Counting calories.

• Author: Pires, Rachel L.
• Position: Mind & Body

THINK OF ALL THE MONEY you have invested in weight-loss books, services, products, meals, or supplements--yet you still are struggling to lose weight, or perhaps you know of someone who seems to have tried everything; nevertheless, they still cannot keep the weight off. It is like that old adage: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."

Each year, Americans spend billions of dollars on weight loss; yet, according to studies conducted by researchers at Harvard University and Imperial College London, 34% of Americans are obese, and a like number are overweight, while 32% check in at a healthy weight.

According to Mark Huffman, assistant professor of preventive medicine and cardiology at Northwestern University, if Americans continue on this path, 83% of men and 72% of women will be overweight or obese by 2020. I guess it is a good time to start investing in the weight loss industry, and yes, for the companies that sell diet products and services, it will continue to be a very lucrative business. Face it, when you fail to lose weight or lose weight but gain it back, companies will profit.

The thing about typical dieters is that, even after multiple failed diets, they almost always are willing to come back for more. When faced with failure, they usually do not blame the diet; rather, they blame themselves for lacking willpower and determination to succeed. It is quite a convenient scenario for the dieting companies. Maybe it is just a coincidence that many of the popular diets today promise dramatic weight loss, but do not offer long-term results.

I once heard someone declare that counting calories is no way to live. Well, I say that being overweight, not having the body of your dreams, and not eating the food you love is no way to live. If you want to lose weight, you need to monitor what you eat in one way or another. This is true whether you are eliminating specific foods, limiting your portions, following a set plan of meals, counting your points, or counting your calories. While there are many approaches to weight loss, I find calorie counting by far the simplest and easiest method. You cannot argue with science--eat more calories than you bum and you will gain weight; eat fewer calories than you bum and you will lose weight.

What I especially like about calorie counting is that it can accommodate any eating style. Whether you are a vegetarian, a diabetic, health nut, or carb lover (like me), it...