Maybe the weight-loss equation should be changed to “Eat less. Exercise more. Read more, too.”

        Bookstore shelves are fat with new releases promising to hold the magic formula for weight loss. Advice ranges from eating like a caveman to avoiding carbohydrates to tailoring your diet to meet the magic ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

        Here are the usual warnings: Check with your doctor before starting a weight-loss plan. Beware of diets that require you to eliminate particular types of foods (like carbohydrates) or rely on food combinations. Remember the food pyramid: Lots of grains, fruits and vegetables, less fat, sugar and meat.

        Among recent releases:

        • The Origin Diet (Henry Holt and Co., $23) by Elizabeth Somer. The premise: Plants good. Too much meat bad — not to mention hard to catch. Ms. Somer, a registered dietitian, argues that modern diets are out of tune with our evolution and advises sticking to a diet similar to what Stone Age humans followed: minimally processed fruits, lots of legumes, a little honey for sweetening and low-fat meats such as chicken and fish that harken back to wild game — not farm-raised beef. The book emphasizes the need for regular physical activity and includes recipes and meal plans.

        • The Formula: A Personalized 40-30-30 Weight Loss Program (Ballantine Books, $23.95) by sports nutritionists Gene and Joy Daoust. The Daousts, authors of 40-30-30 Fat Burning Nutrition, are back. The new tome aims to help readers apply the Daousts' recommendation of a dietary mix of 40 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent fat and 30 percent proteins, to everyday nutrition. The book features meal plans and recipes, including a “21-Day Fat Flush” formula and breakdowns on how some prepared foods and fast foods fit into the plan.

        • The Spark (Simon and Schuster, $22) by Dr. Glenn Gaesser and Karla Dougherty, combines 10-minute bursts of exercise with a diet rich in complex carbohydrates (bagels are important here). Dr. Gaesser, a professor of exercise physiology, and Ms. Dougherty, a writer, promise to reduce your girth and increase your health and fitness with a three-week plan of diet and exercise. The book includes self-tests to determine exercise and food preferences, and the plan is based on the results of a 2000 study at the University of Virginia. The book includes meal plans and recipes, along with resource lists for additional reading and how-to drawings on a variety of exercises.

        • God's Diet (Three Rivers Press, $12) by Dr. Dorothy Gault-McNemee. Dr. Gault-McNemee's plan follows a simple rule: If God didn't make it, don't eat it. Whole foods are good, or in her terminology, “legal.” Processed foods are “illegal.” Whole grain is good. Grain that's been ground into flour and then turned into bread, pitas, bagels, pie crust or anything else, is bad. Ditto alcohol, sugar, pasta, white rice, most salad dressings, sweet pickles, catsup and marshmallows. She stresses getting a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The book includes recipes, but details on meal plans are sketchy (a “bowl” of cereal, with no specified serving size).

        • The Burn Rate Diet(HarperResource, $24) by Dr. Stephen R. Van Schoyck. Dr. Van Schoyck, a clinical psychologist, argues that it's not what or how much we eat that matters: It's how fast we metabolize it. He promises to help you determine what your “burn rate” is and design a meal plan geared toward it. Your “burn rate,” he adds, will change as you continue to lose weight. Warning: There's a lot of math here. If you don't feel like getting out the calculator, check out his Web site (www.theburnratediet.com). The Web site does say services are now free, but users could be charged a ""minimal fee” beginning in March.

        • The Nine Truths About Weight Loss (Henry Holt and Co., $23) by Daniel S. Kirschenbaum. Dr. Kirschenbaum, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Northwestern University Medical School, doesn't talk so much about weight loss as about why people gain weight, and what they can do to change it. The book puts a heavy emphasis on physical activity and eating to avoid weight gain. The book includes some recipes and sample menus.

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