Around this time of year I start looking forward to fun and sun on the beach, but inwardly and privately, I worry, "How am I going to lose the weight in time for those sandy, sun-soaked occasions?"

After many years, I realize that diets don't work - you're going to yo-yo, crash, burn, and quit.  It's happened to me, it'll happen to you.  But after many years of trial and error, I've condensed what's worked for me into a few basic principles:

For the past few years, in fact, all of my adult life, I have been  spending a considerable amount of time in different continents and vastly different cultures.

I spend a good portion of my year in the Philippines since my brother and my parents live there.  I go back now to Socal a lot because of my li'l nephew and my sister and my mom live there and of course, I go to school in the Bay Area and England.

But despite my exposure to international styles...