Scott Adams on Losing Weight

I realized today that Dilbert seems to have a paunch. Us engineers have such a tendency to gain weight... we walk about 300 meters in total on any given day. From the parking ramp to the cube in the morning, the cube to the break room for some mocha, the cube to the rest room to get rid of all that mocha and then the trip downstairs to the cafeteria and back around chow time. I found Scott Adams's "Dilbert Blog" today and I read this article on Losing Weight. After about 3-4 years of trying to lose weight and succeeding every year, I know most of these tricks already but would recommend them to anyone else who is trying.

First, buy a scale and use it daily. As soon as you find yourself 3 pounds over your target weight, begin the Scott Adams Diet™.

Ofcourse the assumption here is that you are already close to your ideal weight, so most of this advice may not work for the morbidly obese. For the morbidly obese kids out there, start breathing twice as fast and getting off the couch once a day.

Adjust your schedule to allow exercise every day at a set time. When that time comes, no matter how tired you feel, put on your sneakers and workout clothes. Then exercise as much or as little as you feel you can handle. The idea is to make it a routine. There is no other objective at this point. Once it’s a routine, you’ll automatically start getting better at it. That part takes care of itself.

Here are other Weight Loss mantras that work for me, let's call it the Saket Diet™:
- No Sugar
Completely get off sugar. I try to avoid any sugar during the week and then reward myself once on the weekend. Use Splenda in your coffee. Sweetners with aspartme cause poisoning, so sucralose seems to be a little less dangerous than others.
- Snack Healthy
If you feel hungry between meals, snack healthy. I keep a bag of walnuts at work to feed the creatures growling inside my stomach. Walnuts are probably the best source of omega-3 fatty acids too. If you just have to eat chips, get a tiny bag of Baked Lays or Doritos from the vending machine.
- Fruit for breakfast
No sugar remember, so cereals typically don't work. I like to eat a banana or an orange or some red grapes with plain non-fat yoghurt. Non-fat milk and "I can't believe it's not butter" are your friends, fruit juice cocktails and orange juice aren't.
- Burn Baby Burn
Exercise everyday if you feel like you're way off target. When I follow the above regimen with daily exercise I lose about 2 pounds every week.

ADDENDUM:
In response to Ashutosh's query... My decision-making is a lot easier because I can always choose to eat a salad or a sandwich at work on weekdays. I'd say stick to salad/sandwich for atleast one meal everyday.
I try to incorporate a lot of good foods in my meals:
- Olive Oil: Extremely healthy because it contains a lot of good cholesterol. Mediterranean people are supposed to live longer because of it.
- Salmon: One of the reasons why Japanese people live so long.

Few single foods bring as many valuable contributions to the table in significant quantities as salmon. It is an excellent source of high-quality protein, containing all the essential amino acids. Salmon contains vitamins A, D, B6 and B2, as well as niacin and riboflavin. Calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium and phosphorus are also present in appreciable amounts in this choice seafood. The fats in Salmon are predominantly un-saturated.

- Wheat Bread
- Avocado
- Yoghurt