Many years ago, when I was just starting out in television, I landed a guest-starring role on a hit series called Starsky and Hutch. Three days before I was supposed to start, I got a call from the producer. My ears perked up when I heard his voice. He told me that he and the director had been sitting around talking, and they decided I was just 'a little too chunky' for the part. They recast the role and I cried myself to sleep. I was twenty-nine years old and twenty pounds overweight.

That's when my diet roller-coaster began. Determined to lose those pounds, I tried every diet in the world. The shakes, the calorie counting, the packaged foods, the fasting, the grapefruit, the cottage cheese, the celery ... and guess what? They all worked. That's right. Every time I went on a diet, I lost weight. But, within a short time of going back to eating like a normal person, I would gain back all the weight and often a little extra. Then I'd scour the fashion magazines for the next dieting trend, and off I'd go on my path toward deprivation -- all in the name of being thin.

What I really wanted was to find a way to eat healthy, nutritious, yet flavorful foods in substantial portions and still lose weight. And I'm happy to tell you I have found it. 

After working with many nutritionists, reading books, and practicing trial and error on my own body, I have finally found a way to control my weight without deprivation. I call my program 'Somersizing,' and Somersizing is not a diet. Diet is a nasty four-letter word that conjures up negative thoughts of sacrifice and obsession and guilt. Based on eating everyday foods in specific combinations, Somersizing is a lifestyle that will change your way of thinking about how to lose weight and how to increase your energy. Eating the Somersize way is a pleasure. It is a program for life, a program I will happily live on for the rest of my life.

There are a few basic rules you will learn, and then you're free to eat whatever you want, in a restaurant, at home, or on the road. 

On the Somersize program, you first eliminate a small group of what I call Funky Foods, foods that wreak havoc on our systems. Then you separate normal, everyday foods into four Somersize Food groups: proteins and fats, vegetables, carbohydrates, and fruits. 

Finally, you follow these seven easy steps:

1) Eliminate all Funky Foods.
2) Eat Fruits alone, on an empty stomach.
3) Eat Proteins/Fats with Veggies.
4) Eat Carbos with Veggies and no fat.
5) Keep Proteins/Fats separate from Carbos.
6) Wait three hours between meals if switching from a Protein/Fats meal to a Carbos meal, or vice versa.
7) Do not skip meals. Eat three meals a day and eat until you feel satisfied and comfortably full.

Since I started properly combining my foods, I have trimmed down from 130 to 116 pounds -- the amount I weighed as a teenager. And since I reached my goal weight, I have fluctuated no more than 3 pounds. I eat delicious foods -- I eat cheese, I drink wine occasionally, and you would be shocked to know how much chocolate I eat and still maintain my weight.

Some experts will argue that food combining is a myth -- a calorie is a calorie and it doesn't matter how you combine them, it only matters how many you eat and how many you burn off. The debate has gone on for many years, and I'm sure it will continue for many more. All I can tell you is that it works for me. I can eat all the wonderful foods I love and still lose weight. I don't have to give up flavor. I don't settle for boring meals with no sauce. I enjoy rich and flavorful foods. I don't count calories or fat grams.

This article was excerpted from the book:

Eat Great, Lose Weight
by Suzanne Somers.

Reprinted by permission of Crown, a division of Random House, Inc. Copyright 1996. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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