We all know how to lose weight, in theory: If we expend more calories than we consume, our weight will go down. If only it were that simple. How do we account for the power of our emotions when we’re dieting and if we do lose weight, how do we keep it off?

In The Complete Beck Diet for Life, author Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., argues that people gain weight because they’ve never been taught how to diet: “They don’t know what to do when they are feeling upset, stressed, or tired; when their lives get too busy; when hunger and cravings intensify; when they eat out; when people push food on them; and when it just doesn’t seem worth it anymore.”

Beck’s "Think Thin Eating Plan" combines nutritional science with cognitive behaviour therapy. Along with low-fat and low-calorie recipes, suggested exercises and a weight-loss tracker, she includes "9 Success Skills" to help motivate her readers.

Best of all, Beck offers no gimmicks. There are no special foods, no expensive exercise equipment and no magic pills. Instead, she offers skills for the real world: food should be enjoyed, she tells us, and nothing is off limits. Dieting is no longer about restrictions and changing your lifestyle, it’s about changing your mind-set about dieting and rewarding your success.

Look for The Complete Beck Diet for Life ($27.50) at your local bookstore, or order it from Amazon or Chapters/Indigo.

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