Dieting puts me in such a rotten mood! I'm so proud that I'm shedding pounds, but wonder if it's worth the torture. Makes me feel sorry for the people of Hollywood. Your thoughts?

I gave up dieting a long, long long time ago.

Instead I opted for a life style change that reduced the 'empty calories' in my over all eating habits and increased exercise in my daily routine.

Things like sugars and fats contain a lot of excess calories. Fats are the worse having 100 calories per teaspoon on average. Meaning a teaspoon of butter added to each meal can result in 300 calories per day. When you consider how often fats are used in cooking (as in butter or margarine spreads, or cooking oils and lard) it is possible that up to 1000 calories can be shaved out of your daily diet by using low fat alternatives.

The best products I have found to do this is Butter Buds a low fat butter flavor alternative and the non-stick pan.

Used to be I would use oil to fry up chicken, stir fry, and other 'good foods' in a regular pan. Today I use the non-stick pan and use the foods natural oils to cook it in. I shave off calories by not added fat.

Things like mashed potatoes I flavor with butter buds instead of a stick of butter.

Sugar - I reduce the amount of sugar I use. Kool-aid calls for a cup of sugar per packet - one can take that as low as 1/2 cup of sugar per packet it still taste great but has less calories.

Raw unprocessed foods are better. A can of whole kernel corn has sugar added for flavor - Read the label. Corn on the cob is steamed or boiled in plain water will have less calories - if you do not add sugar.

I do the baking around here, I have reduced sugar and fats by substitution or just removal. Zucchini bread that calls for two cups of sugar and 1/4 cup oil tastes just as sweet and remains just as moist if one used 1 cup of sugar and uses apple sauce (no sugar added) instead of oil.

Exercise: I walk on a cane mostly now days, but I still park as far from office and store doors. Those few extra parking spaces I walk is added exercise to my daily routine. I burn a few more calories. There are perhaps hundreds of tiny ways to increase ones daily ratio of exercise such as using the stairs instead of the lift (elevator) or escalator, 'dancing' while you vacuum - a little extra movement while doing drudge work.

I also took to raising some of our own food - not only do you get great tasting ripe food, you also get a little extra exercise in tending the garden.

While diets do work in the short term, they are a misery and will fail in the long term. What you need to do is make a life style change.

One good example book to locate at your local public library and read is: http://www.amazon.com/Bodystat-Reset-Your-Thermostat-Permanently/dp/0670859559

Don't rush out to buy it, go to the library and lend it to read it. Once you are done return to that book shelf that the book was on and look at the tons of similar books on the subject. Read, read and read some more. You will discover a great deal about how the human body works, how we process and use our fuel resources (Food and fat) and will learn how to 'trick' the body into shedding pounds while eating enough to keep you happy and full.