OK, the big Christmas extended feast is over, and you've put on a few pounds.
Perhaps you've been a little "too heavy" for some time. So this is
it - time for the diet. You're going to cut out all starches, or all sugars,
or eat only green foods, and keep careful notes, and you're going to drop ten
pounds in two weeks.
No, you're not. Healthy eating has to be sustainable. It has to be something
you won't get bored with and cheat on. Fad diets simply don't work - you might
lose a few pounds, but your metabolism compensates, so in the long run you may
end up worse off than you started. And the more you make yourself feel deprived,
the more you will crave unhealthy foods.
The way to feel healthy and happy is to eat a balanced, healthy diet - then
your metabolism will function properly and you won't feel overly hungry. And,
with the help of some physical activity (see the "Exercise more" section
in this feature), you should be able to reduce your weight by 5% to 10% over
six months or so - which is a realistic goal and a good pace for those who need
to lose weight. If you weigh 160 pounds, 5% of your weight is 8 pounds - imagine
eight one-pound bricks of butter. That's quite a bit to take off your body!
But that leaves us with the question, What is a balanced, healthy diet? Here
are some more general guidelines for how to eat the right amount to achieve
and maintain a healthy weight - and overall good health:
- Fruits and vegetables: Eat more! The odds are very good that you
don't eat enough fruits and vegetables. And, no, that sugar-filled beverage
with "10% real fruit" doesn't count. Have 100% fruit or vegetable
juice You need variety; try to have five different kinds of fruit and vegetables
each day: an apple, a serving of peas the size of your palm, a cereal bowl
of salad...
- Starchy carbohydrates: Believe it or not, you probably need to eat
more of these. The catch is that you don't want to add fat to your diet at
the same time. Baked potatoes are fine. Mashed potatoes are OK, but are usually
made with butter and consumed with gravy, so watch out. Potato chips are not
the best thing and should be avoided. Corn, oats, pasta, rice, unsweetened
breakfast cereals - all are fine. Those nice, crunchy whole-grain products
are the best kind. One-third of what you eat should be breads, cereals, and
starches.
- Dairy products: Two to four servings a day of these will do. By "serving"
we mean a glass of milk, a small yogurt or a matchbox-sized piece of cheese.
- Meat and alternatives: The key words here are "less" and
"fat." You should probably eat a bit less of these than you do -
two or three servings (each the size of a pack of cards) per day is optimal
- and you should keep the amount of fat low. But beware! People often compensate
for the lack of fat by adding salt or sugars. Get some variety to keep interesting
- it's easy to get bored with chicken six times a week. Try to have fish once
or twice a week.
- Fats and sugars: Of course, these are the things that taste so good...
but we eat far more of them than we need to. We also eat more than we used
to - nearly 20% more fat per person than in 1980, and twice as much added
sugar per person as in 1980. Our soft drink consumption is seven times what
it was 60 years ago. If our parents were happy with less fat and sugar, we
can be too. And make sure you don't make up for less of one by having more
of the other. Add spices and herbs if you want more flavor.