You have sworn off the leftovers, had that last bite of a biscochito and sipped your last glass of champagne. Here we are again. It’s a new year and if you are like most women and some men, you are vowing to try to lose weight again this year. However, just as doctors and health experts predict that most people will want to lose weight in the coming year, most of them again predict that dieters will come out of the gate ready to race and then falter before the homestretch. Heartache ensues and then you really ditch any new positive learned behaviors in favor of all those negative ones.

It's a popular misconception that losing weight is mostly about willpower, says Dr. Michael Hopkins, the Medical Director at an Albuquerque weight loss center. He has been studying weight loss for more than 20 years as a plastic surgeon and the last four working with his associated weight loss center. It wasn’t until recently that he really got to the point where he understood all the dynamics of losing weight. The first point he made in our interview was that obesity is a result of a developed nation where calories are cheap. Think fast food, junk food, overly processed food with almost no nutritive value, it is all very cheap. In December the weekly Sunday news program 60 Minutes did a report on the production of chemically produced artificial flavors. By the end of the report it was clear why the nation has become so obese. The chemicals to flavor and preserve and hormones to fatten used in the mainstream US food supply has created a byproduct in people, which is fat that does not burn off as an energy or a naturally occuring calorie.

Fast foods, foods that are frozen, canned and processed are no longer whole foods but rather a combination of fillers, flavors and sodiums, with only particles of whole meats and vegetables. Fast foods are drastically modified and reconstituted. Another recent documentary on the disappearance of the honeybees pointed out to pesticides used on fruit and vegetable crops. Disappearing bees happened around the world and were finally traced back to the use of pesticides developed in the United States, which were causing the bees to become disoriented, dizzy, and spastic as depicted in a film conducted by a team of scientists in France. No one at this point is willing to dig deeper and determine how this might be affecting the people eating these products. What is known, however, is that the pesticides sink into the soil. Then on the next growing cycle produces the fruit and vegetables that end up in our grocery stores. Thus the chemicals become part of the foods DNA.

One of the scientists interviewed in the Disappearing Bees documentary indicated much of this was brought about by mono-crop production. Where a farmer will grow only one crop where a single pesticide has an abundance of food and requires a very strong insecticide.

Instead of having a variety of crops with the natural ebb and flow of pesticides and harvest yield, industrial farmers are mass-producing food with chemical pesticides tainting and impacting the nutrient value of the food.

Interestingly, when the dollars and best practices are crunched, the cost of using pesticides is a wash. The cost to spray crops is about equal to the lost harvest from naturally occurring pests. Organic farming is on the rise around the world and with that hope for improved food products.

While Dr. Hopkins did not want to weigh in on the big picture of our food source he is adamant about his observations that weight loss can be boiled down to one thing for women and two things for men.

“For women it is calories,” he says. “That’s it. Calories. For men, it’s calories and exercise. I know there are people out there, perhaps even other health experts, who will say, ‘That Hopkins guy is crazy. It’s not that easy to explain.’ But I think it is. Do I think we all need help when it comes to implementing a low-calorie diet? Yes, absolutely. And that is the real answer to having a successful weight loss program.” In the past four years Hopkins has changed his views as a result of the patients he has been working with at his weight loss clinic. These are live case studies for him.

So if it truly is only about “calories, stupid,” as Hopkins suggests, can women simply restrict calories without counting fat grams, carbohydrate intake and sugar consumption? Yes, says Hopkins, absolutely.

“I could put someone on a 900-calorie-a-day M&Ms diet,” he said. “They will lose weight. Is it unhealthy? Yes, of course. But any woman who eats a good, balanced 900-calorie-a-day diet is going to lose weight at about 2-3 pounds a week.”

Most people will have an easier time dieting if they have supportive friends and/or a good physician-led medical weight-loss program. At his center, Hopkins uses a combination of a 900-calorie a day diet and a prescription or herbal appetite suppressant. There are other enzymes also incorporated into the plan as well. Patients go through a battery of health screenings before they are entered into the program and given either the herbal or prescription appetite suppressant. Individuals weigh in weekly and if the team at the center doesn’t see a pattern of weight loss, patients are not given the prescribed supplements and must look a little deeper within their psyche if they want to continue on the program.

Weight loss is not easy for anyone, whether you are on a medically supervised program or going it alone. Dieters battle society and biology. Not only must people navigate through food buffets and restaurants with huge portions, they also battle their own biological responses. According to another recent story on NPR Radio in November, which has a series of stories on America’s obesity epidemic, the challenges start when we begin to shed those first few pounds. Doctors say that at this point the person’s biology really kicks in and tries to resist the weight loss.

Another issue in play is age. Is it really harder to lose weight the older we get? Yes, say health experts because people continue to consume as much or more calories as they did when they perhaps were much more active. So while metabolism slowed, calorie consumption didn’t, which goes back to what Dr. Hopkins suggested. Sometimes it really is just about reducing calories. The USDA has a food pyramid guide specifically for seniors with an emphasis on whole grains, fruits and vegetables and watching your calorie intake.

Anyone should be cautious because as you get older, it will take longer to lose weight, so it helps to focus on the process of eating as healthfully as possible. Do that and your body will respond in its own time, say doctors.

Prime Time interviewed an Albuquerque woman who was a client of Dr. Hopkins weight loss program who lost 20 pounds over two years. She did it slowly losing 10 pounds at a time and then waiting about six months to lose the next 10 pounds. This individual had been through every known program, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, liquid diets and more. What she discovered is that it really is about the calories.

When she started gaining an extra pound here and there she tried to exercise and gained weight. Another horrible discovery she made is that one can gain up to four pounds from one day to the next. So her habit today, is to keep track of her weight daily. Watching how it rises and drops and when there is a rise get back on a restricted diet immediately.

Another individual who lost almost 80 pounds found that in a period of about four months of not paying attention to his life he put 40 of his lost pounds right back on. How did he do it? By getting stressed and using food to make him feel better.

Food is happy medicine because the moment you eat something you like, you feel better, said our 57 year-old female subject.

"Cheap food is why in wealthy industrialized nations like the United States there is so much obesity. In the old world it was only the royals and elite who were overweight because they were the only ones who had an abundance of food," said Dr. Hopkins. The rest of the population barely had enough to eat.

The issue in the United States is now a major social problem. In New Mexico there was a case a few years back where a family nearly lost their young daughter because of her weight. In another state a child has recently been removed from her family because of obesity. Fast food, sugar, junk food is all very cheap and requires no effort so it is poor people who are eating the worst diet and gaining the most weight.

On a positive note, Dr. Hopkins said that for women, the best way to "maintain" their weight loss is to exercise. He stressed however that while a woman is trying to lose weight, exercising is counter-productive. Exercise makes people hungrier. “That might surprise people but really, I suggest only light exercise for women on a diet."

For men, however, exercise should be incorporated into an early weight-loss program that restricts calories. Hopkins said that biologically, men will shed more pounds if they exercise and diet, though women may not. Then, after men have lost the weight, they have to workout even harder to maintain it. It’s true, however, men do lose weight quicker than women. It’s all about biology and the way women’s bodies store fat for child bearing and other reasons.

Let’s not leave the weight loss discussion this New Year on a bad note, said Dr. Hopkins. There are reasons to be hopeful. When an individual is really ready to lose weight they can but they need support and an understanding about what they are putting into their mouths. All body types, no matter how overweight a person is, can lose weight and keep it off with behavioral modifications that last a lifetime.

Our 57 year-old female subject who found success with her 10 pounds at time practice and said “The most I have ever been able to withstand, in terms of calorie deprivation, has been what it takes to lose 10 pounds. This is why I decided when I turned 52 that I was going to get my extra weight off once and for all. I made a personal challenge to myself and had a plan. I lost the first 10 pounds with Jenny Craig, which was very difficult because I don't like artificial food. But I kept those 10 pounds off for six months and when I was ready for my next 10 pounds I got on Dr. Hopkins' program and lost my second round of 10 and went back to my normal life for about five months to insure I had changed my eating habits before I went back to the program to lose the next round of 10 pounds. I kept this weight off for about two years before I noticed I had gained four pounds. My first reaction was to kick up the exercise but instead of losing I gained another couple of pounds. So before letting any more pounds pile on I went right back to my 900 calorie diet with the help of appetite suppressants.

Today at 57, I have accepted the fact that for me this is going to be a lifelong pattern. I will have to be vigilant because my body is filled with deflated fat cells that are just waiting for me to get lazy and forget about what I eat because my body wants to be plump and I don’t.”

If you have made a resolution this year to move out of the obesity range or heavy range, remember that not everyone can go it alone. If you’re in the homestretch and do not feel like you are having success; find a program that offers you face-to-face support. And remember, women, it’s all about calories, calories, calories.