Trying to lose ten pounds is like trying lose that sticks-like-glue-to-you boyfriend that you never really found appealing in the first place.

The first time it happened to me, I was in the fourth grade and it took me a year before I could get him to stop following me home, and another eight to stop calling me honey.

I think that was it for me and boyfriends until I was well into college, but an extra 10 pounds have wrapped their way around my hips off and on since high school. The truth is, however, if you are only 10 pounds over your ideal weight, you most likely could stay where you are and have a happy, healthy, long life, as far as your weight is concerned. That's because the ideal weights we tend to give ourselves don't usually have much to do with what the Surgeon General recommends. They are usually closer to some crazy notion that all we should really be carrying around is skin, bones, and a couple of necessary organs.

I have even come to like the 10 pounds that I used to spend most of my waking hours trying to shed. If I go to a party full of skinny women, as hard as they may be trying to get noticed, they all tend to look the same, while I stick out in the crowd. I'm not saying it gets me more dates, which I had to give up anyway, once I got married -- I'm just saying I'm not your average skinny girl.

It is an unbelievably good feeling not to have to worry about everything you eat, and everyone is much more relaxed around someone who enjoys her food, instead of rearranging it on the plate.

That said, if you are hell bent on sveltness and looser clothes, there is a way to do it without checking yourself into a clinic. It will never work to diet, because the minute you are on a diet, you are wanting to get off the diet. Rationing stinks, and the stress it causes will only make you constipated.

Move yourself around at a good pace for 20 minutes a day, and then just make sure that everything you put in your mouth is good for you. Shop for yourself. Get in there and be really choosy picking out exactly what you want to eat. A lot of the problem isn't so much that we overeat, but that we don't take the time to think about what it is we are eating. If you have a healthy stock of food in the house, instead of old ice cream and older frozen cake, then when you are tired, you might make noodles instead of finishing up the stuff in the freezer.

Rather than try to limit yourself to a half a bagel, cottage cheese, and ultimately, Snickers, eat however much you want, but exclusively foods that are worth their weight in nutrition. Food that is good for you is processed differently than junk. Whole grains, fruits, legumes, fish, meat, low-fat dairy and vegetables are used for important bodily functions like cell building, skin elasticity, and healthy bones. Junk, or foods super high in processed sugar and fat, is turned to fat. It takes a while to rethink what you eat and to actually want vegetables, but the bliss of not having to eat peanut-sized portions makes you feel normal again.

Remember, cheeses like brie have so much fat in them there is no room for protein or calcium. You are better off with provolone or parmesan. In addition, white flour and white sugar are white because they are bleached, and there is nothing good for you in bleach. No matter what the color, sugar has the drawback of being sugar, which is void of nutrients, and white flour has the additional problem of having been stripped naked of its hull, where all the good stuff is.

Start with some of the following recipes and throw that candy to the curb.

1. Skirt Steak with Arugula
(Steak fills you up, and gives you a protein kick that will last for a few days; serve with a tomato salad and fresh melon for dessert.)

Heat up a heavy pan until hot. Season the steak well with salt and pepper. Lay it into the pan and do not disturb for at least three minutes. You are looking to have a nice coppery color before you flip it to the other side. Cook to your desired temperature, remove from the pan, and transfer to a cutting board. Wash and dry baby arugula leaves. Season with a little olive oil, salt, and a bit of lemon juice. Once the steak has rested for about five minutes, slice on the diagonal and serve with the salad on top.

2. Chicpeas with Zucchini and Fresh Tomatoes

Open a can of chicpeas and rinse well. Cut a zucchini into small cubes and throw into a hot pan that has been glazed with olive oil, along with a whole clove of garlic. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and don't move them around for about two minutes. Cook until it just begins to soften. Mix together with the chicpeas. Chop a ripe tomato into bite-sized pieces and add to the mix. Squeeze on some lemon juice, drizzle with a little more olive oil, and rip in some fresh basil leaves, if you happen to have them hanging around. Adjust the salt and pepper.

3. Buckwheat Pancakes
(These are so easy, once you get the hang of them. Live a little, and serve with real maple syrup or an all-fruit jam.)

One big serving: 1/4 cup of buckwheat flour, 1 egg, 1/4 cup of water or milk, and 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda. Beat the egg a bit, add the liquids, then the baking soda, and finally, the buckwheat flour. For extra protein, throw in a Tablespoon of protein powder.

4. Orange Cow

Mix together really cold, plain, lowfat yogurt, and orange juice. Drink like a shake.

5. Fresh Fruit Salad

Cut up the freshest melons you can find and add cherries, kiwis, berries, and pineapple. Serve as soon as possible. I have been known to eat this frozen if I don't get through it in a day.