MyJourney
Sat, Jul-08-06, 12:15
Article published Jul 8, 2006
Counting calories
Do the math if you want to lose the weight
By CINDY WATTS
cwatts~dnj.com
278-5164
Source: caloriescount.org
With so many choices on the market today, choosing a diet may be much like selecting a mate. Many of the weight-loss plans have attractive qualities, but no diet is perfect. For some people, the key to success may be to locate a diet with a set of "faults" — such as no sugar or no carbohydrates — that can be tolerated long term.
Today's popular diets include: Atkins, South Beach, Sonoma, L.A. Weightloss, Nutrisystem, Slim Fast, Body for Life, Weight Watchers, The Zone and The Three Hour Diet. Each have characteristics that make them unique, but Rutherford County nutritionists Laura Dowland of StoneCrest Hospital and Lisa Sheehan-Smith, a registered dietitian at MTSU, agreed all diets are not created equal. And many of them may not be healthy.
"There hasn't been a commercial diet come out that I've been terribly impressed with in a long time," said Smith. "Weight Watchers is the best backed by research, and keeps up with the times. It's been around and has gone through the test of time."
Weight Watchers operates on a point system that focuses on portion control instead of the elimination of certain foods. Each dieter is given a certain number of points, and food items are assigned numerical values. People can eat anything they want, but when they are out of points, they must wait until the next day to eat again.
Dowland is also a fan of Weight Watchers.
"I really like Weight Watchers because it doesn't eliminate any of the food groups," she said. "It focuses on lower calorie foods, and you just have to count the points. Carbs aren't bad; it's just we eat too many of them. A serving is actually 1/2 a cup of pasta or 1/2 a cup of potato, but we eat three or four times that."
Atkins and South Beach both restrict carbohydrates for periods of time. Atkins encourages endless amounts of fat and protein, while South Beach isn't as strict and promotes lean protein and whole grains. Of the two high-protein diets, both women agree South Beach is the better choice. After two weeks on the South Beach diet, good carbohydrates, such as whole grains, are reintroduced to balance it out. Dowland said she doesn't want people to think of carbohydrates as the weight-loss enemy.
"Carbohydrates are fuel for your brain activity," she said. "If you're not taking in adequate carbs, your blood sugar drops and causes headaches and makes you feel nauseous. The idea is to limit carbs to make your body burn stored fat. But if you eliminate fruits and grains, you eliminate fiber, and that's not good. You just need to be fully aware."
Another issue Smith has with fad diets is the notion that if someone doesn't lose weight on a diet, it is the dieter's fault. In fact, she said, the diet failed not the individual.
"It's an important concept to take ownership of your diet," she explained. "You lost the weight. The diet didn't do it for you. If you don't, the diet failed you. Authors write books to appeal to the masses, and really hard to stick to a diet if it doesn't fit your lifestyle. If the diet failed, it didn't meet your lifestyle."
In the end, dieting isn't about choosing a diet at all. Regardless of the approach, Dowland explained losing weight directly correlates to a reduction in calories.
"Calories in food comes from carbohydrates, proteins and fat," she said. "Losing weight ... comes down to somehow eating less calories and losing weight. One gram of carbohydrates weighs the same as one gram of protein, and both have four calories. As long as you are cutting calories, you are going to lose weight. Somehow that's all that matters."
Smith suggested new dieters plan for success by getting organized and mapping out meal plans.
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail," she said. "I find people being challenged by not enough fruits and vegetables and too many fun foods. They don't even think about a ladle-plus of salad dressing on a salad, and there's so many prepackaged foods that have a lot of calories and not much else. If you don't plan to eat, you will probably fail. Think about what you like to snack on, and fill those little bitty snack bags with a favorite snack. Or, fill the little bag with veggies and create a new habit. You have to be practical when eating. A diet may sound sexy, but it probably won't last."
Regardless of the weight-loss route that is chosen, Dowland said success depends on one thing.
"Calories are calories, and it all comes down to calories," said Dowland. "I hate the word 'diet' because it implies it is a temporary thing. It should be a lifestyle change. The things you do to lose weight are the things you have to do to keep it off."
TIPS
Local dietitians Laura Dowland and Lisa Sheehan-Smith offered these calorie-counting, healthy-eating tips to bolster any weight-loss plan:
When dining out, request a doggy bag immediately. After you food arrives, take half of it and place it in the box. This will prevent the consumption of too many calories.
For dinners at home, eat on salad plates. The plates hold less food and you will eat less.
Look at the nutrition facts on the side panel of packaged foods. In cereal, you want at least three grams of fiber per serving.
When purchasing items that advertise as whole grain, check the ingredient list on the side panel. Whole wheat flour and whole grain oats should be listed first. If they are not, then the item isn't whole grain.
FYI ...
To lose one pound, a person must burn 3,500 calories more than are consumed. That adds up to 500 calories a day over the course of a week to lose one pound a week.
To get an idea of how much that is, a 12-ounce cola is 150 calories, and a slice of chocolate cake is about 388 calories, adding up to 538 calories.
Counting calories
Do the math if you want to lose the weight
By CINDY WATTS
cwatts~dnj.com
278-5164
Source: caloriescount.org
With so many choices on the market today, choosing a diet may be much like selecting a mate. Many of the weight-loss plans have attractive qualities, but no diet is perfect. For some people, the key to success may be to locate a diet with a set of "faults" — such as no sugar or no carbohydrates — that can be tolerated long term.
Today's popular diets include: Atkins, South Beach, Sonoma, L.A. Weightloss, Nutrisystem, Slim Fast, Body for Life, Weight Watchers, The Zone and The Three Hour Diet. Each have characteristics that make them unique, but Rutherford County nutritionists Laura Dowland of StoneCrest Hospital and Lisa Sheehan-Smith, a registered dietitian at MTSU, agreed all diets are not created equal. And many of them may not be healthy.
"There hasn't been a commercial diet come out that I've been terribly impressed with in a long time," said Smith. "Weight Watchers is the best backed by research, and keeps up with the times. It's been around and has gone through the test of time."
Weight Watchers operates on a point system that focuses on portion control instead of the elimination of certain foods. Each dieter is given a certain number of points, and food items are assigned numerical values. People can eat anything they want, but when they are out of points, they must wait until the next day to eat again.
Dowland is also a fan of Weight Watchers.
"I really like Weight Watchers because it doesn't eliminate any of the food groups," she said. "It focuses on lower calorie foods, and you just have to count the points. Carbs aren't bad; it's just we eat too many of them. A serving is actually 1/2 a cup of pasta or 1/2 a cup of potato, but we eat three or four times that."
Atkins and South Beach both restrict carbohydrates for periods of time. Atkins encourages endless amounts of fat and protein, while South Beach isn't as strict and promotes lean protein and whole grains. Of the two high-protein diets, both women agree South Beach is the better choice. After two weeks on the South Beach diet, good carbohydrates, such as whole grains, are reintroduced to balance it out. Dowland said she doesn't want people to think of carbohydrates as the weight-loss enemy.
"Carbohydrates are fuel for your brain activity," she said. "If you're not taking in adequate carbs, your blood sugar drops and causes headaches and makes you feel nauseous. The idea is to limit carbs to make your body burn stored fat. But if you eliminate fruits and grains, you eliminate fiber, and that's not good. You just need to be fully aware."
Another issue Smith has with fad diets is the notion that if someone doesn't lose weight on a diet, it is the dieter's fault. In fact, she said, the diet failed not the individual.
"It's an important concept to take ownership of your diet," she explained. "You lost the weight. The diet didn't do it for you. If you don't, the diet failed you. Authors write books to appeal to the masses, and really hard to stick to a diet if it doesn't fit your lifestyle. If the diet failed, it didn't meet your lifestyle."
In the end, dieting isn't about choosing a diet at all. Regardless of the approach, Dowland explained losing weight directly correlates to a reduction in calories.
"Calories in food comes from carbohydrates, proteins and fat," she said. "Losing weight ... comes down to somehow eating less calories and losing weight. One gram of carbohydrates weighs the same as one gram of protein, and both have four calories. As long as you are cutting calories, you are going to lose weight. Somehow that's all that matters."
Smith suggested new dieters plan for success by getting organized and mapping out meal plans.
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail," she said. "I find people being challenged by not enough fruits and vegetables and too many fun foods. They don't even think about a ladle-plus of salad dressing on a salad, and there's so many prepackaged foods that have a lot of calories and not much else. If you don't plan to eat, you will probably fail. Think about what you like to snack on, and fill those little bitty snack bags with a favorite snack. Or, fill the little bag with veggies and create a new habit. You have to be practical when eating. A diet may sound sexy, but it probably won't last."
Regardless of the weight-loss route that is chosen, Dowland said success depends on one thing.
"Calories are calories, and it all comes down to calories," said Dowland. "I hate the word 'diet' because it implies it is a temporary thing. It should be a lifestyle change. The things you do to lose weight are the things you have to do to keep it off."
TIPS
Local dietitians Laura Dowland and Lisa Sheehan-Smith offered these calorie-counting, healthy-eating tips to bolster any weight-loss plan:
When dining out, request a doggy bag immediately. After you food arrives, take half of it and place it in the box. This will prevent the consumption of too many calories.
For dinners at home, eat on salad plates. The plates hold less food and you will eat less.
Look at the nutrition facts on the side panel of packaged foods. In cereal, you want at least three grams of fiber per serving.
When purchasing items that advertise as whole grain, check the ingredient list on the side panel. Whole wheat flour and whole grain oats should be listed first. If they are not, then the item isn't whole grain.
FYI ...
To lose one pound, a person must burn 3,500 calories more than are consumed. That adds up to 500 calories a day over the course of a week to lose one pound a week.
To get an idea of how much that is, a 12-ounce cola is 150 calories, and a slice of chocolate cake is about 388 calories, adding up to 538 calories.