New Delhi, Sept. 6 -- Do you agree that the second half of the year is detrimental to losing or maintaining weight? Festival after festival, social gatherings, which are of course incomplete without the most delectable food and drink, the fried snacks, the mithai-those of you who can continue getting into your skinny jeans, I humbly bow to thee.

Now, back to wearing the doctor-nutrition coach hat, I'm also going to give you the solution to these second-half-of-the-year woes. Remember this all-important term-high-volume foods. Think watermelon, popped corn, leafy greens, clear soups and members of the gourd family. A low-calorie density means a large plate weight/volume for relatively few calories. Basically, mother nature's way of tricki...