When is a Diet Not a Diet?

Have you tried diets in the past? If so, were you able to lose weight? If you did lose weight, how long were you able to keep it off? Have you gained the pounds back, possibly even more than you lost?

Answers to these questions lead most people to the same conclusion: diets don’t work! There are many reasons for this. Small portions. Pre-made, special foods to buy. The need for pills, potions, or powders. Elimination of essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, which the body will eventually crave. Forbidden foods. Repetitious and boring meals. Complicated regimens. Need to count calories. Requires a program membership. Can’t be continued forever, so you go back to your old ways. The list goes on. You know this. You’ve been there.

The Full Plate Diet doesn’t have any of these drawbacks. Portions are abundant; there are no special supplements or pre-made foods to buy; no programs to join; no forbidden foods, boring meals, calories to track, or anything complicated to remember; and , best of all, it is easily continued long term. It is a diet only in the sense that it will become the way you eat for the rest of your life.

So when is a diet not a diet? When it’s The Full Plate Diet. Check it out. Go to http://www.fullplatediet.org/ for more information and great resources, or get a copy of the book today at any major bookseller. Make it the last “diet” you ever do.

The author submits this blog posting as a health educator and not in any other capacity. You should seek the advice of your physician regarding a personal health condition or before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.

Can You Be Overweight and Healthy?

In 2005, Time Magazine attempted to answer that question, and the conclusion was “Yes, you can.” This was based on the observation that many who are overweight or obese have normal blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar values – therefore their health did not appear to be in jeopardy. For sure, there is much debate, even among experts, over this issue. But the overwhelming majority of medical research indicates that being above your ideal body weight is bad for your health.

A study published by Circulation on-line, December 28, 2009, concluded that overweight individuals with no abnormalities of blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar (all indicators of “being healthy”), have a 50 percent increased risk of developing heart disease compared to those of normal weight. For those who are obese with numbers otherwise normally associated with good health, the risk is increased by 95 percent.

Beyond being bad for your heart, overweight also increases your risk of cancer, the second leading cause of American deaths. That’s right – cancer. The American Institute for Cancer Research estimates that over 100,000 cancers of various types are caused each year by overweight and obesity. And half of Americans don’t know this relationship exists.

Added to these disorders is an up to 40 times increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes if you are overweight or obese. Type 2 diabetes is the number one cause of kidney failure, blindness, and non-traumatic lower limb amputations in America.

It really doesn’t matter if your motivation to get slimmer is so you can look good in your bathing suit this summer, or if you want to avoid a heart attack, cancer, or type 2 diabetes. Regardless of why you lose, you will still gain better health. What’s the easiest, and also healthiest, way to lose those pounds? Eat more fiber foods, drink more water, and stop eating when you’re no longer hungry.

So, can you be overweight and healthy? Possibly, but I wouldn’t want you to bet on it – certainly not with your life.

The author submits this blog posting as a health educator and not in any other capacity. You should seek the advice of your physician regarding a personal health condition or before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.

The Art of Eating

Are you already losing weight on The Full Plate Diet? Are you worried you will gain the pounds back? Here are some practical tips that will help turn your diet into a way of living. Start with the first tip and add a new one each day – at the end of a week you’ll be looking like a slim person and eating like one too.

• Think differently about hunger. Consider the feeling of mild hunger as a desirable condition (rather than an emergency). This is when your body is burning fat and you are accomplishing your goal!
• Fill your plate with half the food you think you may need. If you are really still hungry after eating your first plate, wait 10 minutes to give your body time to begin digestion and let your brain know you are full before getting seconds.
• Chew slowly and stop eating when the hungry feeling stops. The time to stop is well before you feel “full” or “stuffed.” The goal of eating isn’t to feel miserable afterwards.  Take time to savor your dining experience. 
• Try not to eat like it is your last meal. Even if you don’t know when you will eat again, overeating at a meal means your body will store up fat.  
• Leave that “one last bite” on your plate. It is better to let the food go to waste outside your body rather than stored on the inside. Any food eaten beyond what you body needs will become fat.
• Focus on eating. Multi-tasking leads to overeating. Try not to eat while driving, reading, talking on the phone, working, watching TV or while at the movies. You’ll not only enjoy your food more, but you will eat less of it.
• Don’t eat within 4 hours of bedtime. Food gives us the energy we need to be active during the day. You don’t need energy intake right before you go to sleep. If you take in energy that you don’t need or use, it will be stored as fat.

The author submits this blog posting as a health educator and not in any other capacity. You should seek the advice of your physician regarding a personal health condition or before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.

For Success, Control Your Environment

Imagine yourself after a hectic day at the office or following last-minute holiday shopping. You’re relaxing and watching TV when you begin to hear voices – soft at first, then building in volume. They seem to be coming from the kitchen. Now they’re recognizable – it’s Ben and Jerry, and your name is being called from the confines of your freezer. You initially resist, but then you begin to think of reasons to answer. After all, you want what they have to offer. Since you are a little hungry and also bored, you believe you really need them as friends. Plus, you’ve had a really hard day, so you convince yourself you deserve them. In the end, willpower alone is usually not enough so you, Ben, and Jerry have a little party. Sound familiar?

There’s a way to prevent this from happening. It’s by not letting Ben and Jerry into your house and freezer to begin with. Safety from their temptations, and also successful weight loss, begins at the supermarket. If you tend to make friends like Ben and Jerry, who will sabotage you when you are at your weakest, then avoid the aisle where they reside. Or, if you must be in their neighborhood for some other reason, certainly don’t invite them into your shopping cart. Along the same lines, if there are certain restaurants that don’t serve foods to help make you slim, then don’t go there to dine. By avoiding such places, you won’t be forced to make decisions you may later regret.

Control your environment. If you do, you won’t need supernatural willpower when you are most vulnerable to fend off “friends” that are really your weight-loss enemies.

The author submits this blog posting as a health educator and not in any other capacity. You should seek the advice of your physician regarding a personal health condition or before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.

Fiber - It Even Works for Dogs

Last evening my wife, step-daughter, and I attended a holiday party at a good friend’s home. As we arrived we were greeted by Molika, his Rhodesian Ridgeback hound. I hadn’t seen Molika in some time, but she was noticeably more fit, agile, and sleek appearing than I remembered from before. In talking to her master, I discovered that Molika had lost about 20 pounds. How did she do it? By eating green beans! That’s right – green beans. At every meal, Molika gets her usual dog food, but in smaller amounts, because the rest of her portion is comprised of green beans. She likes how they taste, and they fill her up, not out. I kept this in mind as I went through the serving line at the party. I filled up on fiber foods by eating a green salad, tabouli, carrots, and a dish made from cauliflower and broccoli. Because of this, I didn’t feel deprived when I split a piece of baklava with my wife for dessert. What worked for Molika worked for me. And it will for you too.

Remember Molika, the green-bean-eating Rhodesian Ridgeback, every time you eat. Fill yourself up on fiber foods like beans, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. When you do this, you will naturally eat less of the foods that caused you to gain weight. You won’t feel deprived, and before long, you will be fit, agile, and sleek – just like Molika!

The author submits this blog posting as a health educator and not in any other capacity. You should seek the advice of your physician regarding a personal health condition or before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.

Trading Winstons for Whoppers

I remember the days when restaurants were smoked filled.  It was common to see people smoking in grocery stores and when travelling by air.  Television prime time was filled with commercials for cigarettes.  Remember the Tareyton "I'd rather fight than switch" black eye, the Marlboro Man, or the Tiparillo Girl?  During hospital rounds I would call ahead and tell the floor nurses to have my patients extinguish their cigarettes before I arrived, so I wouldn't smell like smoke the rest of the day.  Then culture began to change, and it is hard to imagine the smoker's world we once lived in. No smoking on planes or in restaurants, grocery stores, or hospital rooms now.  No television advertising for cigarettes.  And because of the reduction in smoking these changes have brought about, the lifespan of Americans was increased.

However, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on December 2nd, reveals that health gains derived from reduced smoking have been more than offset by the negative health effects of America's growing waistlines over the last few decades. It seems that all we have done is traded in our Winstons for Whoppers.

Ideally our future world won't have a drive-thru on every corner, people will actually eat meals cooked at home using real food, and cars won't be designed around supersized cup holders.  Maybe someday we will think back and remember school lunch programs dominated by the fast food industry, or TV ads for the Taco Bell fourth meal, and we will shake our heads in disbelief at how foolish we once were.  Possibly.  But I'm not sure I would bet your health or pants size on it happening anytime soon, and in the meantime the world is starting to tip on its axis more than is natural. 

You don't need to wait for culture to change in order to be slimmer, and healthier as a result.  Just start by doing a few simple things.  Use whole wheat bread instead of white; eat 5 servings of your favorite vegetables, 3 to 4 servings of fruit, and a cup of cooked beans every day; take the stairs instead of the elevator or park at the far end of the parking lot instead of near the door. 

Do those things and you may be a real trend setter, decades ahead of the crowd.

The author submits this blog posting as a health educator and not in any other capacity. You should seek the advice of your physician regarding a personal health condition or before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.

Health Care Reform – What’s the Point?

Last year Americans spent $86 billion treating the health effects of obesity. According to the America’s Health Rankings study recently released, by 2018 that number will quadruple to $344 billion. This is because obesity in this country is on an upward trajectory that is stratospheric, to say the least. The fattest state in the country now is Mississippi, with an obesity rate of 38 percent. But don’t point a finger at them as being bad examples - the same study predicts that in 2018 nearly 45 percent of all Americans will be clinically obese. Along with that excess body fat come chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and high blood pressure.  This carries not only a huge physical cost, but an economic one as well - just because we can’t put down our Big Macs and fries and substitute them with a bowl of beans and rice, or a plate of fresh vegetables.

Much to-do has been made over the potential for health care reform in America. But, what’s the point? It doesn’t matter what sort of health care system we have, or develop, in this country if we continue to insist on literally eating ourselves to death. We simply won’t be able to bear the economic burden of our communal fatness, if the above predictions hold true. Health care reform or not, we will not be able to afford the costs of the diseases we will bring upon ourselves.

Maybe losing weight for personal reasons has not made it a priority for you. Then consider doing it for the good of your country. For starters, just add more fiber foods into your diet. All fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and nuts contain fiber. Drink more water – at least 6 to 8 glasses per day. Don’t eat when you’re not hungry and stop eating before you are full. Move a little more.

Do these things and you’ll get slimmer and healthier. You may even feel a sense of patriotic pride.



The author submits this blog posting as a health educator and not in any other capacity. You should seek the advice of your physician regarding a personal health condition or before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.