My name is Kent Livingstone, and my story is a familiar one. In college, I was a star athlete---co-captain of my lacrosse team, and a competitive swimmer. I didn't have to worry about my weight for the first 22 years of my life, since I was burning off so many calories that I could eat whatever I wanted.

THE CREATURE IN THE MIRROR

After graduation, I took a job with a major tech firm. Suddenly I was spending my days sitting on my rear end, eating fast food and high-calorie takeout. My weight skyrocketed from 175 up to 220. One morning I happened to glance at myself in the mirror on the way to the shower, and I was horrified. I was looking at someone with a large gut, who was seriously out of shape. At that moment I resolved to lose the weight, but it took me several years and many false starts to achieve my goal.

Obesity is becoming the #1 health problem in America. Virtually one-third of us are at least 30 pounds overweight, and that number is expected to hit 50% within a decade. Dieting is a multi-billion dollar industry, and the market is flooded with plans, supplements, miracle drugs and methods. Do any of them work?

Amazingly, they all work. If you want to lose weight, there are only two things you need to do---eat differently and exercise. Virtually any diet plan will be effective if you actually follow it. Yet millions of people are constantly failing, because they can't take control of their lives.

AN UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH

If you're 30 pounds or more overweight, the weight is not your problem. It is a symptom of your real problem, which is unhappiness with some area of your life---your job, your family, your love relationships. You are compensating for that unhappiness by stuffing your face with food. In order to lose the weight, you need to identify your problem and then take your life back.

Some people won't like the above statement, and a few will even be angry. If so, you're free to stop reading and find an article extolling the virtues of hot fudge sundaes. If you think I'm out to rob you of one of life's pleasures---eating---you're absolutely correct. Eating is a necessity of life. Anyone who has travelled in France or Italy knows how pleasurable it can be, but it's not a substitute for basic sources of happiness.

I'm grateful that I was able to lose the weight and get my life under control, and one of my missions is to help others. In the months to come, I'll write a series of articles about the major ways you can grab hold of your weight problem---keeping a journal, getting the right form of exercise, consuming the correct amount of protein, understanding your metabolism, set points and settling points. All of these will take some self-examination and effort (that hot fudge sundae is looking better and better, isn't it?), but they are more than worth it in the end.