Let's look
at an example of a successful no-diet weight loss program.
A 45-year-old woman
complains that she has gradually put on 12 pounds over the past year. In the
last month, she's faced a stressful work deadline and added another 4 pounds to
her frame.
This individual's
goal is to lose the 16 pounds she has gained. Since her weight has been
gradually increasing, she knows that she is consuming more calories than she is
burning, especially with her sedentary job. She decides that a weight loss of 1
pound per week (equal to a deficit of about 3,500 calories, or cutting 500
calories per day) would be acceptable and would allow her to reach her goal in
about four months.
She decides to make
some changes that will allow her to cut back an average of 250 calories per
day.
·
Skipping a large
glass of sweetened iced tea will save about 200 calories.
·
Substituting
mineral water for the cola she regularly drinks during meetings can save
another 150 calories.
·
Foregoing her
morning muffin snack (or eating only half a muffin) can also save 250 calories
or more.
To reach her goal
of a 500-calorie-per-day savings, she adds some exercise.
·
Getting up early
for a 20-minute walk before work and adding a 10-minute walk during her lunch
break add up to a half hour of walking per
day, which can burn about 200 calories.
·
On weekends, she
plans to walk for 60 minutes one day and spend one hour gardening the next day
for even greater calorie burning. If walking for 60 minutes is too much, two
30-minute walks one day would burn the same number of calories.
·
Twice per week she
plans to stop at the gym on the way home from work, even if only for a half
hour of stationary cycling or swimming
(each burning up to 250 calories).
By making just some
of the dietary cutbacks mentioned and starting some moderate exercise, this
individual can easily "save" the 3,500 calories per week needed for a
1-pound weight loss, leading to a healthy rate of weight loss without extreme
denial or deprivation. Furthermore, her changes in diet and lifestyle are small
and gradual, modifications that she can maintain over time.
What about
special diet plans (fad diets and popular diets)?
Many people prefer
to have a set of rules to follow when dieting. Others may crave the emotional
support from attending counseling sessions or meetings. Diet products, books,
and services have become a billion-dollar industry, so there are obviously many
people looking for help with weight control. Before you jump on the latest diet
bandwagon, remember that organized diet plans and
programs can only result in weight loss if you burn more calories than you
consume. No dietary supplements, exercise devices, combinations of foods, or
specific patterns of eating will change this fact.
Some examples of
popular diet plans include the Atkins diet, The South Beach
Diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Body for Life, Dr. Andrew Weil's diet plan, and the Ornish diet. All of these diets have their
proponents, and all of them have been successful for some people. Because
eating habits and preferences vary widely among individuals, before you decide
on a diet plan, ask yourself if the plan sounds realistic to
you. If the plan involves rigorous measuring of portions and
calorie counting, are you up to the task? If you're forbidden to eat certain
foods, will you develop cravings for them? Do you feel that you will feel
comfortable adhering to the diet guidelines? Will the diet's requirements fit
easily into your daily schedule? Finally, consider that once you've lost the
weight, you may regain the weight if you return to your previous eating habits,
so any weight-loss plan should be something you can live with for a long time.
For more on comparing diet plans, please read the Comparing Popular Weight Loss
Diets article.
Remember that the most successful weight loss comes from dietary changes and
healthy food choices that will stay with you over time, not from diets that
leave you feeling deprived or result in binge-eating episodes.
When should
weight-loss medications be used?
Although medical
treatments (for exampleOrlistat [Alli, Xenical]) are available,
they should only be used by people who have health risks related to obesity.
Doctors usually consider medications to be appropriate in patients with a BMI
greater than 30 or in those with a BMI of greater than 27 who have other
medical conditions (such as high blood pressure, diabetes,
high blood cholesterol)
that put them at risk for developing heart disease.
It is not recommend that medications be used for cosmetic weight loss or to
lose small amounts of weight. For more information on weight-loss medications,
please refer to the Obesity article.
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