Preparation

First, I recommend some support. If you can do this with a friend who will help you and whom you can call, you'll do better. Having support shares the load some.

Next, do what you can to decrease stress in your life. I'll get to the meat of the system below, but other factors can derail your success. If you reach for the Ben & Jerry's every time you have a disappointment or a rough day at work, you'll need to change that habit. Getting enough sleep will help you to decrease stress, by the way. You'll feel more motivated if you feel energetic.

Also, you'll need to modify your pantry a bit. Throw out, donate or share the foods you won't need anymore. A soup kitchen would love the canned items, for instance. You can make easy weightloss easier by eliminating the unnecessary items.

The Basics

Start with these and learn as you progress. The system works well if you follow it, so here it is in list form:

- Stop eating seconds

- After 7 or 8 pm, no food

- Wait until after 7 am to eat breakfast

- Limit your carbs to 60 grams per day (read food labels)

- Every so often, roughly 10 days, splurge with a piece of pie or other goody

- A small snack between lunch and dinner is okay, and some fruit is okay sometimes, especially on its own.

I like this plan because it is easy, and weightloss comes quickly. These are the basics I use, and they work. By limiting carbs, you'll kill the cravings quickly. Most come from sugar. You can eat anything you want with this plan, but you have to limit quantities. Less bread, less sugar, less white flour, but you can still have some within the 60 gram limit

Let's look at how this works. I buy low carb tortillas to avoid the sugar and carbohydrates in regular ones. These have great fiber content, and mission brand tastes great. Careful - some taste like cardboard. These substitute for bread in my meals.

Next, I eat lots of salad with regular dressing. Put on carrots, celery, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, chicken breast or whatever you like. But not croutons, oranges (a few manadarin pieces would be okay), tortilla strips, chow mein, or other breads. These all add too many carbs. Some cheese, almost any cheese, has low carbohydrates and will be fine.

Another weightloss idea I use, as mentioned above, a small snack can fill a gap in your day. Becoming overly hungry doesn't usually help in your quest. Think about it. When you haven't eaten and you feel very empty, do you think about food more? Most do. I find that when I fully engross myself in my work or other activities, I can last longer. Still, don't worry if you have a small, low carb snack in the afternoon.

I mention above that I don't eat early in the morning. I get early, and used to eat right away. Waiting to eat accomplishes at least three great results. First, I burn more calories before eating again. Second, when I eat very early, say before 6:30 am, I am much more likely to eat again before lunch, at about 8:30 or 9. This means I ate at about 6, again at 8:30, again at lunch, perhaps an afternoon snack, then dinner. Not a recipe for easy weightloss.

By eating later, I find I appreciate the food more and don't miss the aggravation of trying to eat when I am just waking up. And I don't eat again midmorning. Believe it or not, eating requires energy, some preparation, effort, and clean up. Missing that to do something you like can actually be a relief.

Watch for opportunities like this in your own life. You can find times in your day or week that simply work better without food. You can find times that a delayed meal works better. Like this one: enjoy your lunch hour having fun instead of eating. Pick up a nice salad or keep something at your work station, and sneak it in later on in the day. You may find you like this arrangement better, and you can replace the spectacle of eating with a simple lunch, and weighloss will come easier.

Try the list above out. It isn't hard, and it worked for me.