#  If you get two green days in a row or two green days out of three days you subtract one pound from your current target.
  #  When you hit your long term target weight you freeze your current target but you KEEP on doing the RED/GREEN technique. This is important. The Red day/Green day method is a long term habit for getting your weight down and keeping it down for the rest of your life.

<h3>Red days and Green Days</h3>

First you must decide for yourself what constitutes your base healthy diet. For me it is a mix of fruits, vegetables, meats, root veges and some grains. I believe that most processed foods are not good for you and should generally be avoided.

NEW APPROACH: In the next paragraph I previously advocated to simply reduce consumption on RED days. However I have found that for me this can be hard to do. What seems to be working is to fast from 7pm through to 11am the next day and to skip anything with added sugar. The first couple times I did it were a bit tough but is has become quite easy for me. Search online for information on intermittent fasting to learn more. For the RED/GREEN you can skip the fast most days and only fast when your weight is over your target.

For Red days you want to reduce the food energy you take in but strive to keep the nutrient levels high. This is pretty easy. Eat salads, small amounts of meats and proteins and small amounts of fat. Basically keep the veges and cut back on everything else. No sweets, no deserts, but fresh fruit are fine. Skipping a meal helps if you can handle it. Red days can be tough but you should not have more than four of them in a row. If you do have more than four or five red days in a row then you need to be more aggressive with your diet on red days or adjust your current goal.
OLD APPROACH: For Red days you want to reduce the food energy you take in but strive to keep the nutrient levels high. This is pretty easy. Eat salads, small amounts of meats and proteins and small amounts of fat. Basically keep the veges and cut back on everything else. No sweets, no deserts, but fresh fruit are fine. Skipping a meal helps if you can handle it. Red days can be tough but you should not have more than four of them in a row. If you do have more than four or five red days in a row then you need to be more aggressive with your diet on red days or adjust your current goal.

Green days are fun. If you are in a green day you can go a little wild. Enjoy that piece of cheesecake, have some bigger serving of your favorite lasagna. It is still wise to eat lots of good, nutrient dense foods but you can enjoy some of the items you usually avoid. Green days are a reward for the hard work you did on your red days.

<h3>Why it works</h3>
<h3>Why it Seems to Work</h3>

This technique, the Red day, Green Day method, works for several reasons. First, you have a short term small goal, get back to the current weight target you set for yourself. This is highly achievable, after all you were at this goal only days ago. Second, you get the wonderful and immediate reward of eating what you enjoy after only struggling for a few days. Third, and this is important, you should be gradually losing fat and not muscle because you are interleaving days where you eat ample food with days where you cut back. Your body will not go into famine mode. Losing weight in small increments is sustainable. With this method you are always moving towards your long term target. Fourth, this approach is easily built into a daily habit and it can be kind of fun. On Red days you joke with your friends, no going out to eat unless someone wants to share a plate with me, "its a red day" you say with a bit of sadness. On the green days you celebrate a little. "Wow, the cheesecake looks good, I'm having a piece!" you say, your friends ask about your diet and you can answer "yes, but today is a GREEN day!!".

Good luck and please let me know how it goes for you. I'll be adding a forum to this site within the next couple weeks, until that is in place please email me at matt @ kiatoa . com. with your comments, thoughts, criticisms and anecdotes (positive ones I hope).
Good luck and please let me know how it goes for you. Please email me at matt @ kiatoa . com. with your comments, thoughts, criticisms and anecdotes (positive ones I hope).