For most of the past year, I've been an explorer. I've been seeking the eternal truths of losing weight. And like any mythical journey, I've faced demons (mostly my own) and the wrath of God (whom I don't love enough, according to the founder of the Weigh Down Diet. All hail Satan). There were scary potions (the lemonade diet) and deadly diseases (the obesity virus). There were no handsome princes (honestly, I would have settled for a semi-cute Hobbit) or epic battles (except my never-ending struggle against the Evil Lord Chocolate Vader).

But in the end, I think I found the truths I was looking for. And like all truths, they are astoundingly simple.

Truth One: You are fat because you eat too much. Accept it.

Truth Two: There is no magic pill, food combination or diet. Accept it.

Truth Three: The only way to lose weight is eat less. Accept it.

But along with these eternal truths, I happened to come up with a really interesting hypothesis about losing weight. Really Interesting Hypothesis: It's not about "what" I eat. It's not about "why" I eat. It's about "how" I eat. What do I mean by that? I mean that when it comes to figuring out obesity, we focus a whole lot on what is being eaten, less on why it's eaten, and not nearly enough on how it's eaten.

It's not about "what" I eat. Every diet book ever written focuses on what you eat. Low carb/high protein. Five fruits/seven veggies. Barley juice/ginseng. They pull us in with their promises that this time they have discovered the exact right combination of food to make the pounds melt off. But — and I say this after lots and lots of research — there is no such combination, nor will there ever be. Yes, some diets make the pounds come off quickly initially, but in the long run, they all are about equal.

I actually don't believe in diets. I have been on hundreds. I'm like the movie version of a New York City cop who is at the end of his rope. I've seen too much. The pain. The horror. The doughnuts. And after several car chases, in the end my diet partner will inevitably betray me.

But more than just thinking diets are stupid, I've come to believe that, for me, all of this talk about diets and what I put in my mouth is beside the point. It's just filler in the conversation about my obesity. Yes, what I eat is important. But I know almost as much as any nutritionist about food, and it hasn't helped me one bit.

For me, losing weight is not about knowing the best foods to eat and avoiding the bad ones. I have failed at that for 20 years. It is time for me to accept no amount of knowledge about healthy foods will make me succeed. My overeating is deeper than that. The "what" of overeating is not my problem.

But curiously, I discovered something else this past year. It's not about "why" I eat.

For a long time, I thought the key to losing weight was about the "why." I thought that if I just unraveled my reasons for overeating — comfort, stress, happiness — that I would open the door and lose weight once and for all. That led me down a complicated path and I still haven't found the end of it. That question is a maze, and it's a different maze for each of us. And all of my insights and honesty have done nothing to help me lose weight. They just left me confused.

I've finally come to the conclusion that why I eat is important, but it's not everything.

It's about how I eat. For me, this is the key. I've had to teach myself how to eat. I mean, I've had to consider every aspect of the physical act of eating. What gives me pleasure? What is hunger? What food do I like? What does being full feel like? I know this sounds silly and ridiculously simple, but it's what has worked. In the past week, I've lost five pounds just by eating mindfully. And I wasn't eating all that healthy. I ate a lot of pure junk. But I thought about every single morsel I put in my mouth. As a result, I ate a whole lot less.

This does make some sense. Cognitive behaviorists will tell you that changing the behavior is key to overcoming a problem. But all of this makes me wonder about the obesity problem in our country. It makes me think that maybe we are on the wrong track when it comes to education and prevention. Maybe we need to include, along with preaching about healthful foods, the importance of the act of eating.

What if, during nutrition classes, we taught schoolchildren how to eat mindfully? What if, along with giving a doctor our medical history, we filled out a questionnaire about how we eat?

If we finally shift away from the "what" and "why" of eating, the "how" might just set us free. Unfortunately, it is on this note that I leave you. The economic times being what they are, The New Mexican has decided my journey is over. I have learned an astonishing amount. And, hopefully, you've had fun.

A pre-medical student at The University of New Mexico, Christine Barber has been a journalist in New Mexico for 14 years. Her mystery novel The Replacement Child, which is set in Santa Fe and won the Hillerman prize, is in stores now.