Amazon.com (ISBN 0312282966, Hardcover)

"Losing weight is much like being a safecracker. All that separates you from the treasure waiting behind the locked door is the right combination." In The Equation, you learn how to discover your personal combination to help you lose body fat and keep it off. Trainer-to-the-stars Dan Isaacson teams up with physical science expert Dr. Greg Payne and fitness writer Mark Laska to help you increase physical activity, decrease calories, drink more water, and make better choices.

Changing your weight means changing your habits. The authors guide you through the five stages of change and provide strategies (substitute, modify, and shift) that apply to every behavior-change goal. A week-by-week format makes the program easy to swallow, and a daily worksheet ("body bill") helps you stay on track. You figure the calories you're eating, how many you need to eat, and how to decrease calories while increasing physical activity (figured as activity "credits," which correspond to calories burned). The "Equation," then, is "calories in, calories out." The Equation is clear, level-headed, and backed by science. --Joan Price