12 weight-loss questions
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Your personal trainer subsists on whey shakes, your sister’s sworn off dairy, and a book you picked up recommends watercress soup for Weight Loss. Is it any wonder you’re stymied about what to eat come mealtime? To ease the confusion, we rounded up top nutrition and weight-loss experts to answer the most burning questions.
1. Is there one small diet fix that will help me lose weight?
“Yes. Stop drinking your calories,” says Walter Willett, M.D., chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Mass., and co-author of “Eat, Drink and Be Healthy” (Simon & Schuster, 2002). Fruit juices, coffee drinks and regular soda are liquid calories that don’t yield much satiety, says Willett. An 8-ounce regular soda contains 103 calories; the same amount of orange juice has 110. One coffee drink can have 300 calories.
Research also shows that we don’t compensate as well for calories consumed in liquid form, says Rachel K. Johnson, a professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont. In other words, we’re unlikely to eat less later to make up for these extra calories. If weight loss is your goal, opt for low- or no-calorie beverages such as tea, water, seltzer and skim milk.
2. Are there any tricks to controlling a craving?
First you need to know what’s causing it. Often, plain old hunger makes us pine for a particular food.
“Cravings are a normal and natural response to underfeeding yourself and can be prevented simply by planning and eating enough throughout the day,” says Katherine Tallmadge, author of “Diet Simple” (Lifeline Press, 2002). To stay satiated, she recommends eating three similarly caloric meals and one or more planned snacks daily.
If the craving lingers after making this alteration, it may be emotionally based. Try distracting yourself for 20 minutes (the usual length of a craving) by chatting on the phone or walking around the block, says Lawrence Cheskin, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, Lutherville, Md.
And you don’t need to think of cravings as necessarily being bad for you, suggests Beverly Price, a Bingham Farms registered dietitian, exercise physiologist and registered yoga teacher. One of Price’s classes, Reconnect with Food, offers information and tactics for giving up the some-foods-are-bad mentality and stopping the habit of bouncing from one unhealthy diet to the next.
“Eating mindfully is the key,” Price says. “It’s eating something you like, savoring it completely—how it feels in your mouth, how it tastes, eating it slowly and engaging your senses—and then, because you’ve really experienced the food, you’re satisfied with less of it.”
3. I love fast food, but I’m trying to eat healthier. What things should I avoid?
Run from cheeseburgers, fried chicken, fried-fish sandwiches, french fries and meat-topped pizza, says Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C., and co-author of “Restaurant Confidential” (Workman, 2002). One slice of Pizza Hut’s Pan Pizza with Italian sausage packs 320 calories with 20 grams of fat; Burger King’s Double Whopper with Cheese serves up 1,070 calories and 70 grams of fat.
But if, alas, your belly’s aching for the Golden Arches, control your portions by ordering a small grilled sandwich minus the cheese and sauce but with extra lettuce and tomatoes. Can’t live without pizza? “Opt for thin crust and vegetable toppings and you’ll save more than 100 calories,” says Hope Warshaw, author of “Eat Out, Eat Right” (Surrey Books, 2003).
In the cafeteria line at work, you can make healthy choices, says Tanya Bridges, a clinical dietitian at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor.
“Because I’m a dietitian, people are constantly looking at my tray as I go through the line,” she says with a laugh. “I generally choose fresh fruits and steamed vegetables, and I rarely get the meat. If I need a little something sweet, I’ll occasionally have a piece of cake. That raises eyebrows.”
But Bridges uses her calories carefully. Instead of indulging in chocolate for a sweet craving at her desk, she’ll enjoy a roll of Smarties candy for only 25 calories. And she walks for exercise several times a week.
4. Do I need to cut back on salt if I don’t have high blood pressure?
It wouldn’t hurt. A high-sodium habit has also been associated with osteoporosis. Taking in more than 3,000 milligrams daily may interfere with calcium absorption, which can weaken bones over time. And according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, most women consume 15 to 40 percent more than the recommended 2,400 milligrams of sodium per day (the equivalent of about 1 teaspoon of table salt). To limit your intake, cut down on popcorn and cookies, frozen dinners, canned soups and broths, and bottled salad dressing.
5. I find it impossible to stop eating a sweet after just a bite or two. Any tips?
Timing is everything. It’s best to eat treats when you’re full—say, at the end of a meal—so you’ll be less tempted to binge. “Using sweets like chocolate to alleviate hunger can actually create a craving for that food,” says Barbara Rolls, a nutrition professor at Pennsylvania State University and co-author of “The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan: Feel Full on Fewer Calories” (HarperCollins, 2003). Your brain gets the message that sweets hit the spot and remembers it the next time you’re hungry.
Again, it comes back to eating mindfully and enjoying your food, Price says. “When you are really enjoying something, a little piece can last a long time and satisfy you,” she says.
Instead of taking a handful of Hershey’s kisses, take one. Unwrap it slowly and take a long sniff before you pop it in your mouth. Allow the chocolate to melt on your tongue, and enjoy the chocolate taste as it flavors your mouth. One kiss can last a long time that way.
6. My triglycerides were high at my last checkup. How can I lower them?
Triglycerides are simply a form of fat. “They are as important as high cholesterol (another form of fat) in women,” says Noel Bairey Merz, medical director of the Women’s Health Program and Preventive Cardiac Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Left unregulated, these fats can contribute to atherosclerosis, a condition in which artery walls become thicker and less elastic.
When a blood test indicates that triglyceride levels are high (over 150 mg/dL), it’s a tip-off they’re hovering in the bloodstream instead of being stored in the body for energy. Losing weight, reducing alcohol consumption, quitting smoking and exercising regularly can help lower triglyceride levels.
7. Are organic foods more nutritious?
Possibly. Whether foods are produced organically (without pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers) or conventionally, “they contain the same kinds and amounts of vitamins and minerals,” says Mary Lee Chin, R.D., owner of Nutrition Edge Communications in Denver. However, a recent study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found organic corn and strawberries to have higher levels of phenolic metabolites, or disease-fighting antioxidants. It seems that the fertilizer used to produce conventionally grown foods may be enough to disrupt a plant’s metabolite production.
8. Any strategies I can use so I won’t gain weight when I eat out?
Thanks to supersized portions and the liberal use of tasty fats such as butter and cream, restaurant meals can wreak havoc on a diet. But you can rein in the calories by developing some ironclad policies, says Cathy Nonas, director of diabetes and obesity programs at North General Hospital in New York City. For instance, you might decide that you’ll eat just half of your entree when you go to American and French restaurants, and a salad and half order of pasta when you’re out for Italian. In Chinese restaurants, your policy might be to share one steamed entree and one other dish with a friend.
Other helpful tips: Eat two appetizers (one should be low-calorie) instead of an entree, allow yourself a glass of wine if you pass on the breadbasket and always order sauces and dressings on the side. To increase the chances that you’ll adhere to these guidelines, make sure you take into account what’s most important to you. If you really love dessert, for example, your dining-out policy should reflect that.
“If you’re somewhere where you have no control over what’s offered, such as at a friend’s house for dinner, just watch your portions carefully,” Bridges says. “Eat a small portion and enjoy it. You’ll still feel like part of the party.”
9. Are there some foods that contribute to weight gain more than others?
No matter where the calories come from, consuming more than you burn will eventually cause you to gain weight. Some foods are easier to overeat, however. High-energy dense foods, those that have a low fiber or water content, take up relatively little stomach space, so you may find yourself consuming greater quantities,” says Dr. Cheskin. In this category: white pasta, meats, cheese and cookies.
Since some of these foods provide other nutrients, you needn’t purge them from your pantry. Instead, try to concentrate on eating more low-energy-dense foods (fruits, vegetables, broth-based soups, salads and whole-grain cereals with low-fat milk), and you’ll fill up on fewer calories, Rolls says.
10. Are there any foods I can have that aid weight loss?
“Dairy foods like skim milk and low-fat yogurt top the list,” says Michael Zemel, a professor of nutrition at the University of Tennessee. In a study of 34 otherwise healthy obese adults, those who consumed three servings of light yogurt (for a total of 1,100 milligrams of calcium) daily lost 22 percent more weight and 61 percent more body fat than those on a low-dairy (500 milligrams of calcium) diet.
Zemel explains that a high-calcium diet—1,200 milligrams per day—inhibits the production of calcitriol, a hormone that “tells” cells to generate more fat. Conversely, more calcitriol is released on a low-calcium diet, resulting in bigger, plumper fat cells. But supplements alone won’t suffice; you need to consume dairy foods. “Bioactive compounds in milk, yogurt and cheese work with calcium to nearly double the effectiveness of fat burning and weight management,” says Zemel.
11. Diabetes runs in my family. Should I steer clear of sweets?
If you’re overweight and don’t exercise regularly, yes. Limit your intake of simple carbohydrates such as cookies, cakes, power drinks and regular soda, says Fran Kaufman, past president of the American Diabetes Association. These foods can cause blood sugar to rise rapidly and prime the pancreas to release insulin. Over time, the consistent release of this hormone can pave the way for type 2 diabetes, a condition in which the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin and the body’s cells don’t respond properly to the insulin produced.
To prevent or delay the onset of this disease, lose weight if you need to and work out regularly, says Kaufman. Exercise helps metabolize excess circulating blood glucose; weight loss helps your body use insulin more efficiently.
12. I’m a java junkie. How much caffeine is too much?
Are you feeling jittery or experiencing insomnia or heartburn? If so, you may want to go easy on the coffee or tea. “On average, most adults will notice no side effects from caffeine at 300 milligrams or fewer a day,” says Herbert Muncie Jr., chairman of the department of family medicine at the University of Maryland. That’s the caffeine equivalent of roughly 28 ounces (or three and a half cups) of regular coffee. If you’re pregnant or trying to conceive, “reduce your intake to one caffeinated beverage a day,” says Lisa Mazzullo, an assistant professor of obstetrics at Northwestern University and co-author of “Before Your Pregnancy” (Ballantine, 2002). Consuming too much caffeine may increase your risk of low birth weight or miscarriage.
Los-Angeles based freelance writer Tracy Boyd contributed to this report.
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