In the last edition, APPETIT starts featuring the answers to 11 toughest diet problems from some of the top dietitians in the United States, courtesy of the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Those given these questions to answer are RDs (Registered Dieticians) who, in addition to their private careers, serve as media spokespersons or heads of specialty practice groups for the ADA.
Here is the position of the RDs, in their own words.
These are gleaned from successful experience with thousands of clients. You may find some to be quite familiar while some are new. Whichever, all these tips are repeated because they work. This is a treasure trove of RD wisdom that could change your life, starting from today.
The problems are stated first, then the solutions as advised by the Registered Dieticians.
What is your best advice for avoiding those extra holiday pounds?
60. Do not tell yourself, "It's okay, it's the holidays." That opens the door to six weeks of splurging.
61. Remember, eat before you attend a party. Have this small meal before you go to any party: A hardboiled egg, apple, and a thirst quencher (water, seltzer, diet soda, tea).
62. As obvious as it sounds, do not stand near the food at parties. Make the effort, and you will find you eat less.
63. At a buffet? Eating a little of everything guarantees high calories. Decide on three or four things, only one of which is high in calories. Save that for last so there is less chance of overeating.
64. For the duration of the holidays, wear your snuggest clothes that do not allow much room for expansion. Wearing sweats is out until January.
65. Give it away! After company leaves, give away leftover food to neighbours, doormen, or delivery people, or take it to work the next day.
66. Walk around the mall three times before you start shopping.
67. Make exercise a non-negotiable priority.
68. Dance to music with your family in your home. One dietitian reported that when she asks her patients to do this, initially they just smile. But once they have done it, they say it is one of the easiest ways to involve the whole family in exercise.
How can I control a raging sweet tooth?
69. Once in a while, have a lean, mean salad for lunch or dinner, and save the meal's calories for a full dessert.
70. Are you the kind of person who does better if you make up your mind to do without sweets and just not have them around? Or are you going to do better if you have a limited amount of sweets every day? One RD reported that most of her clients pick the latter and find they can avoid bingeing after a few days.
71. If your family thinks they need a very sweet treat every night, try to strike a balance between offering healthy choices but allowing them some "free will."
Compromise with low-fat ice cream and fruit, or sometimes just fruit with a dollop of whipped cream.
72. Try two weeks without sweets. It is amazing how your cravings vanish.
73. Eat more fruits. A person who gets enough fruit in his diet doesn't have a raging sweet tooth.
74. Eat your sweets, just eat them smart! Carve out about 150 calories per day for your favourite sweet.
That amounts to about an ounce of chocolate, half a modest slice of cake, or 1/2 cup of regular ice cream.
75. Try these smart little sweets: Sugar-free hot cocoa, frozen red grapes, sugar-free gum, and hard candy.
How can I conquer my downfall: Bingeing at night?
76. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. The large majority of people who struggle with night eating are those who skip meals or do not eat balanced meals during the day. This is a major setup for overeating at night.
77. Eat your evening meal in the kitchen or dining room, sitting down at the table.
78. Drink cold unsweetened raspberry tea. It tastes great and keeps your mouth busy.
79. Change your nighttime schedule. It will take effort, but it will pay off. You need something that will occupy your mind and hands.
80. If you are eating at night due to emotions, you need to focus on getting in touch with what is going on and taking care of yourself in a way that really works. Find a non-food method of coping with your stress.
81. Put a sign on the kitchen and refrigerator doors: ‘Closed after Dinner.’
82. Brush your teeth right after dinner to remind you: No more food.
83. Eat without engaging in any other simultaneous activity. No reading, watching TV, or sitting at the computer.
84. Eating late at night would not itself cause weight gain. It is how many calories—not when you eat them—that counts.
How can I reap added health benefits from my dieting?
85. Fat-free is not always your best bet. Research has found that none of the lycopene or alpha- or beta-carotene that fight cancer and heart disease is absorbed from salads with fat-free dressing. Only slightly more is absorbed with reduced-fat dressing; the most is absorbed with full-fat dressing. But remember; use your dressing in moderate amounts.
86. Skipping breakfast will leave you tired and craving naughty foods by mid-morning. To fill up healthfully and tastefully, try this sweet, fruity breakfast full of antioxidants. In a blender, process one nonfat plain or vanilla yogurt, 1-1/3 frozen strawberries (no added sugar), one peeled kiwi, and one peeled banana. Pulse until mixture is milkshake consistency. Makes one 2-cup serving; 348 calories and 1.5 fat grams.
87. If you are famished by 4 p.m. and have no alternative but an office vending machine, reach for the nuts. The same goes if your only choices are what are available in the hotel minibar.
88. Next time you are feeling wiped out in late afternoon, forgo that cup of coffee and reach for a cup of yogurt instead. The combination of protein, carbohydrate, and fat in an 8-ounce serving of low-fat yogurt will give you a sense of fullness and well-being that coffee cannot match, as well as some vital nutrients. If you have not eaten in three to four hours, your blood glucose levels are probably dropping, so eating a small amount of nutrient-rich food will give your brain and body a boost.
89. Making just a few changes to your pantry shelves can get you a lot closer to your weight loss goals.
Here is what to do: If you use corn and peanut oil, replace it with olive oil. Same goes for breads—go for whole wheat. Trade in those fatty cold cuts like salami and bologna and replace them with canned tuna, sliced turkey Bosom , and lean roast beef. Change from drinking whole milk to fat-free milk or low-fat soy milk. This is hard for a lot of people, so try transitioning down to two per cent and then one per cent before going fat-free.
90. Nothing is less appetizing than a crisper drawer full of mushy vegetables. Frozen vegetables store much better, plus they may have greater nutritional value than fresh. Food suppliers typically freeze vegetables just a few hours after harvest, locking in the nutrients. Fresh vegetables, on the other hand, often spend days in the back of a truck before they reach the supermarket.
91. Worried about the trans-fat content in your peanut butter? Good news: In a test done on Skippy, JIF, Peter Pan, and a supermarket brand, the levels of trans-fats per 2-tablespoon serving were far lower than 0.5 gram—low enough that under proposed laws, the brands can legally claim zero trans-fats on the label.
They also contained only one gram more sugar than natural brands—not a significant difference.
Eating less is not enough—What exercising tips will help me shed pounds?
92. Overeating is not the result of exercise. Vigorous exercise would not stimulate you to overeat. It is just the opposite. Exercise at any level helps curb your appetite immediately following the workout.
93. When you are exercising, you should not wait for thirst to strike before you take a drink. By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Try this: Drink at least two glass-cups of water, sports drinks, or juices two hours before you exercise. Then drink another cup of water an hour before and another half to full cup of water every 15 to 20 minutes during your workout. Finish with at least 16 ounces after you are done exercising.
94. Tune in to an audio book while you walk. It will keep you going longer and looking forward to the next walk—and the next chapter! Check your local library for a great selection. Look for a great audio book selection; you might walk so far you will need to take a cab home!
95. Think yoga is too serene to burn calories? Think again. You can burn 250 to 350 calories during an hour-long class (that is as much as you would burn from an hour of walking)! Plus, you will improve muscle strength, flexibility, and endurance.
96. Drinking too few can hamper your weight loss efforts. That is because dehydration can slow your metabolism by three per cent, or about 45 fewer calories burned a day, which in a year could mean weighing 5 pounds more. The key to water is not how much you drink, it is how frequently you drink it.
Small amounts sipped often work better than a glass of water gulped down at once.
How can I manage my emotional eating and get the support I need?
97. A registered dietitian (RD) can help you find healthy ways to manage your weight with food.
98. The best place to lose weight may be your own house of worship. Researchers set up healthy eating and exercise programmes in 16 Baltimore churches.
More than 500 women participated and after a year the most successful lost an average of 20 pounds. Weight loss programmes based on faith are so successful because there is a built-in community component that people can feel comfortable with.
99. Here is another reason to keep level-headed all the time: Pennsylvania State University research has found that women less able to cope with stress—shown by blood pressure and heart rate elevations—ate twice as many fatty snacks as stress-resistant women did, even after the stress stopped.
100. Sitting at a computer may help you slim down. When researchers at Brown University School of Medicine put 92 people on online weight loss programmes for a year, those who received weekly e-mail counseling shed 5 1/2 more pounds than those who got none.
Counselors provided weekly feedback on diet and exercise logs, answered questions, and cheered them on. Most major online diet programmes offer many of these features.
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