With all the diet advice out there, it's sometimes hard to know what to do. I'm doing a great Today segment this morning with Hoda and Kathy Lee (watch the video below) on diet advice gone wrong......

In a nutshell.....

1. Eat Whole Grains: 100% products have a lot of fiber in a single serving, so you'll tend to stay fuller longer, compared to white flour products - the calories are equivalent. The problem is confusing healthy and fiber-rich with low calorie, so many people forget about portion control because they're eating "100% whole wheat". Not so. Read labels and watch your portion sizes.

2. Cook and Eat at Home;  You have total control over ingredients when you cook at home - no hidden fats and sugars. But you're also only steps away from extra food. Beware of too large portions, and going back for more, while the food is sitting out on your stove. Pre-plan by putting away the extra portions before you sit down to eat.

3. Avoid a Second Helping:  This might seem like a no-brainer, but many people load up a huge plate with food, to avoid even having to think about a second helping (sort of built in seconds). You'll wind up with a lot of extra food, and unwanted calories. Instead, start with a salad size plate, so you can fill it up - with the same amount of food you'd put on a large dinner plate, but you'll be more mindful of what you're eating -and play a visual trick making you think you've had a lot more food.

4. Don't Rush, and Enjoy Your Meal:  This might be the perfect world, and it works - since it takes about 20 minutes for the food in your stomach to send a signal to your brain that you're full. If you're rushed and in a huge hurry, you'll chow down a lot more calories without paying attention, and by the time you get to 20 minutes, you've overeaten. Instead, try a meal replacement bar like Luna Protein (available early 2010), Balance, Kashi - or your favorite along with a fruit. That's a 300 calorie portable meal on the run. On the flip side, if you're dining with friends, you might reach contentment, and while lingering to chat, get a 'second wind" to eat. Avoid that urge, and order a cappuccino as a dessert to end your meal. 

5. Wake Up Early to Work Out: This works if you're a "morning person", and not cutting into precious sleep to add some workout time. Lack of sleep is a prime reason for overeating - so choose another time to exercise, or divide up your activity to 5-10 minutes at a time, during your day.

6. Keep Treats Out of the House: While you don't want a houseful of temptation, if you keep everything out of the house, you'll likely get deprived and overeat elsewhere. It's best ot keep a treat around that satisfies, but doesn't trigger your appetite. Keep one or two varieties of portion controlled snacks of around 100 calories (of whatever you like) - so you can visually see the portion, and get the pleasure of eating "the whole thing". You can also divide up treats in ziplock bags, to make single servings on your own.

Other advice you can offer? I'd love to hear it!

Should you pay more for health insurance if you weigh more? This is a hot-button question everywhere. Can you be denied insurance if you're too heavy? Check out the Today Show segment below on a family whose child was denied because of overweight.

While the pros and cons can be defended for each side of this debate, to move ahead as a nation,  I think we need to begin to link the mind-body connection to weight control. Obesity has multiple causes, including genetic, metabolic, psychological and environmental.

If we look at this in a black and white way - as either a biological disease (no personal accountabilty) or just a mental battle (all personal accountability) - there's no solution. When we connect the biological and behavioral aspects of weight management  - and provide better strategies to combine treatments in both areas - we can start to make a dent in the complex task of long term weight control.

What do you think?

Could your weight loss effort be stalled because you're too happy? That's part of the results of a recent study done by a group of Japanese investigators recently published in the journal, Biopsychosocial Medicine. As part of a 6-month weight loss study, about 100 patients filled out personality surveys, in addition to receiving nutrition, exercise, and behavior instruction for weight loss.

The interesting thing here is not the weight loss results from the program, but what "personality type" had the best and worst rate of weight loss. So, what did they find?

People who had a more happy go lucky, "anything goes" kind of temperament actually lost less  weight, compared to the more serious-minded group. One interpretation is that the more laidback attitude relates to less disciplined "child" traits, in contrast to those who were more focused and goal-oriented, reflected in more "adult" personality traits.

While this might be a preliminary finding, without a thorough explanation, I think we can glean a bit of practical information from this study. Pick a weight control program, stay committed, learn from your mistakes,, and view this as a total lifestyle permanent change, not "let me just give it a try and see what happens". That will set you up for success!

Do you take your lifestyle changes seriously? Has that worked for you?

Are you a savvy snacker? Snacks can be a health plus or an eating disaster. How much do you know about the snacks you choose? That's the topic of my TODAY Show segment with Hoda Kotb and guest co-host Donny Deutsch (Kathy Lee is away this week). Take this quiz, and see if you need to revise your own snacking habits......

QUESTION 1. Does a 1 ounce serving of almonds (about 24 nuts) contain MORE or LESS than 12 grams of fat?

QUESTION 2.  When comparing the calories in baked potato chips to those in regular potato chips, do the regular potato chips have 30%, 50%, or 100% more calories than the baked version?

QUESTION 3. Soups can be a great snack, but how much sodium (salt) is in a bowl of tomato soup? Is it 450 mg, 650 mg or 850 mg  10 ounce serving?

QUESTION 4. We all love dips, so try to rank the calories in these different dips, ranking from lowest to highest calories:  hummus, guacamole, salsa, light ranch dip.

QUESTION 5. For frozen treats, we're comparing a one cup serving of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia frozen yogurt with Cherry Garcia ice cream. How many calories, per one cup servings, do you save when choosing the frozen yogurt instead of the ice cream - is it 80, 120, or 160 calories?

QUESTION 6. Another related question to the yogurt versus ice cream switch. How much fat did we save by opting for the frozen yogurt, instead of the ice cream - is it equivalent to 5, 8, or 11 fudgescicles?

QUESTION 7. Here's one about fruit. Rank these four fruits from lowest to highest calories per serving. 1 cup of grapes; 10 dried apple slices; 1 peach; 3 dried plums (prunes).

CONTINUE READING FOR THE ANSWERS