I've done a number of differnet programs, and have finally boiled it down to the information i've received in the "Hacker Diet"
More info : http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/

It basically boils down to : Calories IN - Calories Out = gain or Loss.

So far Im down about 5 pounds, but what I like most about this program is the data tracking. It takes into account the daily fluctuations in your weight to provide you with an overall picture.

I've been "tracking" my intake through several incarnations of Weight Watchers, and it is probly the biggest thing I would suggest to Anyone. How can you expect to loose weight, if you don't know what you are eating.

Since logging on to this site, I have been monitoring my calorie intake. I find myself not eating fried potatoes (tater tots) and opting for something more healthy. Even though my diet is relatively healthy, I notice now more than before what I still do wrong.

The hacker diet pdf was a great read. When you break it down it really is just that simple. It put a lot of stuff in perspective when you realize that it's not as mystical as the diet gurus would have you think.

Thanks for the tip on the hacker diet -- I'm downloading it now so I can read up on it. I agree with the "Calories IN - Calories Out = gain or Loss" formula, but I've found that for me, certain diets make that a lot easier to accomplish.

For example, when I try low-fat or just low-calorie diets, I have a really hard time sticking to them because of the cravings I get. I either cheat and blow the whole thing, or just decide I'd rather be overweight than be hungry and miserable all the time.

In contrast, when I'm doing low-carb, I find that I have a hard time getting enough calories, simply because I'm a lot less hungry. I can lose 2 pounds a week fairly easily without being hungry. The hardest part is surviving the first week to get over the sugar cravings. Of course, when I go off for a while, I go completely crazy with all the stuff I couldn't eat. That's the part I need to figure out . . .

Hey scott.... Someone else here sayed somethign that's stuck with me.

" I wouldn't take a cheat-day on my wife, why the heck would I take one on my diet?"

That's helped alot. I actually consider that now before I reach for the sugary goodies.

I too have had great progress with the Hacker's Diet. I believe there are are nuiances that the simplistic view in HD might miss, but the underlying priciples are sound. By nuances I mean there are other factors besides IN-OUT that while they aren't directly responsible for gain/loss, they do affect your body's resistance to the diet.

For instance many small meals vs one large daily meal. They're the same with respect to IN-OUT, but the blood sugar spike and crash of the single meal a day will result in more hunger, weakness, etc.

I think the charts that the HD excel spreadsheets make are a great tool. I've made my own spreadsheet with a modified algorithm that preserves most all the smoothing of the HD charts, but it doesn't have the offset from your actual weight. So you can use it both as a gauge of progress (from the slope) and as an accurate measure of your current weight (factoring out the daily fluctuations).

You can see the charts that my algorithm results in here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/TheBashar99/Diet

While my spreadsheet is more manual (you have to know excel) I like having the more accurate weight charts. If anybody would llike a copy, PM me.

Cheers!

On the subject of losing weight, have you ever thought how it happens?

Here's a great wee article from Richard Muller, lecturer at Berkeley and very clever man indeed. He needed to lose weight too...

http://muller.lbl.gov/TRessays/22-ThePhysicsDiet.h tm

We ought to become more aware of the basic principles if we are to make a long term success of our diets.