The Best Diet: No Diet!

[wosnes]

I was cleaning out some of my files and found this. It's from Mollie Katzen's Monthly Message some years ago. Must have been January...

THE BEST DIET: NO DIET!
by Mollie Katzen

Now that the holiday season is coming to a close, the American tradition of January Dietary Penance will soon be well underway. Many people want to clean up their eating and start the new year with an eye toward eating and living healthier in the months to come. This is a great idea! The trick, though, is to make it realistic and fun -- and not punitive and overly ambitious.

Here's a radical concept for you to consider: Perhaps the best diet is no diet.

Perhaps the best way to go about streamlining our bodies is to undergo a series of gradual, subtle changes and adjustments that can be incorporated into our lives over a long period of time. (And yes, this absolutely can include regular rendezvous with chocolate, so do read on.)

Consumer Reports recently conducted a survey of over 32,000 people who were on the proverbial quest to lose weight. The results showed that the overwhelming majority of true, long term success stories had something interesting in common: namely, that the people who stayed slim did not diet, nor did they follow a plan from a book or some weight loss guru. In fact, very few of the people in this study who lost weight and kept it off did so through commercial diet plans, meal replacement bars and shakes or dietary supplements. (Notice I use the phrase "kept it off" -- that's a key phrase here.)

You might wonder if perhaps these people were privy to some special, secret information that you somehow missed. Perhaps there was a magic bullet they all used to mysteriously melt away the extra pounds while they were sleeping or doing other things -- and that led these non-dieters to keep the weight off over time?

Not really.

So what was the trick?

The answer is not very sexy, and is not some breakthrough piece of information that will make headlines and sell newspapers and lead off on the evening news. In fact, the answer is not really An Answer, it's an entire attitude -- a "lifestyle adjustment" if you will pardon the expression.

This is the key: If you are interested in long term weight reduction, you need a moderate, balanced way of eating of your own design that you can live with -- not some super-restrictive, strict plan that makes you unhappy and always vigilant.

Here's the overview of what the successful losers in the Consumer Reports study focused upon:

Eat enough protein, which helps stave off hunger

Eating water-filled fruits and vegetables will make you feel full

Eat high-fiber, whole grain foods as much as you can, instead of white bread,
sugar, potatoes and pasta

Don't eliminate all fats. Those found in nuts, avocados, olives and fish may
protect against heart disease and are very good at keeping you feeling
satisfied (view the Harvard Nutrition Roundtable --
http://www.molliekatzen.com/harvard7.php)

Drink plenty of water between meals.

Eat a variety of foods; eat slowly and attentively, and enjoy your food.

Move more*

Be persistent and have a sense of flexibility and humor

*The one strategy common to nearly all the success stories: exercise. Those who exercised at least three times a week ranked it as the number one factor in their weight loss success. Many others credited increasing the physical activity in their daily routines -- taking the stairs rather than the elevator, for example. Lifting weights was also popular among successful dieters.

PS: Only 14 percent of the high-achieving losers had ever been enrolled in Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, or another commercial diet program, according to results of the survey. On top of this, a mere 6 percent of successful losers used dietary supplements or another non-prescription weight loss aid, such as Metabolife or Dexatrim. And the vast majority -- 88 percent -- stayed away from Slim Fast and other meal replacements. The main thing people ingested to lose weight was food; plain, simple

[reinhard]

Hey, they forgot the "S"

Even without, sounds very similar.

Thanks for the post!

Reinhard

[CrazyCatLady]

Another study that seems to indicate that cutting carbs (or simply cutting back portions?) lead to more success than limiting calories!
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/wei ... wars_N.htm

[wosnes]

Hey, they forgot the "S"

Even without, sounds very similar.

Thanks for the post!

Reinhard

Nah, she didn't forget it Reinhard. She didn't know about it yet. She pre-dated you by a few years!