by Vic Shayne, PhD

Dieting is hard, no doubt. When you put on pounds and can’t take them off easily, something is amiss. But what?

There are essentially two problems when it comes to losing weight:

1. Calories
2. Carbohydrates

Certainly, there are other factors, but these are the two most problematic. When you eat more calories than your body can burn, you gain weight. The most weight-gaining foods are those high in carbohydrates. So if you want to lose weight, try this for three weeks:

1. First, figure out how many calories you need. A rough estimate is that if you are a woman, you need only 2000 per day, and if a man, about 2300 a day.
2. Next, eat fewer calories than your body burns. This means you have to determine how many calories are in each food you eat. Not a problem. There are a zillion books on the market that do this for you. Once you’ve figured out how many calories are in your favorite foods, all you have to do is eat fewer than what you burn. For instance, if you eat only 1700 calories a day, your body will begin to burn its fat stores for energy, thus making you lose weight.
3. Next, cut out all bad and simple carbohydrates. Mainly, this means bread, pasta, beer, cake, cookies, ice cream, breakfast cereals and even fruits for three weeks. Simple carbohydrates are not just high in calories, but they also turn into fat if you don’t burn them. Plus, because they contain so many sugars, they are bad for your health in other ways.
4. Find some way to exercise: running in place, jumping jacks, walking around the block, jogging, martial arts, swimming, aerobics, bicycling or some other activity, because when you move your body you burn calories. Even just a little bit adds to the bottom line. (or should I say “subtracts from the bottom line”?)

Why three weeks? It’s a number you can live with. If this works for you, then work with the diet and keep on it toward your desired weight goal.

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