No More Diets!

Nutritionist Samantha Heller Offers Tips For Adopting A Healthy Eating Plan

(CBS)  A new study published in the April issue of the journal "American Psychologist" finds that for most people, dieting just doesn't work. This comes as no surprise to Samantha Heller, a nutritionist with "Health" magazine. She answers questions and has tips that can really help you lose weight and keep it off.

Why don't diets work?

Diets do not work for many reasons. First, people consider them temporary, so they go on a "diet" for a few weeks, lose a few pounds and then go right back to what they were doing before and regain the weight they lost. Second, diets are unrealistic and often too restrictive. People are hungry, miserable and deprived. Diets do not take the individual into consideration. For example, people who are very overweight or obese have different issues than someone who just wants to drop 5 or 6 pounds. Budgets, food availability and food preferences are ignored on most diets. Finally, there are so many diets out there that are based simply on lies with no scientific proof to back them up.

Why should we believe the findings of this survey? Won't another study come out in a few months that debunks this one?

Probably not. If "dieting" worked then obesity would not be at epidemic levels in this country and now around the world.

This study not only found that diets don't work but when people go off them they often gain back more weight than they lost. How does that happen?

Our bodies are designed to conserve energy. And stored energy in the body is fat. Our bodies do not know you are purposely restricting your calories, the body thinks that there is no food available. So when you start eating again the body is on a mission to store extra fat in case there is another time of starvation. Also emotionally, people feel the need to fill that inner void with food. There is biology, psychology and emotional issues all at play here.

You say that if people really do want to lose weight they first have to ask themselves some important questions. What are those questions?

If someone has been on many diets and nothing seems to work they need to ask themselves some questions. First, is there a physiological reason for this? Do I need to see a doctor? And second, they need to examine why they do not want to lose weight. What barriers and obstacles are getting in their way? Fear of failure, fear of starvation, fear of who they might become. They need to ask themselves if they are willing to do what it takes in the long term to be healthy and reach a healthy weight. It is about changing your whole life.

Instead of dieting you suggest starting a healthy eating plan and you have some tips on starting one. The first is: Eat only low or non-fat foods that come from animals. Why is this important?

Animal foods like butter, beef, cheese, ice cream, ham, pork et al. contain a bad fat called saturated fat. This bad fat increases internal inflammation and the risk for heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Since many people eat a lot of these foods, going low or non-fat will reduce the bad fat as well as the calories.

Your next piece of advice is to eat vegetables twice a day. How can this help you lose weight?

Vegetables contain healthy plant chemicals that fight disease, boost energy and the immune system. They are packed with fiber and help with satiety and are very low in calories so you can eat a lot of them.

You say not to skip meals. Why is this a bad idea?

If we skip meals we get over hungry and make up for the calories we skipped and more later in the day. You will have better energy levels and even be in a better mood when you eat regularly. Mood can have a dramatic effect on our food choices.

Why is it so important to stay hydrated?

We can confuse hunger with thirst and the body needs to be well hydrated to function optimally. Being well hydrated will also help manage hunger and cravings.

Your final tip is to start moving. Why is this such an integral part of a healthy eating plan?

Contrary to popular belief, exercise and physical movement actually give you energy. You burn calories, strengthen muscle, improve body image, lessen depression and anxiety (both of which can contribute to weight gain) and feel healthier. You are also more motivated to make healthy food choices.

[formrusmcsgt]

This is not rocket science. If you consume more calories than you burn, your body will store them.

Lard only comes off when you burn more calories than you consume. Period.

This may sound like heresy, but I think we should eat all kinds of foods including meats and cheese. The latter brings on a feeling of satiety and if done in moderation, will aid in keeping weight off. That doesn't mean that we can load up on butter or oils. Moderation is the key!
Low-fat diets are very dissatisfying and unpalatable encouraging people to view their eating as a diet to be discarded as soon as the weight is off.

[bmsbms29]

I agree to a point but I do not believe that anyone should eat low & non-fat foods. People should also stay away from artificial sugars. Some people begin to think they do not have to worry if they eat or drink more of the low, non-fat, & low sugar foods.

We should all eat vegetables and fruit and smaller amounts of meat (less of beef than chicken) and remember to eat fish - Meats should usually be baked not fried.

But it is ok to eat fried sometimes - you should not have to totally deprive yourself of foods you like.

Walking, housework, Tai Chi or just about anything you can do that will get your heart pumping for a period of time daily.
Just because you are not a tri-athlete doesn't mean you can't do a little bit.

But the important thing is to not feel deprived - do not go hungry, don't skip meals. The best way is to eat several times a day - eat little each time to keep your metabolism up & burning those calories.

Best wishes. - & check out www.mypyramid.com if you want to know what your calorie intake, etc. should be. (it's a government sight.)

[sasi1-2009]

Well, it has been my experience that starches cause me to gain weight. When I cut the starches out of my diet, the weight comes back down. I love a good desert, good bread, rolls and biscuits, and potatoes in every form. However, these are things I can eat only very sparingly. I love veggies, so do eat more than two helpings daily. I also like most fruit. I'm able to maintain my weight at just slightly above what is considered norm (10 pounds). I'd highly recommend to anyone needing to shed pounds that they cut out the starches.

[colonieny]

There are some hard facts that nutritional experts like to ignore: 1. Most obese people, esp. Women, have hyper insulin problem, with insulin that just does not work very well. The problem for most is Insulin related in part. 2. 10 % of American women have polycystic ovary syndrome, PCO - which causes them to be obese, no matter what ( due to insulin, testosterone and other complicated reasons. Rx is now geared toward lowering insulin as if they were a diabetic, with oral drugs , but only ? minor success. 3. People who say they are thin their whole lives usually have "hyper motility" of the small bowel vs. obese people, where food matter just stays there and is super absorbed. A study of Asian women and Polish women fed same ( tons !) amount of fatty food for 2 weeks, in a hotel ! , a lot of food ! Guess what ! Asian women, no weight gain, but had large % fat in their stool. ( it went through them !). Polish women, much fatter and much less fat in their stool. In other words the food/ fat just is super absorbed in many people. What genes do you have ?
I suggest getting medical help, even if mildly overweight before it is a problem. Obese women must !!! Check for Polycystic ovaries, seek out trained MDs for medication help/ consultation in this field.

[petesis]

I think that the basic caloric intake for the average person is much lower than the 2000 calorie ballpark figure I always saw. I put on weight if I eat any above 1300 or 1400 calories a day and I am 6 feet tall and big build. I finally watched as my sister had that operation that shortens your stomach. She lost alot of weight but also she found she could only eat about 600 calories a day due to the size of her stomach. She gets along well on 600 calories but has difficulty getting enough electrolytes and has to use supplements. So rather than surgery I just cut my intake and I lost the weight. It is a total lifestyle difference though. You cannot eat like we are led to believe. Three square meals a day for example, and maintain a healthy weight. The actual amount of calories required is much lower.

[hamiltongrad]

Thin Nutritionist - Same old Story - Plenty of Advice for us FATTIES

Just a question. It seems to me that virtually all nutritionist spokespeople are pretty thin women. ( earnist and nice people too ) I would bet that these experts have been fairly thin all their lives, and that there is actually a prejudice against obese women becoming nutritionists (how can you be accepted to school for nutritionist if you are obese ?? ). I don't mean to say that they are smug or mean, but I don't think are compassionate as there is an element of blame expressed.
The issue is more complicated for most people as they get older, and for many teenage girls who suddenly gain weight.
Just as we have found that high cholesterol is not always the fault of bad eating habits, so too for obesity.

[tacplus]

Seems we are more complicated than a rocket and there is no one solution for everyone. There is also the factor of body type -hence why Japanese women did not gain weight and Polish women did in one of the cited experiments. Those who have not had serious weight problems often do not and cannot undertand. They believe that the problem is lack of will power and control. Today there was a very insightful program aired on many PBS stations called "Fat: What No One is Telling You" which examines the problem from many viewpoints and various scientific studies. The prejudice against fat people (called the "last prejudice") in our culture only complicates further a problem already so tangled from drug companies seeking to exploit the overweight person's low self-esteem, to gimmick diets which not only don't work but can prove harmful to one's health. Then there is the very risky venture of bariatric surgery.
If you really want to understand what fat people experience, watch this program (also available in DVD on pbs.org) airing on most PBS stations.

[tacplus]

Besides the problem of artificial sweeteners which actually contribute to weight gain and can throw off one's glucose levels, there is also the problem of additives to our foods. These include things like "high fructose corn syrup" -look and see how many of our foods contain this! And there are the so-called "excitotoxins" such as MSG (also known by many other names) which are added to enhance the flavor of processed foods. Trouble with these is that they have been found to "excite" the brain into wanting to eat more and more. There also seems to be a link between these substances and diseases such as Alzheimer's.
Does the name of Dr. Russell Blalock ring a bell with anyone? He is one of those who has exposed so much of what goes into our foods which make us unhealthy. Why isn't he featured on news interviews regarding health problems such as obesity?

[tacplus]

Spelling correction: that's Dr. Russell Blaylock.
Come on, CBS, how about an interview with him? I'd love to see that!

[minminmin-2009]

I agree with what many here have said. We are all different. We react differently to certain foods. I also think the "traditional" thought on how many calories to consume daily is too high. I'm 5'6" tall and weigh 140 lbs, and moderately active. Any more than 1500 calories a day and I gain weight.

[rf35]

Yes. 2000 kilocalories is far too high. I was only able to lose weight by throwing what every "expert" said out the window and switching to a diet of salad with fat-free dressing, eaten twice per day, and running 3 miles 4 times a week. I then switched to "maintenance mode" and added a grilled chicken breast to one of the salads each day and dropped the runs to 3 times per week. I drank only water with one or two flavored, low calorie drinks added each day. I estimated my weight loss caloric intake at about 600-800 kilocalories per day and the maintenance intake at 1000-1200 per day. Any more and I baloon up in no time. I also took Hydroxycut to boost my metabolism during the loss period.

[lonestartnow]

This is why LoneStart tells its program participants, whether they are individuals or corporate employers, that diet and exercise are 4-letter words (yes, I know that exercise is really eight letters). People associate diets with deprivation, and there's much more to weight loss then depriving yourself. It comes down to behavior change and is about learning to make the right food choices, and avoid those that contain bad fats, high fructose corn syrup, fried foods--and the list goes on. But there are many healthy choices, and many ways to find even small amounts of time to increase levels of activity. Making the right, positive food choices and watching portion size may not equal a "diet" but it will result in weight loss.