To protect you from the evils of a disastrous weight-loss program I offer this brief overview of what I think is likely to work...and what's not. Let’s start with what’s not—and let me first assure you that a “celebrity” swearing by a particular fat-loss program is not evidence that it’s a good idea. “De-toxing” by following a diet that's based on the magic elixir of cayenne pepper, maple syrup and water, or one that excludes wheat, dairy, sugar, caffeine and alcohol, promises to cleanse the blood, flush out toxins and thus help weight loss (especially rid you of the dread cellulite)—but it just ain’t so. Granted, if you cut out all those things and replace them with nothing but water, then your caloric intake will drop, but so will your intake of important nutrients. Don’t do it.

Soup Diets…especially cabbage soup. Let’s face it: you can only slosh around for so long before your body cries uncle. Again, having nothing but soup definitely cuts down on the calories, and even if the soup is really nutritious, you know you can only stay with it for a short while. I promise you that whatever weight you lose will be back in no time at all.

Diets based on body type, eye colour, or blood group. What can I tell you? Pure nonsense. The idea behind blood group diets is to split foods into groups of “highly beneficial”, “neutral”, and “avoid”, depending on your blood type. For instance, people with blood type O are told to avoid corn as this food will cause them weight gain, while it’s acceptable for those with a different blood type. Type A folks are told that kidney beans are the enemy. Both corn and kidney beans are relatively low in calories and high in fibre so it’s tough to understand why they would be forbidden fruit…but a lot about this diet is difficult to understand. The underlying fact is that like many fad diets, food intake is so restricted that people will lose weight on them…but at a serious nutritional (and health) price. Ditto for any diet that promises to be effective depending on your eye colour, and even body type. What’s bound to work is a program that includes a modest caloric restriction coupled with an increase in activity.
And that, my friends, brings us to the good news. You don’t have to adopt some strange, weird eating pattern to reach a healthy weight. Success is guaranteed if you follow two simple rules: eat less; exercise more. And when I say “eat less”, I don’t mean to the point of starvation. In fact, it’s been shown repeatedly that extreme calorie restriction lowers the metabolic rate so that when you start to eat a diet that’s even remotely “normal”, you’ll quickly regain what’s been lost. If you’re in it for the long haul and seriously want to reach and keep a healthy weight, then slow is definitely the way to go. By decreasing your calorie intake by about 500, and increasing your energy expenditure by a similar amount, you could happily lose two pounds a week…and you shouldn't lose more.

So how do you increase your energy output by the equivalent of 500 calories? Basically in two stages: first plan a half hour of daily exercise like brisk walking, swimming, etc., then build into your day energy burning activities like taking the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator; parking farther away from the mall entrance instead of hunting for the closest spot; getting off of the bus a few stops before your destination and walking the rest of the way. You get the picture…we simply need to move more.

Cutting back by 500 calories doesn't need to be a big deal either. No fancy recipes, no strange food combinations, simple portion control should do the trick. Most restaurant portions can nicely serve two people, be aware of that and act accordingly. At home just take less than your normal serving size. Take a pass on the gravy, use mustard on your sandwiches instead of mayo, ease up on the salad dressing. Anyone who’s serious about weight loss knows which foods pack a heavy wallop…but that doesn't mean you must avoid them altogether, simply eat smaller amounts of them.

I don't mean to imply that weight-loss is easy; if it were, anybody could do it. It's not easy, but it is do-able. First you need to be convinced that you can do it; then you need to take one day at a time.