Eating for Health, Happiness and Successful
Weight Control
Don't diet, just eat and lose weight!
First, the following "diet"
is really not a diet,
in the conventional sense, but a natural way of eating.
It allows one to eat essentially anything one wishes,
while attaining weight loss or weight control goals
and consuming the necessary nutrients for a long and
healthful life.
The term "diet"
implies restrictions by either eliminating or radically
reducing the intake of certain foods or food groups.
Most diets are inappropriate, unhealthful (some are
even dangerous) and ultimately doomed to fail.
The most important objective of eating
any food is to provide the body with all the essential
nutrients for a long and healthful life. Almost every
food provides some element needed by your body.
If you do not care about being healthy,
avoiding sickness and disease and living a long life,
then this natural way of eating is not for you. The
second most important reason for eating any food is
because you enjoy it and it makes you happy. It is
highly unlikely that you will consistently, and for
long term, eat foods that you do not enjoy.
Similarly, it is extremely unlikely
that you will be able to completely eliminate foods
that you do enjoy from your diet.
Many diets and dieticians expect a person to continually
keep count of every calorie, carbohydrate and/or gram
of fat that enters your mouth!
Again, what is likelihood of being able
to maintain this tedious ritual for any meaningful
length of time? Nothing could be more depressing and
stress-inducing as the constant monitoring of calories,
carbs or fat.
Therefore, if enjoying your meals is
not important to you, then this natural way of eating
is probably not for you.
Finally, you should eat food to maintain
an appropriate weight for your height and frame. Being
over-weight or under-weight is not conducive to a
long, healthful life nor does it promote a positive
self image. If being too heavy or too thin is not
important to you, than this natural way of eating
may not be for you.
Tips for Successful Weight Control
Lose or gain weight because you want to and not to
please others.Otherwise, you will not be sufficiently
motivated to change your bad eating habits. In fact,
when the inevitable happens and you fail to achieve
you goal, it will reinforce and, most probably, escalate
the inappropriate behavior (i.e. over-eating, exclusively
eating junk food, bulimia, etc.)
You must begin this natural way of
eating with a positive outlook and the belief that
you can achieve your goals with a minimal amount of
effort. If you lack the self-confidence and motivation,
or you do not believe that you can lose or gain weight,
you will not! It is extremely important for you to
learn about the nutrients contained in the foods you
eat. This is the only part of this natural way of
eating that requires some effort on your part. The
only way to accomplish this is to read.
The internet is probably the best and
easiest venue for obtaining this type of information.
The following are excellent sources
of health and nutrition-related information: 1) Medline
Plus - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/foodnutritionandmetabolism.html
2) Food and Nutrition Information Center
- http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/
3) McKinley Health Center - http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/
4) USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory - http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/
Remember, the key to weight control
is to be healthy, happy and fit. You must understand
which foods will provide these three, all-important
elements. Believe it or not, there are foods which
you enjoy that are actually good for you! Incredibly,
many overweight people actually do not eat enough!
Listen to your body, not your mind.
Your body knows when it has had the appropriate amount
of food and, more importantly, the appropriate amount
of nutrition. Because many people do not understand
nutrition, they eat food that does not supply sufficient
nutrients to the body.
They will feel hungry even after a large
meal because theirs bodies are "starving"
for proper nutrition.
For this reason, most diets do not work
or the individual cannot stay with the diet because
it is an unnatural way of eating. Your body literally
believes it is starving; therefore, it will take actions
to survive the famine. It is a self-preservation mechanism,
if you will.
The body begins drawing off your muscles
and stores the fat for later use in the event that
it does not receive the necessary nourishment for
an extended period of time. When a person finally
falls off the diet (which is inevitable), they gain
back all the lost weight and, in many cases, even
more!
The reason is because it takes the body
sometime to adjust from its self-preservation mode,
so all the food that is consumed is stored as fat
while your body continues to draw from muscle.
There is no such thing as losing weight
fast. It will take 3 to 6 months (or more depending
on the amount of weight loss needed),to lose a significant
amount of weight.
The good news is that once you have
lost the weight, you should not gain it back because
you will have learned about the food you eat. Yes,
you have heard it before and you are now going to
hear it again - exercise!
Even a small amount of exercise (1/2
hour per day, 3 days per week) will greatly accelerate
weight control. If you feel like having a snack or
something sweet, have it. Your body is telling you
it needs something.
Of course, it would be better to eat
a piece of fruit rather than a candy bar. However,
either is preferable to over-eating at your next meal
or agonizing over the decision to indulge the urge.
Dr. Parsons reveals the keys to successful
weight loss in the remainder of this article, which
you can receive absolutely FREE, by visiting Health
Products USA (http://www.healthproductsusa.net
About the Author
Dr. William Parsons is the author of
"Eating for Health, Happiness and Weight Control"
and "Physicians' Anti-Supplement Attitude - Conspiracy
or Ignorance?" A free condensed versions have
been made available to Health
Products USA.
