FOR THE most part, I'm not a big fan of so-called reality television shows. I'm even less impressed with reality weight-loss shows, which are usually carefully choreographed, sensationalized, exploitative and based on anything but reality.

But, Charles Stuart Platkin, the self-proclaimed Diet Detective and host of the new WEtv reality show "I Want to Save Your Life," is different. He gives it to you straight, baby, no chaser. No BS and no cash awards either.

"I Want to Save Your Life" is rooted in realistic weight-loss and weight-management techniques designed to last a lifetime and not simply till the next Nielsen ratings.

A man after my own heart, Platkin, 46, does a little detective work on show participants' eating habits, then raids and rids their refrigerators and cupboards of sabotaging foods and gets them motivated and moving in the gym.

To bring home a point, he has Jennifer, in Episode One, walk for 2 1/2 hours straight (the amount of exercise it would take for her to burn off the calories in the slice of chocolate cake she's carrying).

Platkin is the first to admit his own lifelong struggle with weight - until he hit his early 30s. Ten years ago, he lost more than 50 pounds, and he has successfully maintained his weight loss.

He says that his own experience shows that you have to get existential about your weight loss: "You can't change the outside until you change the inside."

I agree. It's all about accountability to the only person who counts: you.

Platkin believes that losing weight is not about willpower, or just dieting or only exercise, but about creating healthier behaviors. He says that "eat less, move more" is the wrong advice - in fact, it's an insult to anyone trying to lose weight.

One reason people often fail at weight loss, he believes, is that "we don't connect with why we want to lose the weight. Is your reason vanity, health, aging? We make 253 choices a day; it's the micro-moments that end up mattering the most."

Ultimately, what Platkin proposes is a paradigm shift where you unconsciously, without a feeling of deprivation, crave and select the apple over the apple pie. This, however, requires a little work, energy and effort.

Platkin also recommends getting all aspects of your life organized if you intend to succeed at weight loss and weight management because "the more organized your life is in all areas, the more 'me time' you will have."

His methods are neither quick nor easy. You'll have to roll up your sleeve, get a pen and pad, tackle some of your unresolved emotional issues and clean out your closets, too.

"You're the only one who can make yourself what you want to be," he said.

Indeed!

The show also educates participants on commonsense habits like label-reading and what appropriate portions look like. He teaches how to swap out high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugar items with tasty, nutritionally dense, lower-calorie versions. Like it or not, if you want to lose weight, you'll have to change not only your attitude about food but also the quantity and quality.

Platkin stays with the participants for just a week, but he doesn't leave them hanging. After their basic training, he leaves the participants, then returns about four months later to monitor their progress. Have they applied their learning and turned their lives around?

To me, this is perhaps the best part of the series, because you see the participants as a work in progress. No, they're not perfect and polished, whittled down artificially to supermodel proportions. Yet significant progress is made as poor lifestyle and eating habits are corrected and health problems improved.

In the end, Platkin doesn't just reshape bodies, he reshapes minds and hearts, too. If you need a shot of inspiration and tips for your weight loss, check out "I Want to Save Your Life" Saturdays at 10 p.m. on WEtv.

Platkin also has written five books; his latest is "The Diet Detective's Count Down" (Simon & Schuster). *

Kimberly Garrison is a certified personal trainer and owner of One on One Ultimate Fitness in Philadelphia (www.1on1ultimatefitness.com). E-mail her at

kimberly@1on1ultimatefitness.com. Her column appears each Thursday in Yo!