Dropping pounds: Scott Kreuscher

HIS STORY After losing nearly 40 pounds in 2004 through Weight Watchers, Scott Kreuscher and his wife stopped attending meetings and began putting the weight back on, inching toward his all-time high. "We'd leave and come back, leave and come back," says Kreuscher. "I'd hit my goal weight each time, and then put it back on."

"We decided in 2008 that we were going to commit to it again," say Kreuscher, who adds that they both stopped going again when his wife became pregnant in mid-2008. "If she wasn't going, I sure wasn't going."

Once Veronica Kreuscher had a baby in July 2009, the couple returned to Weight Watchers. Scott lost the weight in about five months and has maintained his weight loss since.

"Our son was absolutely the catalyst," says Kreuscher, adding that Veronica has lost more than 60 pounds and is continuing to lose weight. "It was a case of us both wanting to instill a healthy lifestyle in him, and needing to be able to keep up with a young child."

DIET After years of eating fast food every day, Kreuscher says he now makes healthier choices, starting with breakfast, which is often a protein bar.

His preferred lunch is a sandwich with lean proteins on whole-wheat bread.

He tries to eat dinner at home, which usually is fish, chicken or turkey with at least one green vegetable.

"I don't count all my points each day," Kreuscher says. "I sort of keep a running tally in my head. And if a few pounds start to creep on, I make the necessary adjustments in what I eat."

EXERCISE "I try not to," he says with a laugh. "My job is very physical, a lot of running and walking." "I fluctuate a couple of pounds here or there," says Kreuscher, who has reached his goal weight.

ADVICE "You just have to remember that there is no quick fix to losing weight," Kreuscher says. "You have to change your lifestyle and commit to the change."

Scott Kreuscher

43, Patchogue

Occupation Audio-video installer for Audio Interiors in Hauppauge

Height 5-foot-6

197 Weight before March 2004

165 Weight after November 2009