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Mind Your Food!
By: Adam Fletcher, Tue Apr 18th, 2006
Motivate and Lose the Weight One of the biggest challenges when
it comes to dieting is maintaining your level of motivation. To
help keep your regimen on the straight and narrow, try weighing
yourself just once a week instead of every day (daily weigh-ins
can be discouraging), and keep a photo of the “old you” taped to
your mirror to remind you of an unhealthy past that will soon be
a distant memory. Slow and Steady Wins the Race When it comes to
safe and effective dieting, a slow and steady marathon is likely
to work better than a lose-weight-quick sprint every time. While
following the latest fad diet trends can certainly help shed
pounds in the short term, most nutritionists agree that
permanent changes in lifestyle and eating habits are also much
healthier in the long run. Mind Your Food! Do Buddhists know
something we don’t? When it comes to the meditative practice of
mindful eating, they just might. Though intended to teach the
practitioner to be in the present and slowly relish each and
every morsel, mindful eating can also work as an effective
counteroffensive to our own infamous Western wolfing ways, a
tactic that often results in unintentional overeating. Savor the
flavor! Outwit Your Hunger Monster The signals that tell your
brain that your tummy is ready for more treats can be among the
dieter’s worst enemies, and your ability to recognize and work
with those signals could have a sizable effect on your dieting
success. Two simple ways to outwit your hunger are to eat slowly
(it can take up to 20 minutes for the brain to realize you’ve
had enough) and don’t wait until you’re starving to eat, which
can increase the chances of overeating. Get With the Program
Overeaters Anonymous, jenny craig, Weight Watchers – you’re
probably quite familiar with these programs’ names. Question is:
Will they work for you? While we can’t endorse or dismiss them,
we can offer a mini-survey to help you determine yay or nay to
joining. 1. Will peer pressure help you maintain your diet? 2.
Do you have the time and commitment to attend weekly meetings?
3. Can you afford to join and pay for special foods?
If you answered “yes” to at least two of these, a diet program
just may be the ticket for you. Chip Away at the Caloric Stone
Crash diets are aptly named, since the mental and physical
effects of such drastic measures are just as likely to leave you
a wreck as they are to help you permanently lose weight. A
simple rule-of-thumb for new dieters is to try to eat about 300
to 500 calories less per day, which alone can help shed up to
two pounds a week.
Take it From the Long-Term Losers A recent FDA report on weight
loss mentioned the National Weight Control Registry, which
includes a database of over 3,000 American adults who have lost
an average of 60 pounds and kept it off for an average of six
years. The group’s secret? According to the study’s
co-developer, R.I. Wing, the majority shares four common
behaviors: they eat a low-fat, high-carb diet, they monitor
themselves by weighing in frequently, they are very physically
active, and they eat breakfast. Presto,
magico!http://www.hardwaresoftwarearticles.com Can You Say
“Carbo-mania”? When we Americans do a fad, we do it big. And in
case you’ve been living in a cave, the low-carb diet trend is in
full swing. If you’re in a spin calculating low-effective carbs
or net-carbs on all those fancy, new, low-carb snack foods out
on the market, stop right now. The latest word from Consumer
Reports [June, 2004] is that counting calories, not carbs, is
still the best way to lose weight. Just Say “No” to Empty
Calories Though carbohydrates are a necessary and vital part of
the equation for a healthy diet, one of the problems many
dieters face is an abundant choice of empty carbohydrate
calories. Empty calories in any form are a sure way to weight
gain and ill health. When choosing which carbohydrates to
include in your diet, vegetables and fruit in moderation are
usually a good bet. When Low-Carb Turns to Low Ebb One of the
most common side effects of living the low-carb life is a
feeling of sluggishness that some dieters get; aka the dreaded
“low-carb crash.” Since carbs are our primary source of fuel,
depriving our bodies of them taxes our systems to keep blood
sugar levels up, which can result in fatigue. One helpful hint
is to make sure your diet is also low in saturated fats, a
notion adopted by South Beach, but not by Atkins. I’m in the
Mood for Carbs There’s a reason why carbohydrates have been
referred to as “mood food.” Nutritionists believe that eating
them may increase serotonin, a brain chemical that effects
everything from sleep and mood to pain tolerance. Though high
levels of seratonin may soothe your crankiness, low-carb
enthusiasts insist that the effects are minimal. As one recent
dieting book put it, “pasta isn’t Prozac.” Learning the Online
Low-Carb Lingo While there’s plenty of online support for
low-carb enthusiasts in the form of bulletin boards and forums,
it can be a jungle out there if you’re not familiar with some of
the more popular acronyms. Here’s a quick primer to some you may
encounter: BMI (body mass index), CAD (Carbohydrate Addict’s
Diet), DANDR (Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution), LC (low-carb),
OWL (ongoing weight loss), SAD (Standard American Diet), SF
(sugar free) and WOE (way of eating). Happy surfing! A Low-Carb
Sushi Alternative You can have the seaweed and sushi rolls you
love and still be true to your low-carb way of life. If you’re
making a roll at home, try using tofu instead of rice. Just take
firm tofu, slice it and pan fry it in a bit of tamari and water.
Then lay it on the seaweed sheet along with whatever else you
want (avocado and cucumber work great). Keep on rollin’. Oh,
Be-have! A recent study from the Yale School of Nursing
discovered women who adapted six sequential behavioral patterns
were the most successful in keeping off significant weight loss
(10% of body weight) for a year plus. Patterns were as follows:
http://www.hardwaresoftwarearticles.com 1. Were vulnerable,
naïve, self-conscious with low self-esteem 2. Recognized the
need for, and became ready to change; felt energized 3. Took
control, engaged in behavior change; felt empowered 4.
Incorporated changes, increased awareness of food 5. Joined
support groups 6. Gained confidence, self-esteem and maintained
loss BBQ the Low-Carb Way While your typical outdoor barbeque
may not seem to jibe with your new low-carb ambitions, you can
still enjoy the ’cue while minding your diet. Burger and hot dog
buns, baked beans and potato salad can be no-nos, as are many
BBQ sauces typically used to marinate meats. But a rub made
exclusively of spices and herbs can be just as tasty, while a
fruit salad or parfait is better than the usual pie. Blood Sugar
Carb Magic One of the most touted benefits of a low-carb diet is
the effect it has on blood glucose levels. Concentrating your
carb intake on foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains
can help control the sugar highs and lows that create hunger
pangs. It can also help you concentrate better and eliminate
those tiring bouts with post-lunch lethargy. Those Crazy Carb
Cravings Low carbohydrate dieting works for one very important
reason: most of our favorite foods to overindulge in are pure
carbohydrates. Once you’ve grown used to cutting out some carbs,
you should ideally find it easier to eat only when you are
hungry. As the carb-induced cravings subside, your body begins
to learn how much is actually enough. That’s a lesson that can
help your health no matter what you’re eating. Make Fiber a
Fixture Since most Americans consume just half of the
recommended intake of fiber, it’s a no duh that low-carb
enthusiasts sometimes find it even tougher to fit fiber into
their diet plans. To insure that you get your RDA of 25 to 35
grams of the rough stuff, the September 2004 issue of LowCarb
Energy suggests supplementing a low-carb diet with whole foods
such as veggies and fruit and whole-grain products, like the
very retro (ancient, really) quinoa, millet, wild rice and
amaranth. http://www.hardwaresoftwarearticles.com Fat-Busting
Alternatives Starting to reduce some of the fat in your diet can
be as simple as choosing some of the great alternatives to foods
that are currently available. Opt for the wide variety of
low-fat or fat-free salad dressings, mayonnaise, yogurt, milk
and cheeses that currently crowd store shelves. Also, avoid
high-fat processed meats like cold cuts in favor of tasty, fresh
meats with words like round and loin in the name. Buon appetito!
Berry Berry Good Low-carb guru Dr. Atkins extolled the goodness
of berries, which are lower in carbs than most fruits, and you
should take him at his word. “Blueberries, raspberries,
strawberries, and other berries are sweet little powerhouses
full of valuable ingredients,” he wrote in his best-selling
book, Atkinsfor Life. Frozen berries are as rich in nutrients as
the fresh ones are; just make sure to check out the ingredient
list and pick brands that don’t have any added sugar. Dental
Diet Aid You’ve done this diet and that diet and they all don’t
work? There’s a new tool on the market that might be right up
your alley. The Dental Diet System (DDS) sits up in the roof of
your mouth, thus making it smaller and forcing you to chew food
into baby bites. In studying this tool, the Pennington
Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA has discovered
that people using it eat, on average, 660 fewer calories a day!
Check Your Thirst, First! That hunger pang you have immediately
after rolling out of bed may not be hunger at all. Many people
mistake dehydration for hunger, and fill up with food before
slaking their thirst. Next time your tummy grumbles, reach for a
big glass of H2O and hydrate your body first. The Dating vs.
Dieting Dilemma Dating and dieting; mutually exclusive, right?
You can shake that negative attitude right here and now.
Conscious behavior is one easy way to balance both your newfound
healthy habits and wooing from your date. Anxiety tends to make
us eat faster, thus more, since our stomachs haven’t had time to
tell us, “stop!” Taking time to breathe between bites and
chewing each bite thoroughly will allow you to know when enough
is enough. Got the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Blues? Feel like a
spoilsport each time you turn down the fam’s invite to the local
buffet because you’re on a special diet? Now you don’t have to.
Simply plan your meal ahead – call the restaurant and ask what
they are serving. With this knowledge, you can choose your meal
carefully at home before being tempted by the cornucopia of
sights and smells. You can even count your calorie intake before
you go!
About the author:
Adam Fletcher is the webmaster of Hardware Software Articles
http://www.hardwaresoftwarearticles.com .
