How to Eat 5-6 Small Meals a Day or How to Snack for Weight Loss

This is an easy thing to do. Basically, you eat when you are hungry. But don't have a "meal". Eat what you used to eat as a "snack". But, you have to get a better idea of what a snack is. Have some carrots, pretzels, parmesan cheese and hummus. Have a bowl of oatmeal. Have a small salad with a bit of lean protein, such as chickpeas or tofu. Eat what you like. Just don't eat a lot of it. You want to eat until you start to feel just slightly full. This way, you will actually be hungry to eat 5-6 times a day.

"Grazing" may be good for you. Many nutritionists say grazing, or snacking on mini meals, may very well be a healthier way to eat than three large meals a day. "There is some evidence that people who snack in a wise sort of way may find weight control easier," says David J.A. Jenkins, professor of medicine and nutritional science at the University of Toronto. Further, the AHA points out, nibbling or snacking can be useful for diabetics because it keeps blood sugar levels more even without the big demand for insulin created by larger meals. Yet, with these health benefits, "Snacking has undeservedly gotten bad press," says Dr. Jenkins. And, despite positive research findings on the benefits of healthful snacks, advertisers continue to push calorie-laden snack foods high in saturated fat, salt and sugar.

Snack Tips

1. Stock up on plain popcorn, lowfat whole-grain crackers or bread, unsweetened fruit juices, fresh fruits and vegetables (cut them up right away so they are easier to eat when you get hungry), plain nonfat yogurt, lowfat cottage cheese, hummus, soy crisps, etc.

2. If a snack is replacing a meal, choose snacks that are more like meals, such as a sandwich or a hearty salad and a cup of soup.

3. Go easy on snacks that list sugar as the first ingredient.

4. Avoid foods that contain lard, beef tallow, palm, palm kernel or coconut oils - all high in saturated fat.

5. Plan snacks as a part of the day's food plan. This requires some planning ahead such as packing a yogurt cup or celery with peanut butter and sunflower seeds.

6. When shopping pick out fruits, vegetables and hard cheeses; you will be more interested in eating them if they are already in the house.

7. Set aside a "snack spot" in the fridge and cupboard; keep it stocked with nutritious ready-to-eat snacks.

8. Have snacks at regular times, such as midmorning and midafternoon. Don't nibble constantly during the day.

9. Avoid high sugar, fatty, and salty snacks, such as candy and soda.

10. Snacks are a good way to introduce new foods.

11. Plan snacks to help meet the suggested number of servings a day from the Food Guide Pyramid: 6 to 11 servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta; 2 to 4 servings of fruits; 3 to 5 servings of milk, cheese and yogurt; and 2 to 3 servings of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, and dry beans. (56)

Snack Suggestions

1. Over a small baked potato, spoon 1/2 cup of salsa and 2 tbsp. of sour cream.

2. Heat up a pre-baked sweet potato or yam and top with a tsp. of Smart Balance Light and cinnamon.

3. 2 graham cracker squares each spread with 1 tsp of peanut or almond butter.

4. A wonderfully filling sandwich made of 1 slice reduced calorie bread, a thin layer of mustard, 2 tsp of apple sauce, lettuce and 1 slice of deli-style thin-sliced turkey or vegetarian substitute.

5. Lowfat quick breads and muffins, such as pumpkin, zucchini, banana, or raisin bran.

6. Non-sugared cereals, snack mixes made with popcorn and whole grain cereal.

7. Lowfat yogurt with fresh, frozen or canned fruit.

8. Smoothies with lowfat milk or yogurt and fruit (banana and peanut butter).

9. Whip up a salad with romaine or boston lettuce, tomatoes, cottage cheese, chickpeas, carrots, kidney beans, olives, and lowfat dressing.

10. English Muffin Pizza: whole wheat English Muffin with 2 tbsp. of tomato sauce, and slice up a lowfat mozzarella cheese stick. Add garlic powder. Broil in toaster oven. Yum!

Eating slowly will help prolong the enjoyment and probably will reduce the amount of food actually eaten. Avoid eating on the run by choosing a special eating place, sitting down, and focusing on the meal.

When you eat out, order an appetizer or soup and salad. You may be surprised how satisfied your body will be!

56. Barbara Farner Extension Educator, Nutrition & Wellness

How to Cut out your "Trigger Food" or figure out what "Triggers" you to eat

If you are like me, when you eat certain foods, you are not able to eat just the portion size of them. There are many things that can trigeer eating. For some people, just the presence of high-calorie snacks in the house can be an eating trigger. Unpleasant feelings, such as boredom or anger, can trigger the need to eat in some, while enjoying the company of friends just naturally makes others want to eat. One common trigger is found in most living rooms: the TV. Many people make a habit of getting up during commercials to grab a quick snack.

Recognizing eating triggers is an important first step in getting control of them. Try keeping a food diary for a couple of weeks. Notice when you eat and what you are doing or thinking at the time. When you've identified your triggers, you are ready to do something about them. For example, if TV is your trigger, make a rule that no eating takes place while the TV is on. Take up knitting to keep your hands busy, or get involved in activities that don't leave you time for TV.

Many commercial products are appetite triggers: high carb combinations of wheat + milk + sugar + salt, the same combinations used to fatten farm animals. They do not send a signal to the brain that we have had enough food. Many of us rarely feel truly full to the point where we would not want to eat for at least four hours. Instead, we are hungry again in two hours. Then, unhappy with out weight gain, we seek to medicate our unhappiness with these very same foods.

Worst Trigger Foods

Manufactured carbs are the most common triggers, They are, in effect, addictive substances for many people because they cause further consumption. Also, they are fat in disguise because unused daily carbs are stored by the body as fat.

Examples: bread, donuts, cakes, biscuits, pastries, peanut butter, fast food fries, ice cream, potato chips, Nutella, fastfood burgers, Chicken nuggets, popcorn, chinese food, chocolate, chewing gum, sweets, candies, alcohol, sweet drinks, pizza.

Non-Food Triggers

Depression, The company you keep, not getting enough sleep, winter darkness, cannabis.

When you find yourself reaching for your trigger food, or any "junk food", ask yourself, "Can I avoid eating right now?" or "Can I make a better choice?"

Thin people choose food by how it feels in their body primarily, not just by how it tastes. As a result, they choose more healthy, energy-giving, low-fat foods. Thin people's way of choosing food is actually very different than the way most American's choose food. You have learned to want food that your body shouldn't really need. If you think like a thin person and choose foods that will do something good for your body, you will become that thin person you are pretending to be!

It is useful to consider foods in two broad categories: real food and pleasure food. Real food is food your body needs for nourishment, energy, and health. Pleasure food satisfies a different purpose: stimulation of the taste buds which is experienced in the brain as pleasure. Some food overlaps in both categories. Most real foods also taste very good if prepared properly and if you're eating naturally. Once you're eating naturally you're taste buds will love healthy, energy-giving real food. But pleasure is typically food that only tastes good but provides limited amounts of nutrition satisfying the body's real needs. Examples of pleasure foods include: ice cream, candy, sweets. Both categories are important to provide yourself with a healthy variety in your diet and satisfy your natural desire for certain flavors, including sweets (when your body not your mind wants them) in moderation.

Want and Need

When you are hungry, you should think about your body's "wants" and "needs" together. When you're selecting food, notice what looks good, then consider of those things, which one will your body enjoy the most in the long run in your stomach, after the meal, the rest of the day/evening, in your system, and ultimately on your body or in your body as fat or muscle tissue. Choose foods that your body wants and will also satisfy its needs.

What to do when you get hungry after eating

If you get hungry after a while, in a couple of hours or so after you ate, then eat again! Don't think that your body is bad because it is hungry again! This is one of the more ridiculous and sad things that dieters do: Think that they shouldn't get hungry so soon. Your body is signaling a need for fuel of some kind. Drink a glass of water and if you are truly hungry and not just dehydrated, make a healthy choice and eat a reasonable portion of it.

Pleasure Foods

When you begin to eat the natural way, eating what you want, when you are truly hungry, knowing that you can have anything you want, that you will never have to put up with unsatisfied hunger again, it takes a lot pressure off eating. You will begin to listen to your body and notice that it primarily wants what it needs the desire for pleasure foods diminishes considerably. To see this simply look at people who are "naturally thin". They enjoy pleasure foods in moderation but they don't live for them, they don't crave them very often, and they can easily do without them.

The way you used to treat your body with the famine diets, your body needed fat-producing foods and this is why those foods were the most appealing to you. You will begin to want and enjoy foods that make you feel good and also taste good. Feeling good will quickly be more important than just tasting good. You will want healthy foods. And occasionally, you may want ice cream and you'll have some. But then again, when what you eat makes you feel great, and you feel great about yourself, like many others, you may discover that you don't really like junk food that much anymore.

In summary, people who eat the natural way do four things:

1. Listen to their body.
2. Eat only when they are actually hungry.
3. Stop eating when they are satisfied.
4. Choose food by listening to their body. (54)

54. http://www.e-onlinepublishing.com/

Why Should I Cut Out Soda?

If a person drinks 3 cans of soda per day and stops drinking soda altogther, they will lose about 15 lbs. within a year, just by cutting out soda. If you are drinking regular soda, nutritionally it is a source of sugar, caffeine, caramel coloring and little else. Since sugar is a carb, it can be used by the body for energy, or of consumed in excess it will be converted to fat. Most people who "quit" soda find that after an initial period of adjustment (headaches, lethargy, feeling the "blues") they do feel physically and mentally better, which is enough to keep them from going back.

If you keep other healthier options in the house it will make the transition much easier. Try seltzer with a little unsweetened fruit juice. Brew a pot of tea and put it on ice. Plain tap water with lemon juice. Most studies have found that subsituting diet soda for regular soda is not the best tactic because you will not lose the "sweet tooth" you satisfy by drinking sweetened beverages, either artificially or with the addition of sugar.

Soda is Americans biggest source of refined sugars, providing the average person with one-third of all sugar. Obesity rates have risen in tandem with soda consumption.

Why Should I Stop Eating Fried Food?

There are foods we can eat and foods we can avoid to help us in our quest to find our ideal weight. Foods that are high in fat, such as fried foods, "junk foods", most processed foods, and many meats and dairy products, slow down the metabolism making it harder for us to control our weight. Remember, "fat goes to fat".

Lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, raw nuts and whole grains have the opposite effect, helping to increase the metabolic rate. Fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and grains also have the added benefit of being high in fiber which helps us feel "full" sooner so we have a tendency to eat less. (http://www.a-better-way.com/)

Most of us need to eat far more fruits and vegetables and far fewer of the fatty fried foods. Common sense tells us to cut out sugar and fast fried foods, white rice, white flour, salt, and all processed foods. Eat more complex carbs that also offer protein such as tofu, lentils, baked potatoes, brown rice, sesame seeds, whole grains and white fish. (http://www.marysherbs.com/)

Become a Vegetarian or Vegan

Vegan diets tend to be somewhat lower in fat than other kinds of vegetarian diets and than diets that contain meat, they are often lower in calories, which will help with weight loss. There is also some evidence that vegetarians have higher metabolic rates than people who consume meat, but it isn't clear whether this is due to their lower fat and higher carb consumption or to something else in vegetarian diets.



Certainly vegans who eat diets based on whole plant foods have the edge. While you can eat a vegan diet that is high in calories if you eat lots of processed foods, sweets, and fatty foods, it is definitely easier to keep calorie intake moderate on a vegan diet. Eat lots of foods that are high-water items, which means lots of fruits and vegetables. It isn't necessary to shy away from all fatty foods. Nuts, seeds, nut and seed butters, avocado, and small amounts of oil for cooking are fine. Just be moderate with these foods. Exercise is still important. Exercise alone won't help you lose weight just as a vegan or vegetarian plan won't, but it is effective along with a reasonable eating plan for achieving weight loss and is very effective for maintaining weight loss if it is something you can stick to long term.



As you plan to become vegan for weight loss, keep in mind you do need to eat minimum amounts of certain foods for good health. Plan your diet to include at least 6 servings of whole grains, 8 servings of fruits and vegetables, and 4 servings of some combination of legumes, nuts, or soy products.

Important Guidelines

Calcium: Required to maintain strong bones (along with weight-bearing and aerobic exercise), and an essential part of a healthful diet. Green leafy vegetables such as kale are as good or better than milk as calcium sources. Other good sources include tofu, chickpeas and other legumes, nuts and seeds (almonds, Brazil nuts, pistachios, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds), dried fruit, figs, broccoli, fortified soy and rice milk. Vitamin D is essential for absorption of calcium.

Age Requirements:

0 to 12 months 525 mg

11 to 18 years, male 1000 mg

11 to 18 years, female 800 mg

19+ years 700 mg

Breast feeding women 1250 mg

Fats: The American Heart Association recommends that daily fat intake should be less than 30% of total calories; saturated fat intake less than 8-10% of total calories, and cholesterol less than 300 mg per day. The body needs a certain amount of fat in the diet. It stores fat to serve as a quick energy source and to protect important organs. However, all fats and oils are high in calories. Fats provide 9 calories for each gram contained in food, while protein and carbs each provide only 4 calories. A more heart healthy fat is unsaturated fat, generally found in vegetables. This type includes mono and poly-unsaturated fats. (36)

Monounsaturated fat is found in olive, canola, and peanut oils. These are considered the healthiest for your heart and body. Avocados and nuts also contain monounsaturated fat.

Polyunsaturated fat is found in soybean, corn, safflower and sunflower oils, Thus type of fat is considered the next healthiest fat that will not clog your arteries.

Fiber: The American Heart Association recommends eating a variety of food fiber sources. Fiber is important for the health of the digestive system and for lowering cholesterol. Foods containing fiber often are good sources of other essential nutrients. Depending on how they're prepared, these foods can also be low in trans fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. Fruits, vegetables, whole-grain, high-fiber foods, beans and legumes are good sources of both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. The AHA recommends that at least half of grain intake come from whole-grain foods.

Dietary fiber intake among adults in the United States averages about 15 grams. The Institute of Medicine recommends consuming 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories you need.

Dietary fiber may promote satiety by slowing gastric emptying, leading to an overall decrease in calorie intake. Foods high in insoluble fiber include whole-wheat breads, wheat cereals, wheat bran, rye, rice, barley, most other grains, cabbage, beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, turnips, cauliflower and apple skin.

Iron: Iron is necessary for the development of hemoglobin and is used in protein metabolism. Collards, kale, broccoli, and other dark greens are good iron sources, as are dried fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and legumes. Iron absorption is increased when sources of Vitamin C (found in dark leafy vegetables, tomatoes or citrus) are served along with the iron-rich food. The use of cast-iron cookware also contributes to iron in the diet.

Age Requirements:

0 to 3 months 1.7 mg

4 to 6 months 4.3 mg

7 to 12 months 7.8 mg

1 to 3 years 6.9 mg

4 to 6 years 6.1 mg

7 to 10 years 8.7 mg

11-18 years, male 11.3 mg

19+ years, male 8.7 mg

11-49 years, female 14.8 mg

50+ years, female 8.7 mg

Potassium: Critical for maintaining a normal heart rhythm and mineral balance. Bananas are a good source of potassium. Cooked greens like spinach, baked sweet potato and winter squash are also good sources.

Protein: Protein is a vital nutrient, essential to your health. Proteins help replace and form new tissue, transports oxygen and nutrients in our blood and cells, regulates the balance of water and acids, and is needed to make antibodies. However, too much of a good thing is not good for you. Many people are putting their health at risk by eating too much protein in an attempt to lose weight. Excessive protein consumption, particularly animal protein, can result in heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and kidney stones. (36)

The foods that can add a proper amount of protein to a vegan diet are pulses (peas, beans, lentils, soy products), grains, nuts, and seeds.

Zinc: Zinc is present in a wide variety of foods, particularly in association with proteins. A vegetarian diet often contains less zinc than a meat based diet and so it is important for vegetarians to eat plenty of foods that are rich in this vital mineral. Good sources for vegetarians include dairy products, beans and lentils, yeast, nuts, seeds and whole grain cereals. Pumpkin seeds provide one of th most concentrated vegetarian food sources of zinc. (37)

Vitamin A: Vitamin A is important for vision and healthy skin. Dark leafy green vegetable (like spinach and turnip greens), deep yellow fleshed root vegetables (like carrots, sweet potatoes), squash (acorn, butternut, etc.), some fruits (apricots, cantaloupes) and red bell peppers.

Vitamin B12: Vegans and vegetarians that do not consume dairy or eggs can obtain Vitamin B12 from nutritional yeast. One or two tbsp. of nutritional yeast supplies you with the adult RDA. B12 is also found in various fortified foods and cereals. You can also take a supplement. I mix nutritional yeast in with my baked tofu.

Vitamin C: Vitamin C is necessary for healthy bones and teeth. Tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, potatoes, and dark green leafy greens such as spinach, romaine lettuce, and watercress are all good sources of Vitamin C, as well as oranges, grapefruit, cantaloupe, strawberries and broccoli.

Vitamin D: Vegans can obtain Vitamin D from sunlight or by consuming fortified foods like soy milk, cereals, and margarine.

Vitamin E: An antioxidant which helps protect against cell damage. Sources of Vitamin E include nuts and vegetable oils. Whole grains and green leafy vegetables are also good sources.

Vitamin K: Needed to coagulate blood and to maintain proper bone density. It has been shown to help prevent degenerative diseases like osteoporosis and heart disease. Phylloquinone is the most common form of Vitamin K and is found in some oils, such as soybean oil, and in dark green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli. One serving of spinach or two servings of broccoli provide 4-5 times the RDA of phylloquinone. (45)

Morningstar Farms puts out great products that actually taste like meat. Most restaurants these days have at least one of not many options for vegetarians. Having only two or three options on the menu can really help you if you are like me and can never decide what to order!

Some great vegetarian cookbooks are:

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for any day by the Moosewood Collective

The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook: Your Guide to the Best Foods on Earth: What to Eat, Where to Get it, How to prepare it by Diana Shaw, Kathy Warinner (Ill.)

Becoming Vegetarian: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Vegetarian Diet by Veanto Melina, Brenda Davis, Victoria Harrison

Vegetarian Express:Easy, Tasty, and Healthy Menus in 28 Minutes (or less) by Nava Atlas and Lillian Kayte

Incredibly Delicious: The Vegan Paradigm Cookbook by Gentle World, Sky Weil (ill.)

36. Monique N. Gilbert, B. Sc.

37. The Vegetarian Society of the UK

45. http://www.a-better-way.com/

The Art of Distraction

If you are busy in your life, in a good, positive way, you won't have time to focus or obsess about food. If you are able to find something that really satisfies you, your life will be fuller. Get a pet. Learn to ski/snowboard/waterski. Write. Take a wine tasting class. Take a Photography Class. Learn how to develop your own pictures. Learn how to Garden. Take a Dance Class. Join a Book Club. Learn to Horse Back Ride. Join a church. Volunteer at a hospital. Learn to play an instrument.

Volunteer for Charity: http://www.helping.org/ is a great website that matches volunteers with charities and community projects that need help.

Learn to Do Something: http://www.learn2.com/ is a website that teaches you to do things like:

Arts and Crafts: Learn to frame a picture, learn to play the guitar, learn to make a wreath, learn to make paper mache.

Automotive: Learn how to tint your car windows, learn how to wax a car, learn to change your oil, learn to flush your car radiator, learn to repair scratches and rust spots.

Business and Money: Learn how to establish a perennial budget, learn to clean up your credit report, learn to get out of debt, learn to obtain a business license.

Family and Pets: Learn to adopt a pet temporarily, learn to soothe a teething baby, learn to groom a horse, care for a pet tortoise, learn to cure bed wetting, learn how to housebreak a puppy.

Food and Drink: Learn to choose wine, learn to brew your own beer, learn to make marinara sauce, lear to appreciate gourmet mushrooms, learn to choose a kitchen knife, learn to grow sprouts.

Health and Fitness: Learn how to avoid frostbite, learn to give a back massage, learn to stretch, learn to take a pulse, learn to choose a health club.

Home and Garden: Learn to paint with a marble finish, learn to attract butterflies, learn to build a birdhouse, learn to build a dry stone wall, learn to build a garden pond, learn to build a windowbox, learn to hang wallpaper.

Sports and Recreation: Learn to canoe, learn to choose athletic shoes, learn to juggle, learn to play chess, learn to throw a curve ball, learn to waltz.

Style and Social Graces: Learn to appreciate poetry, learn to darn a sock, learn to give a manicure, learn to tie a necktie.

Technology: Learn to build a webpage, learn to install a modem, learn to repair a scratched CD, learn to shop for a wireless phone.

Travel: Learn to choose a travel agent, learn to conquer your fear of flying, learn to plan a ski vacation, learn to understand how planes work.

Writing and Speech: Learn to get by in French/Indonesian/Spanish, learn to understand Basic American Sign Language, learn to write your congressperson, learn to write a screenplay.

Why Breakfast is So Important

You may think that skipping breakfast is a good weight-loss technique, or you may feel you don't have enough time to eat breakfast, or you may feel that eating early in the morning upsets your stomach.

Mostly these are just excuses. Breakfast doesn't have to take a lot of time. It can be simple or elaborate, cooked or uncooked, eaten sitting down or on-the-run, low or high in calories, mundane or varied. The main thing is to make breakfast part of your morning routine.

Breakfast can be just about anything, from last night's leftover pizza to a peanut butter sandwich to cereal and milk. For the person on the run, a blended smoothee might hit the spot. If this doesn't appeal, there's always oatmeal, eggs, granola bars or instant breakfast. Grapes, apples, bananas, cheese, yogurt are other quick and easy on-the-go breakfast ideas. When planning breakfast remember "bread-fruit-milk" - the basic components of a healthy breakfast.

Saving calories is another common reason people give for skipping breakfast. If your typical breakfast is a couple of donuts and coffee with two teaspoons of sugar, you have good reason to be concerned about the amount of calories you take in. However, the answer is not to skip breakfast, but to select a breakfast that provides nutrients with the fewest calories. For example, a breakfast with 8 ounces of skim milk, 1 oz. of dry cereal or whole wheat toast, and 6 oz. of fruit juice has fewer than 250 calories. Yet it packs enough energy, protein, vitamins and minerals to help you avoid mid-morning fatigue and the subsequent urge to eat anything in sight. (33)

The nutrional benefits of breakfast cereals also were shown in a recent survey of more than 4,000 households by General Mills, Inc. Adults who ate cereal for breakfast consumed an average of 10% fewer calories than those who selected other breakfast foods, with only 20% of their calories coming from fat. Moreover, those who ate cereal for breakfast maintained a better nutritional profile over the entire day when they opted for other breakfast menus. For example, on days when participants ate cereal for breakfast, they ate fewer calories from fat throughout the day ad 40% less cholesterol. They also consumed 20% more essential vitamins and minerals than on non-cereal days.

Breakfast Tips

No time? Build a breakfast around foods that are ready to eat or take little prep time. Such as: fresh or canned fruit, milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, hot or cold cereal, or instant breakfast mixes.

Take it to go... Try celery stuffed with peanut butter or a cheese spread, dried fruits or vegetable or yogurt drinks.

Perk up cereals... Top cereals with fruit or stir chopped nuts into cooked cereals.

Not hungry yet? Drink juice. Something is better than nothing. Have some bread or crackers later in the morning, then drink some milk and eat some cheese, an egg or peanut butter. (32)

There's no evidence that skipping meals will help you lose weight. In fact, studies show that most people who skip breakfast tend to eat more later in the day. Some even select more calorically-dense foods than those who eat breakfast. (34)

It may surprise you to know that when you eat is almost as important to weight loss as what you eat. Eating right after you wake up not only boosts your energy; it can also help you avoid over-eating later in the day. Eating breakfast allows you to take advantage of your body's chemistry. Because your body's natural levels of stress hormones and adrenaline are highest between 6:00 A.M. and 8:00 A.M., you are more likely to stick to your diet and choose healthier foods when eating breakfast.

So what's for breakfast? If you're not a breakfast person, you may need to adjust your schedule a bit to get your system used to the idea of a morning meal. A good way to make sure you're hungry in the morning is to avoid eating a few hours before you go to sleep.

Your breakfast should include lots of carbs like bagels, toast, or cereal; protein, like milk, yogurt, or nuts; and a little bit of fat. Don't forget fruit; it will keep you going even longer, in case lunch gets delayed. If you can't manage to eat all of this before you leave the house, bring the yogurt, orange, banana, or other fruit along with you to eat when you get hungry later in the morning. (35)

If you want to be successful at keeping the weight off long term, make sure you keep lots of tasty breakfast options in the house so you can easily grab a healthy and filling breakfast either at home or on your way to work.


32. USDA Human Nutrition Information Service
33. Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. 1995-2001.
34. International Food Information Council Foundation
35. Self Magazine, February, 2001.

Why Diets Don't Work

Obesity is a chronic condition. Too often it is viewed as a temporary problem that can be treated for a few months with a restricted food diet. You probably don't need a whole bunch of science or mumbo jumbo to convince you that diets don't work. If you're like me, you probably already know something is not right with a plan you can't maintain long term. While it may work in the short-term, you will find yourself right back where you started when you decide to go back to eating your way.

Only 5% of all dieters will have maintained their weight loss at the end of one year. That's not too encouraging when you consider that the average American "diets" three to four times a year. Here are the reasons diets can be so self-defeating:

1. Diets make you focus on food. Why is this bad? Because if you are focused on food, you are never going to lose weight and keep it off. If you have to count points or stick to a ratio of any kind, all you are going to be thinking about around the clock is FOOD. Ask yourself this: Can you reasonably figure out the points and count the points in every food that you put into your mouth for the rest of your life? And Why would you want to? Forcing yourself to be that focused on food makes you obsessed with every meal and with every bite and can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food.

2. Diets make you miserable. When you cut back on food without maintaining a balanced diet, your blood sugar stays so low that the brain is deprived of glucose, a sugar. The result is irritability, low energy, and headache. (2) If you never feel satisfied, you are going to feel poorly which will lead you to treat the people around you poorly. Diets make your behavior erratic. They make you feel bad about yourself. Even if you are "successful" at the diet, you feel gulty about every bite of food you have that you "shouldn't".

3. Diets make it difficult to eat out or socialize. Nowadays, there are usually a few items on restaurant menus that are "diet friendly". However, why would you want to go to a restaurant to order steamed vegetables? You go out to enjoy yourself, to spend time with friends and family. What is enjoyable about feeling guilty about eating? You are either going to leave the restaurant hungry because you underate or overfull because you ate the "wrong thing" or too much of it. Don't you want to be able to go out, enjoy yourself, laugh, and go home happy?!

4. Diets make you deprive and starve yourself. There are so many diets out there that force you to starve yourself which then leads to you overeating either later in the day or later in the week. This is not good for you! There is a reason it doesn't make you feel good. It's not healthy. Not to mention it doesn't work. Starving yourself causes cravings for foods you are not "allowed" to eat on your diet. Starving yourself also slows down your metabolism which makes it even more difficult to lose weight in the long run. This starvation state can lower your metabolism for up to a year.

5. Diets make you fat. Weight preoccupation includes counting calories, exercising for the purposes of losing weight loss or continually trying to lose weight. A consequence of weight preoccupation is the cycle of yo-yo dieting and bingeing, where dieters become trapped in a repeated cycle of weight loss and weight gain. Studies show that 65% to 95% of people will gain back the weight the lose. It is now believed that dieting can lead to permanent overweight, also known as "diet induced overweight". (4) It is better to never have dieted at all than to keep losing and gaining the same 10-20 pounds.

6. Diets make other people rich. Americans spend $33 billion annually on weight-loss products and services. There is a multi-billion dollar diet industry in this country. And our country has a very high rate of obesity that rises every year. Why? Because diets don't work! But we keep falling for it over and over again. (5)

7. Diets make you poor. Americans spend the equivalent amount of money on dieting each year as the U.S. Federal Government spends on education each year. Any money you have spend on diets is too much if they don't work. (6)

8. Diets are not healthy. Any time you are depriving yourself of nutrients, you are putting your body in an unhealthy imbalance, one that is only going to cause you to crave what your body is missing later. No matter how unhealthy the food is, you will have to have it, because the diet is making you think your body needs it. One study showed that the more frequently an individual's weight fluctuated by as little as 10 pounds, the more likely the person was to be at risk for cardiac disease (8). Chronic dieting has also been related to the development of gall stones (9), and increased total mortality. (10)

9. Diets lead to and perpetuate eating disorders. Heavy dieting in and of itself is not considered an eating disorder. However, a recent study has indicated a link between severe dieting and the development of eating disorders in teenagers. The study showed that adolescent girls who dieted severely were 18 times more likely to develop and eating disorder than girls who did not diet. Girls who dieted at a moderate level were still 5 times more likely than girls who did not diet to develop an eating disorder. Overall, girls were 7 times more likely to develop an eating disorder than were boys of the same age (14-15 years old). (12)

Many studies and many health professionals note that patients with eating disorders were dieting at the time of the development of their eating disorder. Dieting may not cause an eating disorder, but the constant concern about body weight and shape, fat grams, and calories can start a vicious cycle of body dissatisfaction and obsession that can lead all too quickly to an eating disorder. (13)


10. Diets make you feel bad about yourself. A majority of women struggle with body image, food, and weight problems. According to one American study, approximately 80-90% of women dislike their bodies (17). Another Canadian report has shown that close to 70% of women are weight preoccupied and almost 40% are continually losing and gaining weight (18). In addition, it is estimated that up to 20% of women in Canada have serious eating problems (19).

What are we doing wrong? Simply eating too much and not being active enough is the cause of most obesity. But, the approach some people take may be part of the problem. Most Americans tend to concentrate on losing pounds to improve appearance, when the primary focus of weight management should be to achieve and maintain health.

The growing number of overweight Americans is particularly ironic because the American culture seems obsessed with dieting and thinness. Negative body image can lead to the desire for rapid weight loss. More extreme and less sustainable methods are required when short-term weight loss is the goal. Failure to control weight in the long-term is the outcome of this simplistic and weight focused approach. Many women and men experience a loss of self-confidence and motivation as they either fail to lose weight or repeatedly regain the weight they lost (14,30).

2. Paul Wolf
4. Bennett and Gurinm 1982; Polivy and Herman, 1983; Cliska, 1990.
5. Colditz GA. Economic costs of obesity. Am j Clin Nutr. 1992; 55;503-507s
6. EDAP (Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, Inc.)
8. Lissner, et al, 1991.
9. Mok, et al, 1979.
10. Lissner & Brownell, 1992; Wadden, Van Itallie & Blackburn, 1990
12. GenneX Healthcare Technologies
13. EDAP
14. Perri, M.G., Negu, A.M., & Viegener, B.J. (1992). Improving the Long-Term Management of Obesity: Theory, Research, and Clinical Guidelines. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
17. Hutchison, 1985.
18. Canadian Gallup Poll, 1984.
19. National Eating Disorder Information Centre, 1989.
30. NIH Technology Assessment Panel. (1993). Methods of Voluntary Weight Loss and Control, Annals of Internal Medicine, 1, No. 3, 50-53.