As I've said, I think the best diet for long-term success is just to not eat so much food. One thing that can be hard for someone on a diet that doesn't have super-strict rules is being able to picture what their meal should look like.  Something less specific is, by definition, harder to define. If you're on the cabbage soup diet, then you know you're dinner is going to look like a bowl of cabbage soup and as long as it does you're doing fine. If you're on Slimfast, then you know lunch is going to look like a can of Slimfast. But if you're goal is just to eat like a normal healthy person it can be hard to know what that looks like on a plate. And if you can't picture something, it's hard to do it consistently.

So I was trying to think of an image people could keep in their minds that might help them know what a proper plate of food would look like. And then it came to me. Here is your 7-word diet plan:

Eat like you're on a first date.

That's it.

 What I mean is that every time you sit down for a meal I want you to imagine that you're on a date with a fit, sexy person of whatever age and gender you find attractive. It should be love at first sight with this imaginary person because they are going to be joining you for every meal until you reach your goal weight and perhaps for the rest of your life. But there's also a magical quality to this person because they need never look the same in your imagination from one meal to the next, and every date from now to eternity is going to be the first. They will gaze deep into your eyes feeling this unexpected connection. Who would have thought you two would be falling for each other so quickly? Why, it was just yesteday when you met at that bus stop/Mazzy Star reunion concert/sketchy real-estate seminar. (It's your fantasy, it can be whatever you want.)

Why a first date? Because, the way most of us eat when we're trying to make a good impression on someone shares a lot in common with the way we should eat if we want to lose weight.

• You eat a nice balanced meal. Nobody sits down at a restaurant on a first date, snaps their fingers and says, "Garçon, bring me your largest plate of bacon cheesefries and a tall glass of half and half, please."

• You don't order a huge amount of food. Not too many lumberjack specials are sold to couples on a first date.

• You eat at a leisurely pace. Hell, there are times when my fat ass has eaten so fast that I'll find myself five minutes later trying to remember if I ate or not. But on a first date you pace yourself. You set down your fork between bites.

• You may even stop eating before you're feeling full.  And when was the last time you did that?

These habits are all good. But the most important thing about this is that it allows you to look at your plate of food and think, "Would I sit down to a meal on a first date with a plate of food that looks like this?" If you can answer yes to that question, I think you're eating a pretty diet-sound plate of food.

You might be thinking, "That's not a diet, that's just a mind trick." But that's really all any diet is. This is just one that you can do without completely restricting any types of food, keeping track of anything, or buying anything.

So try it. Have three meals a day and picture each meal as a first date with the man or woman of your dreams. If you're already in a relationship, this might seem awkward. But this isn't an affair of the heart, it's an affair of the stomach, so don't feel guilty. You're only cheating on your old fat self.

And who knows if the date goes well enough you might be getting into someone's pants soon (Your own, I mean. The ones you haven't fit in for three years.)