Diet Trends Come and Go

Scores of weight-loss fads have punctuated the past two decades. Recently, the low-carbohydrate approach captured attention. This regimen has been around since the 1960s, but was reinvented and successfully promoted with the 2001 publication of Robert Atkins's New Diet Revolution. The South Beach Diet, another reduced-carbohydrate approach, became a best seller in 2003.

In between, celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil McGraw, Suzanne Somers, and Kirstie Alley promoted various diets, while ¬Today weatherman Al Roker was one of many celebrities who slimmed down with gastric bypass surgery. Yet the nation still struggles with an obesity epidemic.

What can help? In 1994, the National Weight Control Registry was established to study people who had lost 30 pounds or more and successfully kept it off for at least a year, and track their ability to stay slim. Their secret is no secret at all: Eat breakfast, monitor your weight, control calories, choose sensible portions, and exercise at least 60 minutes daily-in short, the sensible advice espoused by Cooking Light for 20 years.