“To Lose the Weight, Eat Food You Like”, and Other Nonsense

When you’re in a hurry, take your time.

Slow and steady wins the race.

To lose the weight, eat food you like.

Do these statements seem illogical?  If many of us are honest, the answer is “yes!”.

“Take my time when I’m in a hurry?!  Are you kidding?  I need to rush.”  Moving in overdrive may seem to make more sense when time is tight, but think about it for a moment.  I have.

I remind myself every time I am hurrying to put makeup on before rushing out the door – Kim, slow down or you will be walking around with mascara on your cheek and lipstick on your teeth (not a good look).  After a couple of re-do’s that cost me many unavailable minutes, I have learned to repeat to myself, “When you’re in a hurry, take your time.”  The end result is less like a 5-year-old playing dress up, and more like a professional heading out to work.

It is equally unnatural to tame the desire to overachieve, to “win the race” – defined (by me) as forcing quick lifestyle changes that require more deliberate “slow and steady” practice to become permanent.   The overachiever mentality runs rampant in the diet world.  There are plenty of enticements to lose it quick, and that is very tempting.

The fact is that the tortoise beat the speedy hare, and the same principle applies to changing habits.  Be patient!  It may not make immediate sense, but more realistic changes will put you ahead in the long run.

By now you have figured out that I do not really think that eating food you like is nonsense either – quite the opposite, in fact.  Food has to provide a certain amount of satisfaction to meet overall needs.  Most of us realize that physical hunger needs to be fed, but the need for pleasure from food is not as well understood by the dieting population.

The brain likes rewards – in all areas of life – and food that feels boring and bland will only be tolerable for a short time before more interesting alternatives take their place.  The more boring the food, the more taste-stimulating the “exceptions” are likely to be.  Consistency is more likely when eating is infused with a moderate amount of pleasure.

For most people, pleasure and health are not mutually exclusive.  Healthy food can certainly taste good too.  The bigger problem arises when emotional needs for reward or pleasure become tightly connected with food over time.  The habits that form as a result can be difficult to break.

But that is for a future post.  That will be a LONG one!

More Nutrition Confusion: Skip Breakfast?

If you forget to feed me breakfast, you’d better hide your sandwich.

Skip breakfast and feel more mental clarity, lose fat better, live longer?  Huh?!  Haven’t we all been told that people who eat breakfast supposedly live longer.  I also read a recent study that found men to be 20% more likely to develop diabetes if they are habitual breakfast skippers.  I also have believed – based on studies and my own experience – that skipping breakfast does NOT make my head clearer, but instead makes it hard to focus.

But here I am, looking at an article in my husband’s latest Men’s Journal making a case for regular fasting, every day or several times a week for time periods of 24 hours, plus or minus.  ”Skip breakfast, feel better”, the magazine cover teases.

Proponents claim that you will burn more fat by using ketones for fuel instead of carbohydrates.  Some of them even recommend exercising in this state of temporary starvation.

I must admit that my brain started bouncing back and forth between these two very different viewpoints, until I stepped back a little to see the big picture – always a much more valuable outlook.

How the science will shake out on the topic is yet to be revealed.  There are studies and experts on both sides.  What I know is that any of the proposed methods suggested in the article would be very difficult for any of my weight loss clients, as well as for myself.

The methods used by those who were interviewed for the article are:

1.  Mark Mattson (“The Alzheimer’s Expert”):  No breakfast or lunch Monday through Friday, while working out 4 of those days.  (My note:  Most people I know binge when they go this long without food, with or without exercise.)

2. John Olson (“The NASA Guy”):   ” . . . normal diet on all days except Tuesday and Wednesday.  Then I limit myself to about 600 calories per day . . . . ”  (My note:  Talk about setting yourself up for a binge and food obsession!)

3.  Valter Longo (“The Cancer Expert”):  ”I don’t eat lunch – that’s how I keep my weight in place.  My diet is mostly vegan with low protein.”  (My note:  You keep your weight in place by eating fewer calories than you burn.)

4. Brad Pilon (“Intermittent-Fasting Guru”):  ”The way to make fasting work for the masses is to do 24-hour fasts.  It’s easy to remember:  ’I stopped eating at 2pm today, and I can start again at 2pm tomorrow.’  My program is composed of two 24-hour fasts a week . . . . ”  (My note:  Really?  This is a fast for the masses?  It may be easy to remember when to eat, but how easy is it to do that twice every week?!)

5.  Mark Sisson (“The Paleo Guy”):  Most days, I simply have a compressed eating window.  I eat two meals a day, generally between 12pm and 7pm.  Since I train at 9:30 most mornings, I train in a fasted state and don’t eat for a few hours afterward.”  (My note:  This would probably be easier for me to do than the other methods mentioned, although still far from easy.  I think many people would still be prone to overeating after fasting until noon, unless they consistently wake up late.)

I think it’s great when anyone finds something that works for them and is healthy, but  I don’t think we can definitively say whether or not the intermittent fasters have discovered a healthier way to eat.  Even if we could, this would still be unrealistic and unsuccessful for most people battling extra fat.   Research suggests that overweight people may have exaggerated hunger already.  Hardly a plan for the masses!

This reminds me of the people who deliberately eat significantly fewer calories than they need everyday in order to live longer.  While studies make a case for increasing longevity by doing this, it is clear – at least to me – that this is not a way most people would choose to live.  Starvation – temporary or more permanent – leads to overeating.  This is what I observe, and this is what leads me away from recommending anything too extreme.

How many times a day should you eat?  The answer is not simple.  My personal belief is that 2 times is too few and more than 5 or 6 is not usually necessary or helpful.

Cure for Obesity Found!!

New studies indicate that eating a raisin a day will make it virtually impossible to gain weight, regardless of what or how much you eat.  This is huge news in the fight against obesity.  Experts are dumbfounded by how this obvious cure took so long to discover.

Apparently adding a small eye of newt to the protocol will allow rapid weight loss, but only when taken while standing on one foot.

Gotcha!  Happy April Fool’s Day.  Sorry, but there is no magic bullet.  Good health is worth a little common sense and effort though.  Enjoy the day, and be kind with your pranks!  (Scroll down to read my legitimate post for today.)

Are Functional Foods Any Better?

Have you heard the term “functional foods”?  Manufacturers cannot legally claim their products prevent or cure disease, but they can market health-promoting or wellness-maintaining properties – if they have credible science behind the claims.

You Can Dukan – But Does That Mean the Dukan Diet is Right for You?

Have you heard about the new diet book due out soon?  Actually it has been a diet trend in France for years now and is making its way to our bookstores within weeks.  The Dukan diet is another twist on a low carb high protein plan.

“Happiness is Simple”

The print is small, but look at the lower left-hand corner of this add.  I like to encourage awareness of advertising techniques.  If you are an alert consumer, you will notice this approach to food advertising A LOT!  Marketers create a mood and invite you to join in.

I would rephrase “Happiness is Simple.”  I would say instead, “Happiness is Simplistic – Overly Simplistic.”  In other words, equating potato chips with happiness is an overly simplistic and short-sighted view of happiness.  Yes, they will certainly taste good, I’m sure, but that little burst of happiness will not last long – even if you finish the whole bag.  More dependable happiness does not have to be complicated, but it requires a little more than a bag of chips and isn’t likely to end in regret!

Not Again!

What goes around comes around – again and again, when the internet and food myths are concerned.  I wrote a while back about an e-mail that was forwarded to me, and probably to millions of others.  Well, I got the very same e-mail message recently, this time claiming that Dr. Oz says to eat fruit on an empty stomach to avoid having all of your food rot inside of you.  I wondered, “Did Dr. Oz REALLY say that?!”  The answer is emphatically “NO”.  Here is a link to some of Dr. Oz’s comments, taken completely out of context.

This is the e-mail I received:

Should Fruit Be Eaten on an Empty Stomach?

I was chatting with a group of women during one of my Q & A sessions recently, and a couple of their questions reminded me of how easily nutrition rumors spread in our high-tech internet society.  Often rumors get revived every so often, and this is one of those.  The claim goes something like this:  Eat fruit with other food and it will rot and ferment in your stomach, causing poor digestion, gas, poor nutrient absorption, and (oh my God!) even baldness!

Can you top these?

When I discuss weight loss beliefs with people, it is a real eye-opener to me, because it helps me to understand why confusion develops and why frustration follows.  These are a few of the things I have heard recently:

1.  ”My metabolism changes so quickly.  One week I can lose a couple of pounds easily, and the next week I do the same thing and I lose nothing.  I think I have really goofed up my metabolism.”

2.  ”I never eat popcorn the day before weighing in at Weight Watchers.  Everyone knows that you should never do that or you will weigh more.”

3.  ”Aren’t carrots bad?  I heard that they were really high in sugar.”

4.  ”My husband told me that there is nothing good about eating ice cream.  Hah!  He has obviously never eaten ice cream like I have eaten ice cream!”

Kim’s Comments: