The Monday after her son's graduation party, Lisa Schulz, of Schererville, decided to pay a visit to the Jenny Craig office in Munster.

"My knees and ankles were hurting and I didn't have to go to a doctor to know why," says Schulz. "I was overweight."

Schulz had seen actresses and Jenny Craig spokeswomen Kirstie Alley and Valerie Bertinelli on TV advertising the weight loss program.

"They made it look so easy," she says. "And that's what I needed, something easy."

No stranger to trying to lose weight, Schulz, who describes herself as an emotional eater, had bought exercise videos and lost some pounds over the years, but it was inconsistent.

Another factor in her successful weight loss this time around was her new dog, T. Rex.

"I walked him for 45 minutes to an hour a day," she says noting that T. Rex let her know when he needed to go out, an added incentive to make sure she exercised.

"It was just not in me to do strenuous exercise. But walking him was easy."

Easy is the operative word for Schulz. She found that the Jenny Craig program was painless as well.

"They tell you what to eat and the food is so good," she says. "When I was cooking it, my son would say ‘what're you eating, mom, that smells good.'"

Schulz didn't go hungry either. Her Jenny Craig program allowed her to have snacks and to also have two days on her own after she was halfway to her goal.

But there were some ups and downs.

"December was hard because of all the holiday parties," says Schulz. "I lost weight but not as much as I wanted. Jenny Craig has this great guide to help you judge how much you're eating. Like four ounces of chicken is the size of the palm of your hand and an ounce of cheese is the size of a tube of lipstick."

Schulz is eating her own food now though she tries to keep track of what she's eating.

"I also try to adjust how I cook foods for the family," says Schulz, who is married and has three sons. "Like I use light cream of chicken soup instead of the regular.

And she's still astounded by the change.

"I feel much better," she says. "It's weird, I see myself in a mirror and think, 'Is that me?"'

Lisa Schulz

Age: 39

Height: 5'5"

Weight: 140

Pounds Lost: 75

How long it took to lose it: 6 months

Clothes size: Was a 20 and now I'm in a 6

The Workout: Walking my dog 45 minutes to one hour a day

The Diet: Jenny Craig

Tip: "Find something that works for you and keep active."