Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Shrimp Creole
1-2 onions
1 green pepper
2-3 ribs celery
olive oil
4lb tomatoes, cut into big chunks
salt, pepper, bay, thyme, cayenne
1lb peeled raw shrimp

Cut up onions/pepper/celery (1 inch pieces or so), cook in enough olive oil. When veggies begin to soften, add seasonings to your taste, then add the tomatoes. Cook on med/low heat for 10 minutes. Add shrimp to pot, simmer until pink. Re-season if necessary. Serve over rice if you're cool with carbs. Simple, delicious, light, lots of leftovers.

Know-How:

Diets don't work. Special combinations of foods, or omitting certain foods, is also pointless.

I know it's incredibly boring, but it is a fact. Eat less; exercise more. Make fruits, veggies, and lean protein the center of your eating plan. Drink plenty of water.

SERIOUSLY EATING LESS IS ONLY SECRET FOR SUCCESS.

Keep a food diary. Write down every crumb that passes your lips. Literally. Every single one. It's tedious, but incredibly enlightening. Most people are enormously surprised by how much they actually eat. Everybody should try this for a week, even if they're not trying to lose weight. It's amazing.

Count calories. Learn to identify how many calories your food contains. Read packages, get a book, look on line. There are many calorie reference sites, but this one by the USDA will get you started. The only way to lose weight is to cut calories. Eat a balanced diet with less sat fat, more fiber/ complex carbs. Beyond that, there's no magic formula. It's been proven time and again that there's no special fat/protein/carb combo that works.

Measure to control portions. Once you know how many calories you're eating, you'll know how much to cut back. The only way this will work is to measure everything. You need a scale. Most people also have no idea of *proper* portions, and are truly astonished at how much smaller they are when properly measured.

If you have a friend who wants to lose weight, a buddy system or support group can work wonders for your motivation.

I don't mean to sound preachy. I just know this stuff. My mother has been obese nearly her entire life. Sadly, my brother has inherited this tendency, and it is clear that my youngest daughter will have to face this struggle for the rest of her life. I worked many years in hospitals, in jobs that required me to interact closely with the food and nutrition services departments. I coordinated weight-loss support groups, diabetic education groups, and the like. I always became close friends with the dietitians and chefs. I learned a lot from them.

YOU CAN DO IT!!! But a *diet* won't work. Deprivation of any kind will fail. Moderation is the key to success! I'll be cheering for you, Ed!

What LoCo said. Her advice (know what you eat, count calories) is also the best way to gain weight, if that's your issue. You have to know what you're eating.

And don't get me started on "lite" foods.

SERIOUSLY EATING LESS IS ONLY SECRET FOR SUCCESS.

Must add to this - Exercise is key. Keeping your muscles toned makes your body a calorie burning machine. You will burn more calories in your sleep if you exercise than people wide awake who don't exercise.

Deconstruct your diet. If you say "I only ate soup today, why am I not losing weight??" It's probably because you're eating a creamy soup with tons of fat. Break everything down and be very aware of what you're eating.

Here's something you won't want to hear but at least for a while try not to do too much restaurant eating. If you do eat at restaurants, be that pain in the a$$ diner who asks for "dressing on the side" and "could you saute that in olive oil instead of butter" and finally, "could you bring me a to-go box with my order??" You would be dumbfounded if you knew how many calories hide in restaurant food - even without considering the massive portions. Salt, sugar and fat have flavor and restaurants use them with abandon. (Which is why we go there...Holy Catch 22!)

At least until you can recognize a healthy portion of healthier food on a restaurant menu, try to prepare as much of your own food as possible. This really is the key to "full disclosure" of what's going into your mouth. Good luck!

My husband and I eat main dish salads at least once a week, usually twice. We're not on diets, but eat salads not only to stay healthy, but because we love them. I have five or six recipes posted on the Salad Night column of my food blog, flavor a deux. Our favorite is the Italian Dried Salami Salad. I also really love the Citrus Chicken Salad, and the Roasted Sweet Potato Salad.

Here's a simple salad that I really love. I use my food processor for prep.

Apple and Carrot Salad
1 granny smith apple - cut into julienne strips
1 carrot - shredded
fresh lemon juice
dill - dried or fresh
s&p to taste.

Toss it all together and eat right away. It's very refreshing.

Also, substitute vegetables for crackers or chips. One of my favorite snacks is red bell pepper strips with hummus. I like cucumber rounds topped with chunky salsa. Good luck!

You should pick up a copy Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless. It has easy, delicious, and healthy meals. It's a standby for me, especially when trying to eat lighter fare.

Check out The Schwarzbein Principle by Diana Schwarzbein, M.D. Lots of info on do's and dont's of dieting and healthy eating, some good recipes and a good 4 week meal plan......one for "regular" folks and one for vegetarians. She also offers The Schwarzbein Cookbook.

Her philosophy makes sense. Balance is key.

FYI.......low fat diets are now being debunked. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/low_fat.html

Hubby told me to post this because he loves it. I make something my grandmother made and its quite good. Cocozza ( yellow squash) and a zuchinni if you have it; saute it in a tablespoon of good olive oil with onion and garlic, throw in a can of your good italian tomatoes, add spices of choice (couple of twists of pepper, some salt, basil and pinch of oregano, thyme) and then let it simmer. You can add some chicken broth or water to make more of a sauce. If you have some scarola (escarole), throw that in too. This can be a side dish or thrown over whole wheat pasta. You can make a huge batch and eat it all week. I have eaten it cold and it is very tasty. It is all good for you and tastes great. Once you have this when summer comes you will make it again and again.

Volume. When you are reducing calories (which is the only thing that works), you want to eat food with volume. You'll feel less deprived. And for heaven's sake, don't cut carbs out of your diet-- just be smart about eating them.

So, for example, a LOT of escarole braised with hot pepper flakes and lemon and garlic and tossed with a little (way less than you usually eat) pasta will leave you feeling satisfied and won't use up your calorie allotment for the whole day.

Steamed mussels and a little pasta work the same way.

The main thing is what everyone else has said: COUNT EVERY CALORIE.

You'll be amazed at how fast you get innovative about your meals and find ways to eat well while dropping weight.

I posted this in the 7 Go-To Foods list, but here it is again, but with detail:

Roasted Vegetable Stew
Roast:
1 very large or 2 medium Spanish Onions
1 large eggplant, sliced 1/2 inch thick
4 large Portobello Mushrooms, caps and stems separated, but both used.
3 red bell peppers, seeded.
As much as you like of some kind of hot pepper. I use jalepenos.
1/2 head of garlic, cloves separated

When everything is all toasty, chop up as you like and add to pot, along with 1 28 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes, 1 tsp or so each (I don't actually measure anything, so I'm guessing here) of rosemary, basil, oregano, salt & pepper to taste.

If you like Red Serrano peppers you can add them here, chopped, if you like, and if you didn't add roasted hot peppers.

Cook everything in a pot over low heat for 20-40 minutes (everything will be super well done). This makes a few meals worth.

When serving, finish with a bit of olive oil and some chopped kalamata olives.

This is low in calories, low in fat, relatively low in carbs (for a veg dish) and very tasty, hot or cold.

Ed! I want to call your attention to a recently published book, The 28 Day Mediterranean Diet. I discovered it while eating last weekend at the Shish Kebab Restaurant on Main Street in Port Washington (Long Island), a historic landmark, by Port Washington's harbor and dock.

Turkish and Mediterranean foods have become enormously popular, especially during the past ten years. As a result of this wave of interest, "the Mediterranean Diet" emerged as a preferred weight loss method and health eating lifestyle. Even though it was only six or seven years ago when attention on "the Mediterranean Diet" surfaced (a little after The Atkin's Diet), people in the Mediterranean have been enjoying and eating this way for hundreds, even thousands of years, which is why they are considered to be so healthy.

These recipes seem to be simple and easy to make...all less than ten minutes....relatively inexpensive foods...healthy, interesting to eat...satisfying...

According to this book, followers of The 28 Day Mediterranean Diet can lose ten pounds per month. Exercise while encouraged and recommended, is not necessary here. ( Personally, I am seeking to lose thirty pounds!)

A major difference here when compared to other diets is that this one is not so radical or overly ambitious that it is doomed to failure and discouragement after a week or two. There is some information and expertise on www.ayhansmarketplace.com that "the Mediterranean Diet" contributes to sexual health and performance!