused weight gain, she's happy being a size 18.
"There are a lot of physical things I can do now at this size that I couldn't do when I was 50 or 60 pounds lighter because I wasn't exercising, I wasn't taking care of myself," she said.
To her counselor, that's a success story.
"We need to take a health centered approach and move away from this pursuit of thinness," said Matz.
"Rather than talking about this person can be this weight and this person can be this weight ... it's important that everyone knows what your own risk factors are," said Dr. Jim Winger.
Dr. Winger says you can't ignore obesity, but cardiovascular fitness is also important, as are family histories
Proponents of "healthy at any size" believe that an overweight but fit person can live longer than a lean, idle one.
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