“Take care of your body.  It’s the only place you have to live.”—Jim Rohn

It’s not news that diet books sell extremely well in the United States. Do a quick search on Amazon, and you’ll discover that there are more than 1,000 new diet books on the market in 2011 alone. These diets often suggest a miracle cure that will get you the weight-loss results you want in an impressively short period of time. Many propose far-fetched but all-too-seductive solutions, whether it’s to “fat flush,” eat like a Frenchwoman, or consume only lemonade.

Most of these diets are just a lot of “wishful shrinking,” keeping dieters shackled to their scales and obsessively counting calories. The common lament of many beleaguered dieters is that they lost weight on their diet, only to gain it all back (and then some) once they stopped. In fact, it has been estimated that 98% of people fail on a diet and are worse off after the diet than before they began it. And many of these “crash” diets do more harm than good because they advocate extreme calorie restriction and nutritional deprivation.

Here are three important things you should know:

1. You haven’t failed your diet. Your diet has failed you.

Gimmicks and quick fixes don’t work, at least not in the long term.

2. Any diet that is based on deprivation is a punishment, not a solution.

Deprivation diets also have the effect of lowering one’s metabolism, making it increasingly difficult to lose weight over time, and very easy to gain it all back once the diet stops. In fact, an effective and healthy diet should actually broaden your food choices, not restrict them. Diets often fail because they are rather joyless endeavors that regard food as “the enemy” rather than a supportive friend. A restrictive diet may get you in that high school reunion dress, but it will also likely have a detrimental effect on your relationship with food.

3. There is a hidden secret—not just to weight loss, but to your overall health and well-being—that is absent from many diet protocols.

But it is no trick or panacea, and it does not lie outside of yourself. It resides deep within your own body. This critical “missing piece” is your own inner ecosystem, the potentially fertile soil within your own body that must be restored, nurtured and supported. This healthy intestinal environment, brimming with beneficial bacteria, doesn’t just help you to lose or maintain your desired weight—it helps you to resist disease, live better and longer, and protects you against many of the degenerative diseases associated with aging. It will keep you looking and feeling young forever.

Do your research. After all, it’s your body. Make it your goal to learn more about this vital key to health, longevity and, yes, a slimmer body.

Author Donna Gates’ mission is to change the way the world eats.  Over the past 25 years, she has become one of the most beloved and respected authorities in the field of digestive health, diet and nutrition, enjoying a worldwide reputation as an expert in candida, adrenal fatigue, autism, autoimmune diseases, weight loss, and anti-aging. At 65 years old, the mother of three, and a grandmother, she is often mistaken for a women in her 40s and has more energy than she’s ever had.  After years of research, Donna Gates has compiled the most cutting-edge anti-aging knowledge into her book, The Baby Boomer Diet: Anti-Aging Wisdom For Every Generation and the companion Growing Younger Series is a fascinating blend of breakthrough medical information, practical health advice, and spiritual wisdom, relevant for people of any age. It juxtaposes today’s stress-filled lifestyle with practical guidelines rooted in ancient principles.