A friend lost a bunch of weight with the help of a therapist.

First thing she said was to control liquids. Eliminate any drink with any sugar or sweetener. No sodas. Only water, coffee (black no sugar), and tea (no sweetener). And she made it a rule that he couldn't eat anything without drinking eight ounces of water.

There is some science behind it. Sodas add calories if they aren't sugar-free. With regular soda it is easy to take in a lot of calories without being aware of it. The citric and phosphoric acids are thought to block the absorption of calcium. None of it does the body any good.

But artificial sweeteners are not necessarily any safer than sugar. They are thought to change how your body handles calories. In effect it makes your metabolism expect calories but them when denied calories the body shifts into famine mode where it lowers metabolism and conserves as much as possible into fat.

Exercise, contrary to popular belief, won't help you lose much weight. Work it hard and you trade in toned muscle for fat and feel better about yourself, all very good, but weight loss is not what you get from exercise.

Understand this and you avoid one of the major pitfalls. People work themselves like a fogged slave exercising and then get disappointed when they fail to lose a significant amount of weight. Then they give up on their program, stop exercising altogether and take up speed eating Twinkies on the semi-pro circuit. Next time you hear about them the fire department is using a chainsaw and crane to get them out of their apartment because they wouldn't fit through the doors.