GMPIV.com

Back in 2002 or so I followed Jorge's plan for about 10-12 weeks, maybe a bit less, and lost about 40 pounds. This is the book that I'm using as my personal sourcebook for the 10x10 in 2010 weight loss project.  Jorge Cruise has gone on to write other books, but this one is simple enough and disciplined enough for me to follow, and it's based on a really, really, really simple concept:

Eat Less, Eat Healthy, and Freakin' Exercise!

Seriously, this stuff isn't as hard as we make it all out to be.  All it takes is willpower the size of a mustard seed...which admittedly I lack at times, or I wouldn't need the book, ha. ha. ha.

The exercise plan is a 4 week cycle - 6 days on, 1 day of rest (I like Sundays for rest/free days, where I can eat bagels and junk food after I weigh in. Nice recharge for the week!).  Included at the back of the book is a complete diet system that doesn't rely on counting specific calories as much as it does learning better portion sizes.  

Part of the diet system includes "eating cards", which are small checklists you can keep in your pocket to check off what you've eaten so far during the day.  The amount you eat depends on your weight.  Heather has found that if you're exercising regularly (she runs 3-4 times a week), the card may be a bit too restrictive.  I suspect it's built for us couch potatoes, not a frenetically active mother.

Here's a picture of a recent card with most of my eating done for the day:

If you're interested in what Jorge has to say, click the book image to read about (or better yet, buy) the book at Amazon.  I get a small percentage of the proceeds which helps cover the hosting costs for the website.