Getting rid of your gut does more than just improve the way you look - you'll also have a healthier heart to show for your efforts!  Cutting your carbohydrate intake by a third will help you lose fat while significantly lowering your triglycerides, a key predictor of heart disease.  Scientists at the University of California at Davis found that cutting carbs to less than 40 percent of your total daily calories deactivated a triglyceride-producing gene called stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase (SCD).  The greater the reduction in carbohydrates the less active the gene became.  Start today by switching to an open-faced sandwich or skipping bread altogether in favor of a tortilla.

Sometimes you just love to rip into a big stack of pancakes on a Saturday or Sunday morning - but trust me, you will pay the price.  Pancakes are very high on the Glycemic Index, which means that insulin levels will surge, and those carbs will be packed onto your body as stored fat…undoing all of the good work you did during the week.  So try this substitute this weekend - I had these last weekend and drizzled them with melted natural peanut butter.  You could also use sugar free syrup or jelly and some real butter to top these tasty high-protein pancakes.  The casein in the cottage cheese and the fiber in the oats will keep you feeling satisfied, and burning fat, straight through to lunch.

• 1/2 cup low (or no) fat cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup steel cut oats
• 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites (any size egg)
• Dash of cinnamon

Blend all ingredients in a blender, divide batter into four equal pancakes and cook in a frying pan or griddle on medium-high heat.  Flip when bottom is golden brown.

Be creative - add some blueberries in after blending or on top, strawberries would work great as well!

In case you missed it, Oprah Winfrey has announced that yes, once again, she has crossed the 200 pound mark.  Yes, the same Oprah who lugged a wagon full of fat on stage when she lost a bunch of weight in the late 80s.  And yes, the same Oprah who visited the deep South last year to recruit people to get on the Bob Greene "Best Life" diet.  The same Oprah who seemingly has Dr. Mehmet Oz on her show every single day.  Now, just like her pudgy offshoot, Dr. Phil, she is once again shining light on the "do as I say, not as I do" hippo-crisy.

What I want to know is - when will people stop listening to Oprah?  She has ZERO credibility at this point.  Remember the whole Hermes hissy fit she claims did not happen?  You know, when she said that she was shut out of the store and making it a race issue, when it was really a retail store that was abiding by their posted hours and did not want to extend her the "celebrity courtesy" she sought?  Or how about the whole James Frey scandal, where she promoted his book as part of her Book Club (and do NOT get me started on her undue influence on the book publishing industry) and then had a "shame on you" episode of her show when it was exposed that he made the story up?  Now, she is using the tired "messed up thyroid" excuse to blame for her recent fat explosion.

So who hosts the SHAME ON YOU, OPRAH episode of the Oprah Winfrey show?!  I will gladly step up and rake her over the coals for being the hippo-crite that she is.  Oprah, you have all the resources in the world - a cook, a trainer, medical staff - resources to which most people would never have access.  Set a good example for all of those who look up to you and live a healthy lifestyle.  You have tirelessly peddled your friends' weight loss products to millions of lemmings who fall victim to your "broad appeal" - maybe you should donate back some of the proceeds you have made over the past 20-something years related to weight loss to programs that actually work and are written by people who truly "walk the walk."  I would call this food-for-thought, but then Oprah might eat it!