Book Nook: Drop pounds with Good Housekeeping

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING DROP 5 LBS:The small changes, big results diet, by Heather K. Jones. Hearst Books, $19.95, 270 pp.

Based on Good Housekeeping's monthly Drop 5 column, this book, edited by Rosemary Ellis, its editor in chief, is a bite-size guide to changing your eating habits little by little.

Example: If you hit the office candy dish three times a day for M&M'S, that's 153 calories. Indulge only once a day? Lose a pound in seven weeks.

Well, OK, so you want to lose weight faster? Take the Diet Decoder Quiz (I'm an emotional/meal skipping/mindless muncher type - you may be a junk food junkie or a liquid calorie lover). Then get suggestions specific to your dieting angst.

THE SCOOP From tips by successful "losers" to "Italian picks and pans," this book steers you in the right direction.

THE BOTTOM LINE Hey, it's the holidays: Check out the lean green bean casserole on page 221.