Before we begin, I would like to say, editorially, that you should stop using the word "diet" now and forever more. For most people, a "diet" is something people "go on" for a period of time and then, at the end of that time, they "go off" their diet. It's like a patient with high blood pressure saying they "go on" their medicine for 6 months a year and then "go off" their medicine for the rest of the year. Similarly, it is like a diabetic saying they "go on" their insulin for 6 months a year and then "go off" their insulin for the rest of the year.

You do not lose weight or become healthier by "getting on" a diet. You lose weight and get healthier by changing your eating habits for the rest of your life. It is not a "30 day diet" or a 3 month diet. It is an eating plan - a much better phrase that diet - for life. The minute you abandon your eating plan - and there are few sure things in life but this is - I guarantee that weight gain will recur. You do not have a cold. You do not have the flu. You do not have a blister on your foot. This problem is not going to go away. It is something that will require your attention forever.

I can't emphasize this enough. And, while at first blush it sounds like some horrible curse, it is not. It's just a disease - not nearly as bad as some other people have to deal with every day - that you must address in your daily life. You just have to be aware that it is something that is not going to go away but can be controlled and, by controlling it, you can minimize it's possible effects on your health and life expectancy. You have to be more diligent and attentive to your eating habits than some other people. So be it!

Now, for specifics on what to eat, we also believe than any legitimate healthy diet will work. We have absolutely nothing negative to say about any of the most popular diets out there in the public consciousness. The Atkins Diet, the Pritikin Diet, the Zone Diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc. (and on and on) are all effective, probably equally so. How can I say this? Because it is my fervent belief that any structured eating plan - which is what a diet is - will work because they all have several things in common:

1. They bring structure to the chaos that is the usual American eating style. We are a "catch it when we can" society. Likewise, we "eat when we can." Usually not when we are hungry - we probably don't really know what that actually feels like. Usually not when we wake up in the morning - even though that is, just like your grandmother always told you, the most important meal of the day. Usually when we have time - which is not in the morning or noon but at the worst possible time, namely in the evening. Diets work because they call attention to the need to eat at specific times and pay attention to when and what we are eating.
2. Diets work because most give us a plan.We have lives that, most of the time, border on total chaos. We never know when we are going to have a break to have a prepared, healthy, nutritious meal so we eat whenever food is in our direct path to somewhere or something else. This is why fast foods are so much a part of our lives - they are quick, they are convenient, and they are filling. We don't have to prepare anything. it's right there for us. It's also absolutely, positively not healthy. Name a fast food chain that offers truly healthy, reduced calorie meals at their drive-through window. If you said a McDonald's with their salad line of food, think again. With your choice of dressing, these salads have almost as much fat and just as many calories as a Big Mac. Healthy, reduced fat and calorie fast food does not exist. Diets force us to plan ahead, prepare our own foods and actually think about what we are putting into our mouths.They give us set times to eat and map out what we should eat.
3. Any of the popular diets finding some success in the society today do not focus just on eating. They also, if they are worth the paper they are printed on, emphasize regular, aerobic, moderate intensity exercise. I am not aware of any diet book that has found a niche in the American market that says "eat these foods and you will lose weight." Any reputable author of a weight loss plan says "eat these foods, exercise regularly and you will lose weight." Now, I am not talking about the infomercial you see on cable television that say "take these pills and lose weight while you sleep!" These are not mainstream. These are quacks and charlatans. These people put some herbs and spices in a capsule, package them up, make a fancy 30 minute infomercial and make millions for a few months. Then, when people start returning their worthless products for a "money back guarantee" they are out of business. They have moved on, started another fake company, and made another infomercial . I am talking about the previously named "biggies" of the weight loss world. All, from Atkins to Barry Sears to Dr. Phil to Oprah Winfrey, have regular exercise as part of the program. Not just as a throw in, but as an integral, important part of the plan.

So, now that I have given you my opinion about the truly useful and well-written diets that a patient has to chose from - and there are many good ones - which diet do we recommend? Just as we will answer elsewhere on this web site about "which exercise is best for losing weight," we have the same answer for which diet is best for you, as an individual. It depends on you. Despite the arguments of all the weight loss "experts" who have sold hundreds of thousands of books, one diet does not fit all.

By that, I simply mean how can someone recommend the "Atkins Diet" or the "Zone Diet" or the "South Beach Diet" (all are low carbohydrate and relatively high in fat) to someone who really likes potatoes and rice and bread? How can you recommend the "Dean Ornish Diet" or the "Pritikin Diet" (both extremely low fat) to someone who really like fried foods, eggs and diary products? The point to all this is that no single diet recommendation can be made for each person we see in the clinic.

Most of our patients have been on one or more diets in the past. A lot of our patients are at least familiar with the concepts of one or more of the diets we have already mentioned. At the bare minimum, they do know what they are eating now and what they like to eat. A good question to ask someone starting on a weight loss program is "If you had a personal chef, like Oprah, and could eat as healthy as you chose, what sort of things would you have them cook for you?" The answer will give you some idea about each person's food preference. You can make some informed recommendations about what diet might be right for a individual patient by finding out their personal food preferences.

At the ABC, we strongly recommend a low-fat approach to controlling your food intake. But, we are equally strongly aware, that low fat is not acceptable to large group of people who need to lose weight. If the Atkins Diet has worked for you before or a friend and you would like to try that eating program, I have no problem with that. If you have had success at Weight Watchers in the past and would like to go back to that program, that's fine with me. I do have some problem with the Jenny Craig program. I do not think you can learn how to eat for the rest of your life when you lose weight by eating over-priced prepackaged foods. Nothing against Jenny Craig's program; it's just that I don't think it makes that much sense.

The whole point is that I am not nearly as concerned about what you eat as I am about what you do. Even though bad food choices, disorganization, and lack of planning greatly contribute to the development of obesity, they are not the primary culprit. With practice and a little more education, your food choices will get better and better. You will settle into a organized, planned and healthy eating program as you progressively lose weight. You will, in fact, develop your own personal "diet" - and I still hate that word.

I would like to propose to you 4 steps toward achieving a healthier weight and address each one in the pages. The four steps - four keys, if you will - are as follows:

1. Education - learning all you can about nutrition, diet, food groups, and the three types of calories
2. Eliminate - this falls under the "Getting Organized" guidelines discussed later. Identifying all the triggers and cleaning up your environments - at home and at work - that lead to overeating
3. Eradicate - change those behaviors and habits that stimulate overeating
4. Activate - get a sensible, convenient, "doable" exercise plan you can not only start but stick with

We are going to help you on each step. We are going to point out resources, both in print and on the Internet, that will be of the most use to you.