The author joined with editors from EatingWell magazine to offer a diet plan of action with recipes because, as all dieters know, you can't have a successful lifelong food change and not eat well. The recipes follow the EatingWell tradition of good-tasting, good-for-you food.

Joyce Hendley, nutrition editor at the magazine and book co-author explained the diet's steps.

1. Have the time to make a big change. Too busy to watch your food intake? Then wait. "There's a lot of sacrifice involved in a diet, and time you have to commit," she said. "If you don't have time, you will fail and be discouraged."

2. Set realistic goals. "Be honest with yourself and avoid impossible goals," said Hendley. Yes, we all would like to be the same size we were in high school.

Realistic? Not for most of us. And consider both long-term and short-term goals. Long-term might be 40 pounds. But weight loss isn't a quick fix. Short-term? You'll see benefits from weight loss of just 10 percent of your body weight.

3. Track yourself. Write down what you eat and keep track of your daily exercise. Weigh yourself at least once a week. "The default mode is not to notice. But it's amazing how little time it takes to regain weight," said Hendley. The book includes calorie counts and worksheets to help you along; other diet tools are at www.eatingwell.com/diet. You also can get free software from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create your own food diary, with links to nutrition databases for specific caloric information. And there's a MyPyramid Tracker to keep up on your weight for a year. For either, see wwww.mypyramid.gov.

4. Eat mindfully. "Ninety percent of dieting is paying attention to what goes in your mouth," Hendley said. We've forgotten what a "normal" portion is, given the size of portions outside the home. The best way to do this reality check is to cook for yourself. "It's a behavior change that's really important," Hendley said. "If you give up ownership of what you eat, keep in mind that others want you to eat more," she said. The book helps with 150 recipes and a 28-day menu planner.

5. Move more. Yes, it's true. If you're a couch potato, you're going to look like a couch potato. Regular physical activity burns calories and helps curb appetite.

6. Get support. You need to connect with others who also are watching their weight. "This is what makes Weight Watchers work so well, in great part," said Hendley. There may be like-minded people at work or on the Web who will help you stick to the plan. And recognize who isn't supporting you, Hendley said. Maybe a spouse is cooking healthfully and the partner is sabotaging the effort. "To eat like a normal person is like swimming upstream. It's hard to do it alone. You need support for yourself, so you're not beating yourself up," she said.

7. Have a long-term plan. "The idea is to know what you've done before, not to let a relapse be a collapse," she said. "Life is about exceptions to the rule. You have got to have a backup plan. Know in advance that there are days that will need that backup plan."