There are many reasons that people have to lose weight from cosmetic reasons, serious health problems, and reducing the incidence of complications prior to becoming pregnant. What I am able to explain to you I have been able to achieve and I want to be able to help as many of you as I possibly can. I am a OB/Gyn Physician and see many women struggling with weight. Obesity has reached epidemic proportion in the US over the past decade, and there is no end in sight. There is no single reason that this disease process is out of control. Being overweight is associated with heart disease, strokes, hypertension, arthritis, and cancer. The steps that I am getting ready to explain are very easy and straight forward to implement and follow. The most difficult part of this plan is to maintain consistency and persistency.

1) Eat 5 to 6 small meals a day. Eating breakfast lunch and dinner along with a mid-morning, mid afternoon and evening snack. A protein snack prior to going to bed with minimal to no carbohydrate intake will allow only a minimal amount of insulin to be released and will prevent minimal to no fat uptake at night. Most people make the mistake of decreasing their intake to little or nothing. By spreading the same amount of calories out to 5 or 6 meals a day, the metabolism actually increases by 10 percent which causes fat to be utilized and removed from the body.

a. There should be protein, non starchy vegetables and a fruit at each meal

b. Never miss breakfast and eat oatmeal, grits, or cream of wheat along with eggs (3 to 5), bacon, sausage, or Canadian ham. Eating breakfast is important to elevate your metabolism

c. The protein should consist of minimal fat. Tuna, skinned chicken breast, and steak with the least amount of fat are ideal. No fried foods.

d. No processed foods (breads, cakes, chips)

e. You can eat brown rice or yams at each meal

f. The portions should be no larger than your fist

2) Drink ? to 1 gallon of water a day.

a. As adults become older, they lose their thirst mechanism and stop drinking the proper amount of fluids. This leads to the body becoming acidotic which leads to chronic diseases (heart disease, hypertension, arthritis, cancer, and obesity). So the first thing to do when there is a sensation of hunger is to drink two glasses of water.

b. This helps to flush out all the toxins in the body and assures that the body is fully hydrated and prevents acid build up. It also happens to help increase the body's metabolism. Start off by drinking two glasses of water before breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

c. No carbonated drinks, diet drinks, sweet tea, fruit juices, milk, milk shakes, or alcohol as they contain unnecessary carbohydrates which leads to weight gain

3) Walk on the treadmill or ride stationary bicycle slowly every morning prior to eating breakfast and one hour before going to bed at night. If you are not able to talk while on the treadmill, or riding the bicycle in normal sentences, you are exercising too fast. You can also walk for an hour twice a day if there is no access to a treadmill or stationary bike. If you are unable to walk or ride a bicycle due to physical reasons, then I recommend you walk in the pool for an hour twice a day and move upper extremities underneath the water as you walk.

4) Lift light weights in the gym 4 times a week for 30 minutes. (squats, dead lifts, incline bench press, pull downs, pushups, and pull ups)

a. This helps to convert fat to muscle which increases the body's metabolism. Each pound of muscle that you gain in weight burns 50 k/calories more a day.

b. It reduces the amount of blood sugar as it helps the muscles take up sugar from the blood stream which reduces insulin resistance and retards or prevents the onset of Type I (non insulin dependent) diabetes

5) You may eat or drink one hour a week whatever you want. Normally the first two weeks you will do so, but after that you will not want to do this splurge. I normally do this 1 hour "happy meal" for lunch on Sunday afternoon.

By following the steps above, I assure you that you will lose 30 pounds of weight in 30 days. Please do it for the right reason and that is your health. Continue to be consistent with these steps after 30 days and do not go back to your old habits.