I'm not really following a "diet", per se. Diets don't work. I refer to what I'm doing as a "food plan". I have completely changed what and how I eat. It's more of a lifestyle change than a diet.

I started at the USDA Food Pyramid website and learned how many servings of each of the food groups I should be eating every day/week. From there, I made myself a chart to track how much of each thing I've eaten. For example, I should have 1.5 cups of fruit every day. Once I do, I color in the little circles on my chart. By the end of the week, I can see exactly how much of each food group I've eaten. This has helped me learn how to eat healthier. Since I eat pretty much exclusively from the five primary food groups, I now eat very little refined grains, saturated or trans fat, or what they refer to as "discretionary calories". Granted, I still have times when I just have to have macaroni with butter, some pizza, or cookies, but I'm careful not to have those types of foods very often and, when I do, I don't eat too much of them. It's important to not completely deny yourself these things or you'll go crazy and end up binging.

In order to lose weight, I've also had to restrict calories. This does not mean I starve myself! Quite the contrary, actually. I'm still able to eat a lot of food since I eat healthy food. However, based on my activity level (virtually none since I sit at my desk working all day long), if I ate every single serving of food recommended by the USDA, I would not lose any weight. I still make sure to eat all of the recommened fruits and vegetables every day, but I cut back a little on everything else. Since I don't always get all of the recommended dairy and other foods, I supplement with a multi-vitamin and calcium tablets every day.

The final component to my weight loss program is exercise. Yes, you have to get up off the couch and sweat for a bit almost every day if you want to lose weight. Mr Moo summed it all up nicely when he said, "Calories in versus calories out." You have to burn more calories than you eat every day if you want to lose weight. I don't hesitate to admit that I hate working out. Hate. It. However, I understand its importance in this whole process so I shut up and do it. The important thing is finding something to do that you enjoy. Personally, I've found step aerobics and weight training to be best things for me. I can do them at home and I've purchased many workout DVDs to make sure I have a lot of variety. If step isn't for you, you can always try running, swimming or dancing. Or maybe you'd prefer joining a gym. It doesn't matter what activity you choose as long as you get your heart pumping and get your sweat on several times a week to help you burn those calories.

The next question I always get is "How many calories should I eat every day then?" Unfortunately, I cannot answer this question for you. You have to figure it out for yourself based on your own eating habits and activity levels. I always recommend starting a food journal and keeping track of every single calorie you eat every day for at least a couple weeks. Once you know how much you're taking in on average, you can start figuring out what needs to change. Since there are 3500 calories in one pound of fat, you have to create a deficit of 3500 calories per week to lose a pound, either through eating less, exercising more or a combination of the two. There are also many online resources that will help you calculate necessary daily calories for weight loss. However you arrive at a number, it's important to remember two things: 1) You should strive to lose no more than 1-2 lbs per week. Any more than that and you start to lose muscle, not fat. Muscle helps burn up those calories, so losing it is a bad thing. 2) It may sound very cliche, but you have to eat in order to lose weight. Starving yourself does not work! Not eating actually slows down your metabolism, which is the opposite of what you're trying to do.