COSMO'S POSTHOLIDAY POUND-SHEDDING PLAN.

Still trying to lose the extra five you packed on over the holidays? Scrap dieting dogma and slim down with Cosmo's two-part, zero-deprivation weight-loss proposal.

* Be honest: You still haven't dropped those last few pounds you swore you'd banish from your bod as soon as the holiday festivities came to a halt. The likely reason? You can't bear the thought of for-saking your favorite foods ...and who can blame you! But fear not--Cosmo's here to save you from a guilt-induced tailspin with a weight-loss plan that doesn't require robotlike discipline. First, ditch the calorie-counting handbooks and pint-size-portion charts that are typical dieting de rigueur. "When you deprive yourself, you're likely to lose control over food, which leads to bingeing and weight gain," says Elizabeth Somer, author of The Origin Diet (Henry Holt, 2001). Instead, revamp your food 'tude, and drop those pesky pounds with these easy-to-stick-to eating principles. Then try some of our metabolism boosters to make those last five pounds melt off even faster.

DIETING DOCTRINE 1

CURB DURING THE WEEK, THEN CAVE ON WEEKENDS

Rigidly sticking to a no-sweets, no-fat (not to mention no-fun) diet all day, every day is both impossible and impractical, says Somer. Instead, pick two days a week when you're allowed to nosh on normally no-no foods, On weekends, you're more likely to eat out, go to parties, or munch on fattening bar food, (But don't go overboard on a free-for-all bingefest.) The reason this rule rocks, says Somer, is that you get a fix of "bad food," so you won't feel deprived and therefore won't be tempted to pig out. Plus you skip the guilt since you have already given yourself permission to dodge your diet--temporarily.

DIETING DOCTRINE 2

NEVER EAT A MEAL IN LESS THAN 20 MINUTES