Some Common Sense
A Consumer’s Guide to Fats
Once upon a time, we didn’t know anything about fat except that it made foods tastier. We cooked our food in lard or shortening. We spread butter on our breakfast toast and plopped sour cream on our baked potatoes. Farmers bred their animals to produce milk with high butterfat content and meat “marbled” with fat because that was what most people wanted to eat.
But ever since word got out that diets high in fat are related to heart disease, things have become more complicated. Experts tell us there are several different kinds of fat, some of them worse for us than others. In addition to saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, there are triglycerides, trans fatty acids, and omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids.
Most people have learned something about cholesterol, and many of us have been to the doctor for a blood test to learn our cholesterol “number.” Now, however, it turns out that there’s more than one kind of cholesterol, too.
Almost every day there are newspaper reports of new studies or recommendations about what to eat or what not to eat: Lard is bad, olive oil is good, margarine is better for you than butter-then again, maybe it’s not.
Amid the welter of confusing terms and conflicting details, consumers are often baffled about how to improve their diets.
FDA recently issued new regulations that will enable consumers to see clearly on a food product’s label how much and what kind of fat the product contains. Understanding the terms used to discuss fat is crucial if you want to make sure your diet is within recommended guidelines.
Fats and Fatty Acids
Fats are a group of chemical compounds that contain fatty acids. Energy is stored in the body mostly in the form of fat. Fat is needed in the diet to supply essential fatty acids, substances essential for growth but not produced by the body itself.
There are three main types of fatty acids: saturated, monounsaturated and
polyunsaturated. All fatty acids are molecules composed mostly of carbon and hydrogen atoms. A saturated fatty acid has the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms attached to every carbon atom. It is therefore said to be “saturated” with hydrogen atoms.
Some fatty acids are missing one pair of hydrogen atoms in the middle of the molecule. This gap is called an “unsaturation” and the fatty acid is said to be “monounsaturated” because it has one gap. Fatty acids that are missing more than one pair of hydrogen atoms are called “polyunsaturated.”
Saturated fats (which contain saturated fatty acids) are mostly found in foods of animal origin. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (which contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids) are mostly found in foods of plant origin and some seafood. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are of two kinds, omega-3 or omega-6. Scientists tell them apart by where in the molecule the “unsaturations,” or missing hydrogen atoms, occur.
Recently a new term has been added to the fat lexicon: trans fatty acids. These are byproducts of partial hydrogenation, a process in which some of the missing hydrogen atoms are put back into polyunsaturated fats. “Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils,” such as vegetable shortening and margarine, are solid at room temperature.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is sort of a “cousin” of fat. Both fat and cholesterol belong to a larger family of chemical compounds called lipids. All the cholesterol the body needs is made by the liver. It is used to build cell membranes and brain and nerve tissues. Cholesterol also helps the body produce steroid hormones needed for body regulation, including processing food, and bile acids needed for digestion.
People don’t need to consume dietary cholesterol because the body can make enough cholesterol for its needs. But the typical US diet contains substantial amounts of cholesterol, found in foods such as egg yolks, liver, meat, some shellfish, and whole- milk dairy products. Only foods of animal origin contain cholesterol.
Cholesterol is transported in the bloodstream in large molecules of fat and protein called lipoproteins. Cholesterol carried in low-density lipoproteins is called LDL-cholesterol; most cholesterol is of this type. Cholesterol carried in high-density lipoproteins is called HDL-cholesterol. (See “Fat Words”).
A person’s cholesterol “number” refers to the total amount of cholesterol in the blood. Cholesterol is measured in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) of blood. (A deciliter is a tenth of a liter).
Doctors recommend that total blood cholesterol be kept below 200 mg/dl. The average level in adults in this country is 205 to 215 mg/dl. Studies in the United States and other countries have consistently shown that total cholesterol levels above 200 to 220 mg/dl are linked with an increased risk of coronary heart disease.
LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol act differently in the body. A high level of LDL-cholesterol in the blood increases the risk of fatty deposits forming in the arteries, which in turn increases the risk of a heart attack. Thus, LDL-cholesterol has been dubbed “bad” cholesterol.
On the other hand, an elevated level of HDL-cholesterol seems to have a protective effect against heart disease. For this reason, HDL-cholesterol is often called “good” cholesterol.
Recently, a panel of medical experts convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommended that individuals should have their level of HDL-cholesterol checked along with their total cholesterol.
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a component of NIH, a healthy person who is not at high risk for heart disease and whose total cholesterol level is in the normal range (around 200 mg/dl) should have an HDL-cholesterol level of more than 35 mg/dl. NHLBI also says that an LDL- cholesterol level of less than 130 mg/dl is “desirable” to minimize the risk of heart disease.
Some very recent studies have suggested that LDL-cholesterol is more likely to cause fatty deposits in the arteries if it has been through a chemical change known as oxidation. However, these findings are not accepted by all scientists.
The NIH panel also advised that individuals with high total cholesterol or other risk factors for coronary heart disease should have their triglyceride levels checked along with their HDL- cholesterol levels.
Triglycerides and VLDL
Triglyceride is another form in which fat is transported through the blood to the body tissues. Most of the body’s stored fat is in the form of triglycerides. Another lipoprotein–very low-density lipoprotein, or VLDL–has the job of carrying triglycerides in the blood. NHLBI considers a triglyceride level below 250 mg/dl to be normal.
It is not clear whether high levels of triglycerides alone increase an individual’s risk of heart disease. However, they may be an important clue that someone is at risk of heart disease for other reasons. Many people who have elevated triglycerides also have high LDL-cholesterol or low HDL-cholesterol. People with diabetes or kidney disease–two conditions that increase the risk of heart disease–are also prone to high triglycerides.
Dietary Fat and Cholesterol Levels
Many people are confused about the effect of dietary fats on cholesterol levels. At first glance, it seems reasonable to think that eating less cholesterol would reduce a person’s cholesterol level. In fact, eating less cholesterol has less effect on blood cholesterol levels than eating less saturated fat. However, some studies have found that eating cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease even if it doesn’t increase blood cholesterol levels.
Another misconception is that people can improve their cholesterol numbers by eating “good” cholesterol. In food, all cholesterol is the same. In the blood, whether cholesterol is “good” or “bad” depends on the type of lipoprotein that’s carrying it.
Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats do not promote the formation of artery-clogging fatty deposits the way saturated fats do. Some studies show that eating foods that contain these fats can reduce levels of LDL-cholesterol in the blood. Polyunsaturated fats, such as safflower and corn oil, tend to lower both HDL- and LDL-cholesterol. Edible oils rich in monounsaturated fats, such as olive and canola oil, however, tend to lower LDL-cholesterol without affecting HDL levels.
How Do We Know Fat’s a Problem?
In 1908, scientists first observed that rabbits fed a diet of meat, whole milk, and eggs developed fatty deposits on the walls of their arteries that constricted the flow of blood. Narrowing of the arteries by these fatty deposits is called arteriosclerosis. It is a slowly progressing disease that can begin early in life but not show symptoms for many years. In 1913, scientists identified the substance responsible for the fatty deposits in the rabbits’ arteries as cholesterol.
In 1916, Cornelius de Langen, a Dutch physician working in Java, Indonesia, noticed that native Indonesians had much lower rates of heart disease than Dutch colonists living on the island. He reported this finding to a medical journal, speculating that the Indonesians’ healthy hearts were linked with their low levels of blood cholesterol.
De Langen also noticed that both blood cholesterol levels and rates of heart disease soared among Indonesians who abandoned their native diet of mostly plant foods and ate a typical Dutch diet containing a lot of meat and dairy products. This was the first recorded suggestion that diet, cholesterol levels, and heart disease were related in humans. But de Langen’s observations lay unnoticed in an obscure medical journal for more than 40 years.
After World War II, medical researchers in Scandinavia noticed that deaths from heart disease had declined dramatically during the war, when food was rationed and meat, dairy products, and eggs were scarce. At about the same time, other researchers found that people who suffered heart attacks had higher levels of blood cholesterol than people who did not have heart attacks.
Since then, a large body of scientific evidence has been gathered linking high blood cholesterol and a diet high in animal fats with an elevated risk of heart attack. In countries where the average person’s blood cholesterol level is less than 180 mg/dl, very few people develop arteriosclerosis or have heart attacks. In many countries where a lot of people have blood cholesterol levels above 220 mg/dl, such as the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death.
High rates of heart disease are commonly found in countries where the diet is heavy with meat and dairy products containing a lot of saturated fats. However, high-fat diets and high rates of heart disease don’t inevitably go hand-in-hand.
Learning from Other Cultures
People living on the Greek island of Crete have very low rates of heart disease even though their diet is high in fat. Most of their dietary fat comes from olive oil, a monounsaturated fat that tends to lower levels of “bad” LDL-cholesterol and maintain levels of “good” HDL-cholesterol.
The Inuit, or Eskimo, people of Alaska and Greenland also are relatively free of heart disease despite a high-fat, high- cholesterol diet. The staple food in their diet is fish rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Some research has shown that omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish such as salmon and mackerel as well as in soybean and canola oil, lower both LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood. Some nutrition experts recommend eating fish once or twice a week to reduce heart disease risk. However, dietary supplements containing concentrated fish oil are not recommended because there is insufficient evidence that they are beneficial and little is known about their long-term effects.
Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids have also been found in some studies to reduce both LDL- and HDL-cholesterol levels in the blood. Linoleic acid, an essential nutrient (one that the body cannot make for itself) and a component of corn, soybean and safflower oil, is an omega-6 fatty acid.
At one time, many nutrition experts recommended increasing consumption of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats because of their cholesterol-lowering effects. Now, however, the advice is simply to reduce dietary intake of all types of fat. (Infants and young children, however, should not restrict dietary fat.)
The available information on fats may be voluminous and is sometimes confusing. But sorting through the information becomes easier once you know the terms and some of the history.
The “bottom line” is actually quite simple, according to John E. Vanderveen, Ph.D., director of the Office of Plant and Dairy Foods and Beverages in FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. What we should be doing is removing as much of the saturated fat from our diet as we can. We need to select foods that are lower in total fat and especially in saturated fat.” In a nutshell, that means eating fewer foods of animal origin, such as meat and whole-milk dairy products, and more plant foods such as vegetables and grains.
FAT WORDS
Here are brief definitions of the key terms important to an understanding of the role of fat in the diet.
Cholesterol: A chemical compound manufactured in the body. It is used to build cell membranes and brain and nerve tissues. Cholesterol also helps the body make steroid hormones and bile acids.
Dietary cholesterol: Cholesterol found in animal products that are part of the human diet. Egg yolks, liver, meat, some shellfish, and whole-milk dairy products are all sources of dietary cholesterol.
Fatty acid: A molecule composed mostly of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Fatty acids are the building blocks of fats.
Fat: A chemical compound containing one or more fatty acids. Fat is one of the three main constituents of food (the others are protein and carbohydrate). It is also the principal form in which energy is stored in the body.
Hydrogenated fat: A fat that has been chemically altered by the addition of hydrogen atoms (see trans fatty acid). Vegetable oil and margarine are hydrogenated fats.
Lipid: A chemical compound characterized by the fact that it is insoluble in water. Both fat and cholesterol are members of the lipid family.
Lipoprotein: A chemical compound made of fat and protein. Lipoproteins that have more fat than protein are called low-density lipoproteins (LDLs). Lipoproteins that have more protein than fat are called high-density lipoproteins (HDLs). Lipoproteins are found
in the blood, where their main function is to carry cholesterol. Monounsaturated fatty acid: A fatty acid that is missing one pair of hydrogen atoms in the middle of the molecule. The gap is called an “unsaturation.” Monounsaturated fatty acids are found mostly in plant and sea foods.
Monounsaturated fat: A fat made of monounsaturated fatty acids. Olive oil and canola oil are monounsaturated fats. Monounsaturated fats tend to lower levels of LDL-cholesterol in the blood. Polyunsaturated fatty acid: A fatty acid that is missing more than one pair of hydrogen atoms. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are mostly found in plant and sea foods.
Polyunsaturated fat: A fat made of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Safflower oil and corn oil are polyunsaturated fats. Polyunsaturated fats tend to lower levels of both HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in the blood.
Saturated fatty acid: A fatty acid that has the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms attached to every carbon atom. It is said to be “saturated” with hydrogen atoms. Saturated fatty acids are mostly found in animal products such as meat and whole milk.
Saturated fat: A fat made of saturated fatty acids. Butter and lard are saturated fats. Saturated fats tend to raise levels of LDL- cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) in the blood. Elevated levels of LDL-cholesterol are associated with heart disease.
Trans fatty acid: A polyunsaturated fatty acid in which some of the missing hydrogen atoms have been put back in a chemical process called hydrogenation. Trans fatty acids are the building blocks of hydrogenated fats.
–E.M.
Eleanor Mayfield is a writer in Silver Spring, Md.
Government Advice
Dietary guidelines endorsed by the US Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Health and Human Services advise consumers to:
Reduce total dietary fat intake to 30 percent or less of total calories.
Reduce saturated fat intake to less than 10 percent of calories.
Reduce cholesterol intake to less than 300 milligrams daily.
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THE POSITIVE WEIGHT LOSS APPROACH
Once you have made up your mind to lose weight, you should make that commitment and go into it with a positive attitude. We all know that losing weight can be quite a challenge. In fact, for some, it can be downright tough. It takes time, practice and support to change lifetime habits. But it’s a process you must learn in order to succeed. You and you alone are the one who has the power to lose unwanted pounds.
Think like a winner, and not a loser – - remember that emotions are like muscles and the ones you use most grow the strongest. If you always look at the negative side of things, you’ll become a downbeat, pessimistic person. Even slightly negative thoughts have a greater impact on you and last longer than powerful positive thoughts.
Negative thinking doesn’t do you any good; it just holds you back from accomplishing the things you want to do. When a negative thought creeps into your mind, replace it reminding yourself that you’re somebody, you have self-worth and you possess unique strengths and talents. Contemplate what lies ahead of you. Losing weight is not just about diets. It’s about a whole new you and the possibility of creating a new life for yourself. Investigate the weight loss programs that appeal to you and that you feel will teach you the behavioral skills you need to stick with throughout the weight-loss process.
First you should look for support among family and friends. It can be an enormous help to discuss obstacles and share skills and tactics with others on the same path. You might look for this support from others you know who are in weight loss programs and you can seek guidance from someone you know who has lost weight and kept it off.
There are success stories across the country today. On television and in newspapers, magazines and tabloids about people who have miraculously lost untold pounds and kept it off. In all instances they say their mental attitude as well as their outlook on life has totally changed.
Diets and weight loss programs are more flexible now than they once were and there are many prepared foods already portioned out. They are made attractive and can be prepared in a matter of minutes. Low-fat and low-calorie foods are on shelves everywhere.
You will probably need to learn new, wiser eating skills. You will want a weight loss regimen that gives you some control, rather than imposing one rigid system. Look for one that offers a variety of different eating plans, so you can choose the one that’s best for you.
Keep in mind, too, that your weight loss program will most likely include some physical exercises. Look at the exercising aspect of your program as fun and recreation and not as a form of grueling and sweaty work. The fact is that physical fitness is linked inseparable to all personal effectiveness in every field. Anyone willing to take the few simple steps that lie between them and fitness will shortly begin to feel better, and the improvement will reflect itself in every facet of their existence.
Doctors now say that walking is one of the best exercises. It helps the total circulation of blood throughout the body, and thus has a direct effect on your overall feeling of health. There are things such as aerobics, jogging, swimming and many other exercises which will benefit a weight loss program. Discuss the options with your doctor and take his advice in planning your exercise and weight loss program.
EXERCISE MELTS BODY FAT
If you want to reduce your body fat, focus on increasing the amount of exercise you get rather than decreasing your food intake. A recent national study was done using two groups of sedentary men, one group in their 20′s and the other over age 65. A lot was learned from this accumulated data and it is interesting to note that there was a significant relationship between lack of physical activity and fat. Not surprisingly, the most sedentary men had the most body fat.
These studies have also indicated that the governments current recommended daily allowance for calories does not correlate with the body’s actual energy needs. For example, although 2400 calories have been calculated for older men, they in fact burned an average of 2800 calories daily.
The leading experts now recommend that people who want to lose weight start increasing their physical activity. Just being more active in general (such as climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator, moving around instead of sitting still, sitting up instead of lying down as well as showing some excitement and enthusiasm instead of boredom), are things that more effectively burns calories and reduces body fat. Everyone seems to have lost sight of the value of being active. Consider this, a half-hour aerobic workout accounts for far less energy expenditure than our minute-to-minute movement in the office or at home.
Millions of Americans are trying to lose weight, spending approximately $30 billion a year on diet programs and products; often they do lose some weight. But, if you check with the same people five years later, you will find that nearly all have regained whatever weight they lost. A national panel recently sought data to determine if any commercial diet program could prove long-term success. Not a single program could do so. Being seriously overweight and particularly obesity predisposes individuals to a number of diseases and serious health problems, and it’s now a known fact that when caloric intake is excessive, some of the excess frequently is saturated fat.
People who diet without exercising often get fatter with time. Although your weight may initially drop while dieting, such weight loss consists mostly of water and muscle. When the weight returns, it comes back as fat. To avoid getting fatter over time, increase your metabolism by exercising regularly.
Walking is one of the best exercises for strengthening bones, controlling weight, toning the leg muscles, maintaining good posture and improving positive self-concept.
To lose weight, it’s more important to walk for time than speed. Walking at a moderate pace yields longer workouts with less soreness – leading to more miles and more fat worked off on a regular basis.
WALKING AND WEIGHT LOSS
Three universal goals most of us share are: to live longer, to live free of illness and to control our weight. Interesting enough, normal walking lets us achieve all three.
In fact, walking may be man’s best medicine for slowing the aging process. First, it works almost every muscle in the body, improving circulation to the joints and massaging the blood vessels (keeping them more elastic). Walking also helps us maintain both our muscle mass and metabolism as we age. It also keeps us young in spirit. For anyone out of shape or unathletically inclined, walking is the no-stress, no-sweat answer to lifelong conditioning.
All it takes is a little time, common sense and a few guidelines. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation floating around regarding fitness walking, weight-loss and dieting.
People who diet without exercising often get fatter with time. Although your weight may initially drop while dieting, such weight loss consists mostly of water and muscle. When the weight returns, it comes back as fat. To avoid getting fatter over time, increase your metabolism by exercising daily.
High-intensity walks on alternate days help condition one’s system. But in a walking, weight-loss program, it’s better to be active every day. This doesn’t require walking an hour every day. The key is leading an active life-style 365 days a year.
When it comes to good health and weight loss, exercise and diet are interrelated. Exercising without maintaining a balanced diet is no more beneficial than dieting while remaining inactive.
The national research council recommends eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Fruits and vegetables are the ideal diet foods for several reasons. They’re relatively low in fat and calories, yet are often high in fiber and rich in essential vitamins and minerals. Remember that rapid weight-loss consists mostly of water and muscle – - the wrong kind of weight to lose. To avoid this, set more reasonable goals, such as one pound per week.
Carbohydrates are high-octane fuel. They provide energy for movement and help raise internal body metabolism. They’re also satisfying. The key is not adding high-fat toppings to your carbohydrates.
It’s everyday habits which define our weight and body composition. A three-minute walk after each meal is worth four pounds less body fat annually. Two flights of stairs a day burns off half a pound of body fat in a year. On the other hand, one candy bar eaten daily will cost you 20 pounds annually.
FUELING UP ON WATER
It’s our body’s vital fuel, a health drink from mother nature. It’s calorie-free, inexpensive and easily obtained. Yet few people follow the old fashioned advice to drink eight glasses of water a day.
Most people drink when they are thirsty, but the beverage of choice tends to be some other drink besides water. Americans drink two or three glasses of plain water a day, according to a US Department of Agriculture survey conducted in the late 1970. Based on an analysis of all fluid intake by adults, it is said to total about two quarts of water a day, and this includes water from foods and from other beverages. It’s not usually necessary to actually swallow two quarts of plain water every day. However, people with special problems such as kidney conditions might be exceptions.
Americans drink eight gallons of bottled water a year, roughly two ounces or a quarter-cup a day, according to the International Bottled Water Association. Californians drink three times the national average of bottled water, downing 24 gallons a year, or nearly a cup a day. Climate and seasons of the year play a role in one’s thirst also, and just as we tend to perspire more in the summer months, we also tend to drink more water.
Boosting intake of plain water makes good sense, many experts concur, because water eases digestion and regulates body temperature.
Water also bathes the cells and accounts for about 60 percent of body weight. And it can help us exercise longer and more efficiently. Drinking water can ward off constipation and maybe even crankiness. An since it’s a natural appetite suppressant, water can help us lose weight and keep it off. It can help keep skin healthy, although it won’t necessarily banish acne.
Who should drink water? We all should, but pregnant women, nursing mothers and athletes should be especially careful to drink a sufficient amount. When it is hot or humid, upping water intake is also wise. There are certain workers who seem to have a more difficult time developing the water-drinking habit. Among those who don’t normally drink enough water are teachers, airline attendants and nurses.
Drinking fluids, particularly, water, during exercise reduces cardiovascular stress and improves performance. After a strenuous workout, you have to replace the fluids you have lost. Otherwise, you will suffer chronic dehydration. Drink water before, during and after exercising, and remember that water reduces body temperature thus making the whole exercise process safer.
Water can be especially helpful for people with a history of kidney stones because it dissolves calcium in the urine, reducing the risk of stone formation. Among physicians, urologists are probably most likely to extol the virtues of water, And it has been documented that drinking water mostly before 6 P.M. can reduce the likelihood of nocturnal bathroom visits.
It is interesting to note also that water helps prevent urinary tract infections, both for men and for women. Too busy to count how many glasses a day you drink? There are other ways to calculate if your intake is sufficient. Dark-colored urine often suggest you aren’t drinking enough water. Get into the habit by starting with a glass of water with every meal, then work in a cup between meals.
SENSIBLE DIET TIPS
Start your diet with a food diary, record everything you eat, what you were doing at the time, and how you felt. That tells you about yourself, your temptation, the emotional states that encourage you to snack and may help you lose once you see how much you eat.
Instead of eating the forbidden piece of candy, brush your teeth. If you’re about to cheat, allow yourself a treat, then eat only half a bite and throw the other half away.
When hunger hits, wait 10 minutes before eating and see if it passes. Set attainable goals. Don’t say, “I want to lose 50 pounds.” Say, “I want to lose 5 pounds a month.” Get enough sleep but not too much. Try to avoid sugar. Highly sweetened foods tend to make you crave more.
Drink six to eight glasses of water a day. Water itself helps cut down on water retention because it acts as a diuretic. Taken before meals, it dulls the appetite by giving you that “full feeling.” Diet with a buddy. Support groups are important, and caring people can help one another succeed. Start your own, even with just one other person.
Substitute activity for eating. When the cravings hit, go to the “Y” or health club if possible; or dust, or walk around the block. This is especially helpful if you eat out of anger.
If the pie on the counter is just too great a temptation and you don’t want to throw it away, freeze it. If you’re a late-night eater, have a carbohydrate, such as a slice of bread or a cracker, before bedtime to cut down on cravings. Keep an orange slice or a glass of water by your bed to quiet the hunger pangs that wake you up.
If you use food as a reward, establish a new reward system. Buy yourself a non-edible reward. Write down everything you eat – - everything – including what you taste when you cook. If you monitor what you eat, you can’t go off your diet.
Weigh yourself once a week at the same time. Your weight fluctuates constantly and you can weigh more at night than you did in the morning, a downer if you stuck to your diet all day. Make dining an event. Eat from your own special plate, on your own special placemat, and borrow the Japanese art of food arranging to make your meal, no matter how meager, look lovely. This is a trick that helps chronic over-eaters and bingers pay attention to their food instead of consuming it unconsciously.
Don’t shop when you’re hungry. You’ll only buy more fattening food. Avoid finger foods that are easy to eat in large amounts. Avoid consuming large quantities of fattening liquids, which are so easy to overdo. And this includes alcoholic beverages.
Keep plenty of crunchy foods like raw vegetables and air-popped fat-free popcorn on hand. They’re high in fiber, satisfying and filling. Leave something on your plate, even if you are a charter member of the Clean The Plate Club. It’s a good sign that you can stop eating when you want to, not just when your plate is empty.
Lose weight for yourself, not to please your husband (or wife), your parents or your friends. Make the kitchen off-limits at any time other than mealtime. Always eat at the table, never in front of the TV set or with the radio on. Concentrate on eating every mouthful slowly and savoring each morsel. Chew everything from 10 to 20 times and count! Never skip meals.
The case for a vegetarian diet
Vegetarianism, known in Sanskrit as Shakahara, was for thousands of years a principle of health and environmental ethics throughout India. Though Muslim and Christian colonization radically undermined and eroded this ideal, it remains to this day a cardinal ethic of Hindu thought and practice.
For India’s ancient thinkers, life is seen as the very stuff of the Divine, an emanation of the Source and part of a cosmic continuum. They further hold that each life form, even water and trees, possesses consciousness and energy. Nonviolence, ahimsa, the primary basis of vegetarianism, has long been central to the religious traditions of India-especially Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Religion in India has consistently upheld the sanctity of life, whether human, animal or, in the case of the Jains, elemental.
In the past fifty years millions of meat-eaters have made the personal decision to stop eating the flesh of other creatures. There are many major motivations for such a decision.
1.The Dharmic/Scriptural Law reason: Ahimsa, the law of non-injury, is the Hindu’s first duty in fulfillment of his religious obligations to God and God’s creation as defined by Vedic scripture.
2.The Karmic Consequences reason: all of our actions including our choice of food have karmic consequences. By involving oneself in the cycle of inflicting injury, pain and death, even indirectly by eating other creatures, one must in the future experience in equal measure the suffering caused.
3.The Spiritual Consciousness reason: food is the source of the body’s chemistry, and what we ingest affects our consciousness, emotions and experiential patterns. If one wants to live in higher consciousness, in peace and happiness and love for all creatures, then he cannot eat meat, fish, shellfish, fowl or eggs. By ingesting the grosser chemistries of animal foods, one introduces into the body and mind anger, jealousy, fear, anxiety, suspicion and a terrible fear of death, all of which are locked into the flesh of butchered creatures. For these reasons, shakaharis live in higher consciousness and mansaharis abide in lower consciousness.
4.The Health reason: medical studies prove that a vegetarian diet is easier to digest, provides a wider range of nutrients and imposes fewer burdens and impurities on the body. Vegetarians are less susceptible to all the major diseases that afflict contemporary humanity, and thus live longer, healthier, more productive lives. They have fewer physical complaints, less frequent visits to the doctor, fewer dental problems and smaller medical bills. Their immune system is stronger, their bodies are purer, more refined and skin more beautiful.
5.The Ecological reason: planet earth is suffering. In large measure, the escalating loss of species, destruction of ancient rainforests to create pasture lands for livestock, loss of top-soils and the consequent increase of water impurities and air pollution have all been traced to the single fact of meat in the human diet. No single decision that we can make as individuals or as a race can have such a dramatic effect on the improvement of our planetary ecology as the decision to not eat meat. Many seeking to save the planet for future generations have made this decision for this reason and this reason alone.
6.The Naturalist and the Teological Reasons: when human beings first appeared on our planet, they instinctively selected what to eat correctly. For thousands of years, refrigerators, processed food, microwave ovens, fast-food restaurants and other so called modern commodities were not available, but we managed without them.
Today, in the United States alone, food processing companies and fast-food chains are spending over 10 billion dollars a year to make us eat their inferior, imitation, full of chemicals artificial food. Almost 40% of all advertising is food related. This enormous advertising machine was designed for the sole purpose of compelling us to warp our diet by consuming their expensive substitutes instead of natural wholesome food, which was intended for us in the first place, either by mother nature or God Himself. . .
Let’s look further into this angle. If we approach it by the naturalist point of view, we can safely state that in the beginning, man was pretty much by himself in this hostile world. naked, cold and hungry, most likely. Most of his diet, if not all of it, probably consisted of fruits, roots and vegetables of some sort. Even if occasionally he got his hands on some meat, either by scavenging or a small kill, if it wasn’t eaten raw, it was cooked over open flame, which instead of adding fat, actually melts most of it. So, as we can imagine, man’s diet then was wholesome, simple and healthy, containing lots of fiber, carbohydrates and very little fat.
Now if we approach it by the teologist point of view, we don’t have to go any further then the bible. In the book of Genesis there is plenty of information about it, if we just look at it the right way. I’m not going to quote chapters or verses, but after Adam and Eve sinned and were removed from the garden of Eden, God told them that they should “eat the herb of the field,” and we can gather that meant plants in general. It was a good diet, for man then lived to be hundreds of years old.
Then came the Flood, which wiped out all of plant life (and animal life, for that matter) on earth. So, after the waters receded and the ark settled down, Noah’s food supplies were exhausted, and as a survival measure, God permitted him and his family to eat animals. He also gave guidelines as to which animals were good and not good to eat, and if you want to look closely at these guidelines, look up Deuteronomy chapter 14. But, as I was saying, these guidelines are very similar to today’s guidelines for a healthy diet. . .
After a while, man spread all over the earth again and started to eat whatever he pleased, with disregard to God’s instructions, and this became a practice from then on.
Well, coincidentally, after that man’s life span shortened dramatically fast, going from hundreds of years to a mere seventy years by the time of the kings of Israel. So, as you can see, if we just had stuck to those ancient eating habits, we would not be on this constant search for the best diet in the world, because that’s what God or Mother Nature intended and provided for us at the beginning of time.
in the news
The evidence continues to accumulate: for health and longevity, it pays to be thin—considerably thinner than current guidelines for middle-aged Americans recommend. A major new study suggests that even a moderate gain, of 22 pounds or more above a woman’s weight at age 18, incurs a greater risk of earlier death.
– Severe high blood pressure and the amount of medicine used to treat it can be reduced with regular, moderate exercise, a study made by researchers at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington has shown.
– The Food and Drug Administration’s Food Advisory Committee recommended approval of Procter & Gamble’s fat substitute, olestra, despite testing by the company that showed some adverse health effects on people who consumed the product.
– A Federal advisory panel narrowly recommended that the first anti-obesity drug for long-term use be approved for sale. The panel of scientists for the Food and Drug Administration voted 6 to 5 to recommend allowing Interneuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. to market the drug, dexfenfluramine. The drug agency usually accepts the recommendations of its scientific panels. It would be limited for use by people who are at least 20 percent over their ideal weight. The drug works by altering the brain chemical serotonin to make people feel full, even though they have eaten less.
– The latest study to explore whether eating fish reduces the risk of heart disease has found that people who ate the equivalent of three ounces of salmon a week were only half as likely to be stricken with cardiac arrest as those who ate no fish. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Nov. 1, 1995. But the lead author of the new study, Dr. David S. Siscovick of the University of Washington in Seattle, said, “We view these results as complementary and not in conflict with earlier findings.”
– Avocados are one of the most nutrient-packed foods around, and while the fat police have been bashing away at them, their fat may turn out to be beneficial. Smooth, buttery, easy to digest, almost always available and needing nothing but a quick peel to eat, avocados are easy to love.
– New studies suggest that both anorexia and bulimia are twice as frequent as shown in earlier studies and that the incidence is increasing steadily. The single most likely culprit for the rising rates of these disorders is the spread of dieting, according to experts. At the same time, major progress is being made in the treatment of the more frequent of the disorders, bulimia, with new therapy regimes producing high rates of improvement.
– As Americans get fatter and fatter, new studies continue to show that for the sake of health and longevity and not just fashion, thin is in. In the latest report, published last week in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that among women who were initially healthy and had never smoked, those who were 15 percent thinner than average were least likely to succumb to heart disease, cancer or other causes in middle age. Those women who gained as little as 22 pounds after age 18 were 20 percent more likely to die prematurely than those who gained less than 10 pounds. The greater the gain, the greater the risk, reported Dr. JoAnn E. Manson and colleagues from their 16-year study of 115,000 female nurses. They found that a third of cancer deaths and more than half of all ‘premature deaths’ that occurred among the nurses could be attributed to overweight. These findings, as well as similar results reported two years ago from a study of 19,000 men who graduated from Harvard, rebut a popular belief that it is safe and even desirable to put on 20 or more pounds in mid-life. Last week the committee revising the nation’s dietary guidelines, to be released in December, recommended that Americans strive to achieve a “desirable” weight for their height and frame in their teen years and stay close to that weight throughout adulthood.
– According to a major new study , moderate weight gain of 22 pounds or more above a woman’s weight at age 18 incurs a greater risk of earlier death. The study is of particularly wide relevance because one-third of adult Americans are overweight-defined as 20% or more above desirable levels.
– Canadian researchers have found that when people eat high-fat meals with alcoholic beverages rather than nonalcoholic drinks, they tend to consume many more total calories. The high-calorie combination leads to excess weight if the calories are not burned away though activity or normal metabolism. The two studies are being published in the Sep. 1995 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
– A natural substance that made headlines in July 1995 for slimming down overweight mice may not do the same for highly obese people, new research suggests. Scientists say many processes, biological and social, influence obesity, and the substance, leptin, is not the total answer.
There is no escaping sex surveys. This one comes from Weight Watchers Magazine. This survey of 6,000 magazine readers found that 38 percent had sex once or twice a week and 18 percent three to six times a week. A study of the general population showed that less than 8 percent of the women surveyed had sex four or more times a week. Also 70 percent usually have orgasms. Of course, a closer look shows that 75 percent of married women in the general survey usually have orgasms, calling into dispute the sexiness of fat. But the editor of Weight Watchers Magazine, Nancy Gagliardi, says her readers have good sex because ‘their appetite for life is big and lustful.’ And the survey shows that they get even more lustful as they get thinner. In other words, the route to a great sex life is to get fat and then diet, perhaps on the Weight Watchers program.
Chart: ‘Healthy Weight Ranges For Men and Women’
Draft guidelines submitted by an advisory committee to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture; the ranges apply to men and women of all ages and no longer allow for a 15-pound gain in middle age. The higher weight ranges apply to people with more muscle and bone in proportion to body fat.
Height —- Weight
(without —- (without
shoes) —- clothing)
4’10′ and 91-119
4’11′ and 94-124
5’0′ and 97-128
5’2′ and 101-132
5’3′ and 104-137
5’4′ and 111-146
5’5′ and 114-150
5’6′ and 118-155
5’7′ and 121-160
5’8′ and 125-164
5’9′ and 129-169
5’10′ and 132-174
5’11′ and 136-179
6’0′ and 140-184
6’1′ and 144-189
6’2′ and 148-195
6’3′ and 152-200
6’4′ and 156-205
6’5′ and 160-211
6’6′ and 164-216
What charts and tables don’t tell you, though, is that two people of the same weight and height can differ greatly in their degree of obesity and overall physical condition. Lean tissue and muscle weigh more per volume than fat, so weight alone is not a very good measure of health or fitness. . .
The following pages tells the story of a individual who was extremely overweight, and what this person did to lose it and keep it off. The methods and techniques described really work, proof being that this person lost over 200 lb.
TRUE STORY
My name is unimportant. I’m not a nutritionist, doctor or certified expert. I’m just an ordinary man who had a problem. I was fat. For about fourteen years I tried almost every diet available in this country and a few from other countries as well. They all worked as long as I followed them religiously, and I did lose weight, only to gain it back as soon as I stopped counting calories, weighting portions and avoiding sugars and starches. I went to weight loss clinics, weight watchers, tried liquid diets, herbal supplements and diet pills. . . but the weight always came back, like a cancer that claimed its victim. After all these years of struggling to be thin, I finally threw in the towel. I thought to myself “What’s the use anyway ? I’m never going to be able to lose weight and keep it off, so I might as well accept the fact that I’ll be fat forever and make arrangements to live my life with this handicap and go on about my business.”
That would have been just fine but, you see, I continued to gain weight, more and more, until it was very hard for me to move around, sit-down and get up or even drive, because my belly would get in the way. I had no stamina or energy to do anything and was plagued with shortness of breath, constant headaches and skin rashes. I decided then to go to my doctor, whom I hadn’t seen for a few years, to find out if there was anything he could do about these discomforts.
I weighed a bit over 350 pounds (I’m 5 ft. 11 in. tall), and after finding my blood pressure to be very high (200 over 160), the doctor decided to run a few lab tests. When the results came back, I found out that my cholesterol and my blood sugar levels were also very high, especially for a individual who was only 39 years old.
My doctor then told me that if I didn’t want to die in the next 10 years, I’d better do something about my weight and start watching what I ate. He also prescribed some high blood pressure pills, which I was supposed to take everyday.
Well, I didn’t like what he told me, so I did nothing about it for a few months. pardon me, I did gain some more weight! My sufferings continued, and in fact became worse, especially my headaches, which were intolerable by then. Knowing that they were the consequence of my high blood pressure, I started taking the pills the doctor prescribed for me, hoping they would help. Instead, they made me dizzy and lightheaded, and I would fall asleep constantly, wherever I was and whatever I was doing. . . a very dangerous situation, since I have to drive one hour each way to work. So, I stopped taking them, and did nothing for a few more months, but gain more weight. . . I had reached rock bottom, given up on myself and was eating more than ever. I was only a couple of pounds short of 400. . . when something clicked ! ! !
I still don’t know exactly what it was, but I think it was a combination of circumstances and events that came together at that particular point of my life. My mother was in town, and she was very upset about my health; at work, a co-worker was on a diet and had lost quite a bit of weight and looked and felt so much better; I wasn’t able to perform my job as well as I wanted to; my health was worse than ever; all the clothing I had was splitting at the seams; and all of this was added to the fact that I was very afraid of dying young. . .
I decided that was time to finally do something about my weight for good! How to go about it though? I had tried so many times before and failed miserably. . . but I couldn’t wait any longer to get started, because I had made a commitment to myself and to my life that this was it! No more gaining weight. . . from now on, only losing. So, since I didn’t know exactly what to do, I went to my co-worker and asked her what type of diet was she following. She had gone to one of these weight loss clinics. I asked her for the diet plan and got started on it that same night.
There I was, back on the same routine, counting calories, weighing portions and watching sugars and starches. I lost weight, just like before. . . but that worried me, because, like before I probably would just end up gaining it back as soon as I stopped following the diet plan.
No one can diet forever, I thought, so I have to come up with a system that I can use for as long as I live, without feeling deprived or having to go through the calorie counting and portion weighing anymore. . . after all, I liked to eat! I had to find a way to eat as much as I wanted without getting fat. in fact, I had to eat as much as I wanted and lose weight, a lot of it ! ! !
After doing a lot of researching on the subject, I established some factors which are critical to successfully achieving long-term or permanent weight loss and control.
Calories do not necessarily make you fat, but fat will make you fat.
Lowering the amount of food you eat, without changing to healthier foods, will slow your metabolic rate, which in turn will make harder for you to lose weight.
To lose weight efficiently, you have to lower your fat intake and increase the complex carbohydrates in your food without starving yourself. Foods like rice, potatoes, whole-grain breads and pasta can satisfy your appetite with fewer than half the calories of a equivalent portion of a fat-rich food. Carbohydrates will actually increase your metabolic rate. Calories from carbohydrates will not increase body fat as the same amount of calories from fat.
When trying to lose weight, too much sugar is also not recommended, so remember that and limit yourself to natural sugars, if possible.
Eating can involve cravings as intense as a smoker’s, or drug addict’s. These urges are the biggest enemies of weight loss and control. When they strike, they’re almost impossible to ignore. The heart beats faster, saliva starts flowing, the stomach produces acid and your mind is seized by a almost uncontrollable desire to eat the craved food. If you are vulnerable to this “feeding frenzy” of predigestive action, learn to control it. Do what works for you. . . if you know your triggers, you know when and where to expect a craving and you’ll be more able to deal with it. Possible triggers are stress, emotion, depression. . . even a habit, like eating while you watch TV, read or drive.
You have to get enough protein and fiber.
– Fiber is not a problem, because the foods low in fat or fat-free are naturally high in fiber. Dietary fiber acts somewhat like a brush, keeping your intestines clean and promoting a healthier digestive tract. Experts agree that eating 20-30 grams of dietary fiber per day, almost double what the typical American now eats, may reduce the risk of certain types of cancer. The vegetable kingdom (fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, etc.) is the only source of dietary fiber.
– Protein is another story; if you’re going to lower or cut your meat consumption, you have to make sure that you still get enough protein from other sources. some experts now believe that eating a variety of plant-based foods daily supplies adequate protein. Being mostly vegetarian does not mean your diet will be lacking in protein. Most plant foods contain protein and in fact it would be very difficult to design a vegetarian diet that is short on protein. Excess dietary protein may lead to health problems. It is now thought that one of the benefits of a vegetarian diet is that it contains adequate but not excessive protein. Proteins are made up of smaller units called amino acids. There are about 20 different amino acids, eight of which must be present in the diet. These are the essential amino acids. Unlike animal proteins, plant proteins may not contain all the essential amino acids in the necessary proportions. However, a varied vegetarian diet means a mixture of proteins are consumed, the amino acids in one protein compensating for the deficiencies of another. Previously, it has been thought that protein complementing needed to occur within a single meal. However, it is now known that this is not necessary as the body keeps a short-term store of the essential amino acids. A well-balanced vegetarian or vegan diet will easily supply all the protein and essential amino acids needed by the body. a plant-based diet can offer rich sources of high quality protein. Particularly, the protein from the soybean is a “complete” protein, containing all nine of the essential amino acids.
Any decent diet will help you lose the initial weight, but a successful weight-loss program must incorporate long term goals.
By now you must be thinking “What am I going to eat instead of meat on this crazy diet plan? I love meat and I don’t think I could live without it.” Don’t worry about it. there are different approaches, depending on how much you want to lose, how fast you want to lose and how you want to go about doing it and keeping it off. you will be in control of it. There is something I have to tell you right now. . . there isn’t such thing as a magic diet plan that will make you lose weight just by itself. You yourself have to make a commitment to do it. I can only show you the way. You’re going to have to follow it. you see, the way I look at it is this; if I have to eat dung to lose weight, look good and feel good inside and about myself and my health, I will do it. The bright side of it is, I don’t have to eat dung to accomplish that. . .and neither do you.
Well, to make my story short, because I’m sure you are curious to get to the plan itself, in one year I lost almost 200 pounds – 197 to be exact! ! ! And I’m still losing.
On the next pages, I’m going to show you how I did it, give you recipes, tips and little secrets that will pave the way to weight loss, feeling good about yourself and the way you look. You will have more energy and live a healthier life altogether.
THE BASICS
You don’t want to change everything at once. A gradual change in your eating habits is much more effective, comfortable and easier to accomplish than a sudden one. Even if you need to lose a lot of weight like I did, and eventually want to go vegetarian, you still have to go through a slow process of change, in order to not jeopardize your health and your commitment to lose weight, because it is very hard to go “cold turkey” from a meat diet to a mostly vegetarian diet. Also, every time I tried going on a diet, I had withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches and hunger pains. To avoid all that, I suggest you use the method I’ve learned from the weight loss clinics, that is, in the first three days eat only red meat and raw green vegetables, which also is suppose to clean your digestive system and prepare it for the changes to come. I actually made some changes to this method, by following it for a week instead of three days and by cooking the green vegetables. For breakfast, a large orange or grapefruit and a cup of black coffee with no sugar or with artificial sweetener; you are also allowed two poached eggs. That seemed to avoid the discomforts I mentioned and I lost a lot of weight on that first week.
Drinking lots of water is another important thing to get used to, because water is quite possibly the single most important catalyst in losing weight and keeping it off. It naturally suppresses the appetite and helps the body metabolize stored fat. A lot of what you sense as “hunger” is really “thirst”; your body may be trying to tell you that it needs more water, but since you do not drink enough of it by itself, your brain will signal you to eat more food, which could be up to 90% water. how much should you drink ? Well, at least two quarts a day, but the overweight person should drink one additional 8 ounce glass for every 25 pounds of excess weight. Water is essential for good health, good skin tone and most of the body’s functions. Drinking water could actually improve your health, because continuos under-hydration can put stress on the heart, as well as on the vascular and digestive systems.
Slow down your eating and chew your food well. You can’t enjoy your food if you don’t chew it enough, and when you eat too fast it doesn’t have a chance to settle and signal that you’ve eaten enough. Never take another mouthful while you still have food in your mouth.
Make a habit of reading food labels, how many calories and fat grams per serving as well as carbohydrates and protein content. Write everything you eat in a “diet diary”, so you can keep track of what, when and how much you’ve been eating. This will be not only a record of your progress, but also a motivation and self control tool.
The first thing to realize is that changing eating habits must be more than a short-term means to an end. Changing eating habits is the cornerstone of permanent weight control. There is no way to lose twenty pounds in two short weeks and to make it last. Very-low-calorie diets cause two major problems: they lower one’s metabolic rate, making it harder to slim down, and they lead to binging.
THE ROLE of exercise
Exercise is essential. Aerobic exercise speeds up the breakdown of fat in one’s body and makes sure that muscle is not lost. Toning exercises and weight-lifting help firm muscles and increase muscle mass. A combination of exercises will help one achieve a slimmer, firmer, healthier body in a shorter period of time. The trick is to find activities that one enjoys and that can fit one’s lifestyle. Walking is popular because it requires no special equipment and can be done anywhere at anytime. Exercise helps with weight loss by also raising the metabolic rate, not only during physical activity but for hours afterward, and a faster metabolic rate will burn more fat and increase the lean body mass. I could write a book about the benefits of exercising, such as the reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and bone fractures, plus more energy, better sleep and less anxiety and stress; but that’s not what I’m trying to do here, so I just going to give you a few pointers about it.
a) Movement burns calories; the more we move, the more calories we burn, and I mean, every movement we make, from blowing our noses to running a marathon. so move as much as you can, as often as you can.
b) Exercise boosts your metabolism; as I said before, calories will burn more quickly not only when you exercise, but also for sometime afterward.
c) The best exercise is regular exercise. Exercise everyday if you can, but don’t overdo or underdo. Start exercising gradually. Also, don’t forget to warm up and stretch before doing it.
The key to exercising is to have fun doing it. Choose an activity you’ll enjoy, whatever that is; tennis, jogging, bicycling, swimming, walking, etc. . . Remember to have fun while doing it!
As you get in better shape and feel more confident, increase and diversify your physical activities.
the first week
As I mentioned before, the purpose of this starting phase is to get over withdrawal symptoms, cleanse your digestive system (according to the weight loss clinics) and prepare your body for the changes to come in your eating habits. You may eat as much red meat and green vegetables as you like. You may have steak, hamburger, roast, veal and lamb, with any green vegetables you want. for breakfast, two eggs are permitted (poached). One orange or grapefruit daily, ½ in the morning and ½ in the afternoon. You must drink at least 2 quarts of water everyday. No other foods are allowed, but the following beverages in addition to water: 2 cups of tea or coffee (no sugar or with artificial sweetener) and two 12 oz. cans of diet soda (preferably decaf.) in a 24 hour period. you can have the vegetables raw in a salad or you can steam, boil, microwave or even sauté them with fat-free cooking spray.
The month after the first week
After going through this first week, you will start the diet itself. Now, there are a few sacrifices you’re going to have to make if you really want to lose weight and keep it off and one of them is to forget about butter, margarine and mayonnaise. These three items are almost 100% FAT!!! If you really have to spread something on your bread, toast or cracker, use fat-free cream cheese or all natural fruit preserves.
From now on, you’ll use fat-free cooking spray, vegetable or oriental broth (both made by Swanson), bouillon and water with light soy sauce to do all of our cooking.
Here are a set of definitions so you can easily understand the food portions.
1 protein = Red meat, between 5 and 6 oz. (only twice a week ); Poultry, between 6 and 7 oz.; Liver, 6 oz.; Fish and shellfish, between 7 and 8 oz.; Cottage cheese ( lowfat or nonfat ), 7 oz.; Two eggs + cottage cheese, 4 oz. ( limit 6 eggs per week ). If you’d like a little variety with the meat portions, use fat-free cheese, but remember to compensate on the meat portion. For example, if you use 2 oz. of cheese, use only 3 to 4 oz. of red meat, or 4 to 5 oz. poultry, etc. . .
1 fruit = Any fruit you want, but limit yourself to a reasonable amount (do not eat a whole watermelon).
1 vegetable = Any vegetable you want, but do not eat a whole pound of potatoes.
1 starch = 1 slice of diet, lowfat or fat-free bread; 1 slice of Melba Toast; 1 fat-free bread stick; 4 fat-free crackers; 1 fat-free rice cake; 1 cup of your choice of a fat-and sugar-free cereal.
Let’s start with breakfast. You can have two choices;
1 egg (poached) 1 cup of cereal
1 fruit or 1 fruit
1 starch 8 oz of skim milk
8 oz of skim milk
For lunch and dinner;
1 protein
2 vegetable
1 starch
1 fruit
All foods must be prepared by broiling, roasting, microwaving, boiling or steaming. If you have to pan-fry or stir-fry anything, use one the ingredients I mentioned before. You also can have two 12 oz cans of diet pop daily, and coffee or tea with no sugar or with artificial sweetener. Fat-free salad dressing is also permitted. all the meat and poultry should be trimmed of skin and fat before cooking. Season as desired, as long you use fat-free seasonings. You can substitute eggs for Egg Beaters or the equivalent.
this diet that I’ve just illustrated is pretty much the one the typical weight loss clinic provides for their clients. It’s a very good plan, it works very well and you will lose a lot of weight doing it. But are you going to be able to be on it forever??? Maybe. . .
If you feel confortable with this diet plan, by all means, stick to it. You’ll probably lose all the weight you need to lose and keep it off if you can follow up with a good maintenance program of regular exercise and good eating habits; but you still may have that craving for sweets, such as candy, chocolates, cakes and pies, and also for junk food, such as greasy hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, pizza, not to mention barbecued meats, rich sauces, dressings and sour cream. do you know why? Because you’re still eating the same foods you ate before, just prepared in a different way; you still have the taste for them, you still crave them. . .
THE NEXT STEP
People are creatures of habit in everything, including taste. Taste can be developed or acquired, as it is for liquor or beer, for hot and spicy sauces, etc. . . You can also acquire the taste for healthy, fat-free foods. . .
As you may have noticed, in the diet plan from the weight loss clinics the approach is high protein, lower fat and low carbohydrates. You will lose weight, but your metabolism will not change.
As I mentioned before, a menu low in fat, high in fiber and carbohydrates, and modest in protein, is a powerful tool for weight loss and control.
The problem with the high protein and low carbohydrate diet is that although it can cause a rapid weight loss, it is usually temporary, mostly due to water loss, and the weight can come back very quickly, not to mention the danger of kidney disease and osteoporosis because of calcium loss in the urine.
The typical American’s diet derives about 40% of its calories from fat. Most experts agree the amount should be reduced to 30% or less. Replacing some or all of the meat in your diet with plant proteins can help make that reduction.
People today have many compelling reasons to replace a meat centered diet with a diet based on beans, grains, fruits, and vegetables. Of all these foods, soybeans are one of the richest sources of protein available. Now the second largest cash crop in the United States, this humble little bean has been a protein staple for much of the world’s population for over two thousand years.
Soyfoods are foods that have soybeans, or in some cases, soy protein, as their major protein ingredient. There are simple, basic soyfoods such as tofu, tempeh, or soymilk, and there are more complex soyfoods that imitate meat or dairy products.
If you decide to take this next step, you will gradually substitute protein rich and fat loaded meats with very low fat or fat-free equivalents. these foods will still have the necessary amount of protein in them to provide the levels you need to have a healthy, balanced diet.
The best weight control program is a high-complex-carbohydrate, low-fat,
vegetarian diet complemented by regular exercise. This is the best choice for a healthier, longer, happier life. The old myth was that pasta, bread, potatoes, and rice are fattening. Not true. In fact, carbohydrate-rich foods are perfect for permanent weight control. Carbohydrates contain less than half the calories of fat, which
means that replacing fatty foods with complex carbohydrates automatically cuts calories. But calories are only part of the story. Since the beginning of the century, caloric intake has decreased in America—but, at the same time, Americans have gotten fatter. A recent study in China found that, on the average, Chinese people eat twenty percent more calories than Americans, but they are also slimmer.Part of this is due to the sedentary American lifestyle, but is more to it than exercise alone. Earlier studies had shown that obese people do not consume more calories than non-obese
people—in many cases, they consume less. The body treats carbohydrates differently from fat calories. The difference comes with how the body stores the energy of different food types. It is very inefficient for the body to store the energy of carbohydrates as body fat—it burns twenty-three percent of the calories of the carbohydrate but fat is converted easily into body fat. Only three percent of the calories in fat are burned in the process of conversion and storage. It is the type of food, and not so much the quantity, that affects body fat the most.
Now, I’m going to show what has to be done to get this new phase of my program going. All the substitutions have to be made gradually. Slowly begin to replace the meat portions in your meals by the healthier ingredients I’m going to list. Start, for example, having meat only once a day; then go to once every other day; then twice a week; once a week and so on. . . as you cut down on meat, you may add variety to your vegetable and fruit servings. Just remember not to add any fat to it. . .
Weight loss programs and diets aren’t the way to go when it comes to losing weight. That’s because they create temporary eating patterns — and, therefore, temporary results. Most dieters gain back any lost weight when they go back to their old eating habits. So what’s the best way to drop excess weight? Create your own program!
Getting Started
If you’re currently at a healthy weight, you’re already one step ahead of the game. To stay at a healthy weight, it’s worth doing a little planning now.
Get Moving!
Self-monitoring
To measure your waist size (circumference), place a tape measure around your bare abdomen just above your hip bone. Be sure that the tape is snug, but does not compress your skin, and is parallel to the floor. Relax, exhale, and measure your waist.
In 
