I only needed to lose 20 when I went on low carb and it was pretty easy to do it. It is just *amazing* how much sugar we now inhale in our diets because sugar is added to everything.
Soda is of course the biggest culprit for many of us along with sweets. But Splenda has got to be the most perfect sugar-free sweetener out there. It tastes exactly like sugar. So if you really have to have soda, get the Splenda versions and you'll love the flavor and not even think of it as diet. Stay away from caffeine!!
For sweets, the Splenda chocolates and candies we get are just as tasty as the sugar versions. Because so many people are diabetic nowadays you can find the Splenda versions in most grocery stores and CVSs. I live on the CVS sugar free gummy bears as far as a treat <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
The pasta and bread is less of a problem. With those, the main thing is that over the years both (for the US) have been stripped down to overly processed bland nothingness. The rest of the world laughs at us for eating "white bread" that is like a cardboard sponge!! When you say "bread" in Europe you get something rich, flavorful, lots of fiber. That's a healthy bread. But us US residents turned bread into something without fiber, without flavor and without many nutrients. Then we tried to add some vitamins to it to call it "healthy".
So in any case once you're not trying to lose weight any more, the long term low carb approach does include healthy grains. But the general aim is to always eat things that give you some sort of nutritional value. So you eat salmon, broccoli, almonds, etc. You'd avoid candy bars even if they are 0g carb because that would give you no nutrients. So in the same way you'd avoid white bread as 'empty calories' and would instead have a nice whole grain slice or pita wrap as the healthy alternative.
We get the low carb multi-grain bread and low carb tortilla wraps, and both are really tasty. They just cut out the processed white flour. If you're on a budget you can easily make your own bread which is always cheaper. Or if you really want to buy store-bought multigrain, get the most natural version you can find, with a high fiber content, and eat it in moderation.
Exercise is key too, so that's great on the pilates! I've never tried them, what is it like?