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Men are luckier than women when it comes to weight loss. For one thing, men tend to store most of their fat in their midsections, and abdominal fat is much easier to lose than fat stored in the thighs or buttocks. For another, men have more muscle mass, which means a higher metabolic rate, and thus more calories burned throughout the day. So why aren't all men thin? Because of the fat they eat, say Drs. Ron and Nancy Goor. And the lack of exercise. And the fact they don't eat enough fiber-rich carbohydrates. In fact, the Goors are the polar opposites of those who tell people they've gained weight because of the way their bodies react to sugar and other carbohydrates. They say it's actually very difficult for your body to convert carbohydrates into fat, but that the fat you eat is easily turned into the fat you wear. (The Goors include a section debunking all the claims of the high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet gurus.) Thus, the cornerstone of their program is a "fat budget." You figure out your ideal weight and calculate how many fat calories you can afford to eat at that weight. Then you add in daily aerobic exercise--they recommend 30-minute walks--and make sure you never skip a meal. In fact, the meals they recommend are huge--cereal, fruit, yogurt, toast, and orange juice for breakfast; two turkey sandwiches for lunch; soup, chicken, rice, and vegetables for dinner. All that, plus snacks. Food tables make up about half the book, telling you how many fat calories are in fast foods, restaurant meals, meats, fish, and just about anything else a person would eat. Blessedly, the Choose to Lose program is scientifically sound--virtually all weight-loss research points to the diet-and-exercise combo as the key to successfully dropping pounds and keeping them dropped--but ultimately puts a premium on discipline. Starvation isn't required, but keeping your fat intake down around 20 percent of total calories in a fat-saturated world is a heck of a trick to maintain for life. --Lou Schuler
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