First of all, this is not about a Diet--it is about a Major Lifestyle Change. To succeed you need two things: 1) motivation (mine was an elevated blood sugar count and the fear of developing diabetes) and 2) commitment (mine was to eat not more than 1,200 calories per day for six months with a goal of losing 12 pounds). As you can see from the title, it worked faster than I had any idea that it would.

Like many overweight or obese people, I secretly did not believe that I could really lose weight and keep it off, as if it were some mysterious process that worked for some people but not for me. What I have concluded is that every person's body (at their present age, size, and level of activity) needs an exact amount of nutrition (i.e., calories) to maintain itself. Eat more, you gain weight. Eat less, you lose. It is a simple mathematical equation. You do not know the magic number of calories that you need to maintain, lose, or gain weight, but your body does, and it will respond appropriately every time. You can increase the number of calories your body needs by increasing your amount of physical activity, which as you know full well is a good thing to do.

This Major Lifestyle Change was suggested to be by my nurse practitioner. She recommended I try the 1,200-calorie-a-day diet plus about 30 minutes of exercise five to seven days a week. That exercise was walking for me; it could be the gym or a sport for you.

In working out the process to do this, I decided I would have to count out 400 calories for each meal, and, in order to keep count, I would have to write down the caloric value of everything I ate. To this end, I began to read the nutritional labels on foods at the grocery store and bought a calorie-counter for foods in general and for several restaurants. Using these, I determined the number of calories in the kinds of foods I knew I needed to eat for good health: protein, dairy, wheat products, vegetables, and fruits. By the time I finished a day's menus, I realized there were just no calories left for things like regular mayonnaise, salad dressings, sour cream, whipped cream, whole milk, coffee creamer, cheese, ice cream, and desserts. (You know all of this already!) Below is a day's worth of sample menus.

I followed this plan from December 4, 2006 to April 30, 2007 and lost the aforementioned 32 pounds, about two pounds a week. During this time, I learned to measure foods and determine their calorie count. At restaurants, I would estimate the calories in an entree, salad, and soup, and concluded that most restaurant meals have about twice as many calories as I should have. Because of this I developed the habit of dividing my restaurant meal in half as soon as it came to the table. When half was gone, I was done. (Most restaurants are happy to give you a box to take the other half home and, guess what? You save some money, too!) The interesting thing was, that as I was eating a smaller volume of food, my stomach began to shrink so that at the exact moment that I ate the last bite of my one-half meal, I felt satisfied and usually, full. However, even if I did not feel full, I was certainly no longer hungry, so it was not hard to tell myself I could have the other half for supper, which was not more than four hours away. I also found it a good idea to drink a lot of water or tea (sweetened with Splenda) during the meal and a cup of coffee afterwards, especially if others were having dessert.

There were a couple of occasions during the four months (Christmas parties) when I gave in to the urge to eat a dessert (one was an English trifle and the other was a chocolate mouse), but I ate only about two bites of each and went away feeling satisfied and smug at the same time.

In addition to writing down what I ate everyday, I also sent an email every day or so to a friend recapping the foods I ate, how much exercise I took, and how much I had lost. I told her in the beginning that I wanted to do this, but she did not really have to read the emails if she didn't want to because the value to me was complete when I hit SEND. Of course, being the good friend that she is, she read them and congratulated me for every milestone, so I recommend this as a way to share your commitment (you don't want to look foolish by failing to do what you said you would) and to re-enforce it in your own mind every day.

Between April 30 and September 18, I ate about 1,500 calories a day and continued my walking routine. In spite of trips to Spain and New York (where I ate pretty much whatever I wanted with an emphasis on healthy foods, but also walked a lot more than usual) I managed to lose an additional 16 pounds.

I continue to divide restaurant meals in half, or, when possible, order half a sandwich or a small salad instead of a large one. I still eat the same 370-calorie breakfast every day; drink iced coffee with Splenda, but no cream; use fat-free cheese, low-fat salad dressings, and 1% milk. I often look at the calorie count of foods in the grocery store and conclude that they just have no place in my kitchen or my life.

While I was on the 1,200-calorie routine, I weighed myself every day or so and I continue to do this now, just so those pesky pounds won't creep back when I'm not looking!

If you decide to follow this Major Life Style Change, I wish you every success. And, hey, it's fun to buy all new clothes!

10/07