There's nothing we want more than to be healthy and thin. We want to throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt without wondering if it covers our fanny. We want to pull out last year's clothes without worrying about whether or not they're going to fit. And P-UH-LEASE!...

I don't mean consider having surgery. I mean think about the concept of surgery for a moment. Whether it's a heart transplant or a knee replacement, all surgeries have certain things in common.

First of all, they exist to correct a problem, and they require a surgeon who has extensive...

I met her at a Borders book signing three years ago. She was 43 years old, five feet five inches tall and weighed 260 pounds. She was morbidly obese. Believe it or not, this kind of information is typically shared with me even in the first few minutes of meeting...

It seems that new year's resolutions are barely off our lips when we face our first big dieting challenge: Super Bowl Sunday. In terms of home parties, the Super Bowl ranks number one (even beating New Year's Eve celebrations), and it ranks number two in terms of Calorie consumption, second...

Mom loved me, but I drove her...

Everything in life has a cycle. Not to sound morbid here, but even businesses, ideas, all forms of life - are conceived, born, grow, peak, decline and die. Even diets have a lifecycle that is familiar to us all.

Conception: "I think I need to lose...

I love a good salad bar. Ruby Tuesdays is one of my favorite places to eat out - because of their awesome salad bar. (Though they also have a 980 calorie Veggie Burger - but that's a story for another blog.) Actually, it's because of this feature that...

Ever daydream about being thin? Oh, come on. Be honest. Anyone who has ever tasted getting to goal as much as they've tasted fried food knows what I'm talking about.

You start a new diet. In the beginning it's all about reading over your program material and...

I'm not like many people--I never worked outside the home. I went to college. Got my degree. Then worked for my mom as a graphic designer in her home-based business. Soon after Mark and I were married, Aleeta entered our world, then Adam. For fifteen years I was...

Several Wednesday nights ago at my weight loss meeting a new member joined our group. I'll call her Amy. This was her first time following any diet (yes, first timers do still exist).

An outgoing young woman, Amy was very excited to begin and curious about the...

You CAN lose weight - and KEEP it off. Do you believe that? If you do, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn ... No, seriously. Here's the story of that famous bridge ...

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United...

Why does a new notebook feel so good? (Or maybe you can relate better to a brand new food journal.) It's more than just a clean writing space ... it's an emotional blank page. No eraser marks or cross-outs staring us in...

Seventy Percent! That's the number to remember this week. If something makes up 70% of your body, you'd think it was pretty important. Yup. This week's Skinny is all about water. Personally I'm not a natural water lover, though I envy those who are. I much prefer Diet Coke much...

You've done it before a million times. Maybe you're presenting at a meeting or confronting a co-worker on an issue. You run through it in your mind, like a play running through your head. You anticipate possible comments and come up with responses....

Ever since I started writing my blog I vowed I would write about counting potato chips. Some of you will think this is "over the top", but others will be able to relate.

OK, you're on a diet and you want a...

Goal setting. You hear the phrase all the time. "Set your goals and you will have a better chance of achieving them."

I have to be honest. I was never into goal setting. Setting weight loss goals? Are you...

It's not Scarlet Fever (so don't look for rashes) and it's definitely not a Scarlet Letter (we won't go there), but Scarlett Syndrome can destroy a life physically and emotionally.

Scarlett O'Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936...

When I started my "bajillionth" and last diet in 2001, I didn't tell anyone except my girlfriend Cathy, my husband Mark, and my children that I was starting something new. I had started so many times before and...

A few years ago (more than I'd care to admit) I went to a parenting conference that challenged the attending moms and dads to ask ourselves, "How young can my child be and still handle a task well?" rather...

Okay, let's face it. We are a fat nation. Well, at least two-thirds of us are.

Seat sizes have increased in cars, stadiums - even toilets. Many of us require TWO seats on an airplane (or we may be...