I like to spout that I’ve lost 155 pounds and kept it off for almost 20 years without having weight-loss surgery and without going on a diet. The trick is in the word “diet,” of course, which is used in parlance as a temporary change — often in varying stages of craziness— in response to what, for many, is a recurring problem.

I did diet for years and was a champ at it, losing more than 130 pounds three times on the Atkins Diet. But even when I was able to stay “perfect” on that diet for many months consecutively, there always came the day when I couldn’t go one more day, and each time I gained back every pound and more.

That is not what a solution looks like.

But of course, I did have to change the way I was eating or I was going to continue to be well over 300 pounds, which I did into my mid-‘30s (save for those huge weight swings down and back up).

Then, with the help of many other people who knew more than I thought I did, I began to understand that what I needed wasn’t a diet but wholesale change — in attitudes, priorities, and actions. (It wasn’t welcome news, but that didn’t change the facts of what I needed if I was to straighten out.)

Obviously, I also needed to change how I ate, and that gets me finally, to my point. I stumbled across swole.me the other day, and it’s a pretty useful tool. You tell it how many calories you need to eat, how many times you’re going to eat that day, check off whether it is a workout day, and it gives you a food plan. One of the preference sheets allows you to designate foods you do like and those you don’t, while another one let’s you specify the proportions of fat to protein to carbs.

If you start out with a healthy idea of what your food plan should consist of —information that is fairly available but difficult for many to accept — swole.me will flesh it out with substances.

Check it out and tell me what you think.