Some excess weight isn't really fat, but what some clinicians such as Elson Haas, M.D., refer to as "false fat." That's the excess bloat and water retention that comes from hypersensitivity to many common foods -- it's weight we don't need to have, and we feel and look a lot better without it. It also comes off fastest -- the loss of "false fat" is one of the reasons people sometimes lose weight quickly at the beginning of a new diet.

Here are some suggestions for losing it. Remember to take these in the spirit in which they are intended: Not hard and fast rules for everyone, but strategies that are worth trying when you are stuck.

1. Cut out wheat. Whenever I recommend that people try this as a strategy, I invariably get two kinds of responses. One is from irate dietitians who chastise me for going against the "wisdom" of the food pyramid and warn me of the "dire consequences" for human health if people actually followed such a crazy recommendation and stop eating bread, pasta and cereal for a while. The other response comes from people who say this recommendation changed their lives. Wheat is one of the seven top allergens, and untold numbers of people have undetected sensitivities to it. Dr. C. Leigh Broadhurst, one of the brightest researchers I've ever met and the author of the wonderful book Diabetes: Prevention and Cure, once told me that if she had to pick one strategy to recommend to people for weight loss and health it would probably be cutting out wheat. Dr. Jeffrey Bland, also no intellectual slouch, has commented on the possible long-range implications of gluten or glidian sensitivity (both are components of wheat). Eliminating wheat (at least temporarily) is on the top 10 list of so many cutting-edge health professionals that it is foolish not to give it a try.