Weight loss and diet plan for a healthy lifestyle. » Weight Loss

THE SELF-POISONER: PATTERNS OF SELF-INDUCED TOXICITY – CONTROLITIS

admin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 08:51:20 +0000

People who insist on controlling their environment poison themselves with their “control madness.” They are unwilling to express themselves, reach out, or experiment with new ways of being. When in a position of power, they use the power to inhibit others. This pattern is observable in some “old maid” schoolteachers (of both sexes) who, in their need to control, choose to teach the lower grades. Their primary interest is to control and manipulate, and this is easier with younger children.Another form of controlitis occurs in the person who continually interrupts himself with trivial matters that must be taken care of immediately. Everything must be under control or he can’t relax. When someone else is doing something, he typically observes with a scrutinous eye as to whether the person is doing it right (according to him). The bolder poisoners of this type are full of unsolicited helpful suggestions. Those who are more timid squirm with irritation and restlessness as they observe someone doing something differently from their way. They insist on calling the shots, and they torture themselves when they can’t.*63\350\8*

WEIGHT LOSS: I’M FOLLOWING YOUR DIET PLAN CAREFULLY, BUT I STILL FIND MYSELF GETTING HUNGRY IN THE LATE AFTERNOON. WHY?

admin — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:53:25 +0000

Answer: There are usually three reasons people become hungry on this program.

A. You may not be eating enough food. You may have calculated your protein requirements incorrectly arid simply need more food just to satisfy your daily calorie requirement. In that case, increase your protein, your carbohydrates, and your fat proportionately! Do not be tempted to throw in a high-carb snack between meals (like an apple or bag of popcorn, for example). You may find it particularly helpful to add a well-balanced snack midafternoon or before you go to bed. Check the recipe section in Appendix A for excellent snack suggestions. Your meals should be spaced about four to five hours apart, no longer. If you have to wait longer than that to eat because of your schedule, plan a snack to fill in the gap. There is absolutely no reason to feel hungry on this program. Hunger will not increase or speed up weight loss.

B. The most common reason for hunger is that you are still consuming too many carbohydrates. Keep a food diary for a few days and analyze your meal history. Restrict your carbohydrates a little more and see if the hunger doesn’t abate. Give your body about two or three days to balance itself.

C. Your body may need time to adjust. Sometimes your food allergies kick up a fuss by making you hungry when you eliminate them from your dinner plate. It’s a false hunger. Learn to listen to your body. Give yourself a few days to get past the allergy; the hunger and other unpleasant symptoms will disappear soon.

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WEIGHT LOSS: I’M FOLLOWING YOUR DIET PLAN CAREFULLY, BUT I STILL FIND MYSELF GETTING HUNGRY IN THE LATE AFTERNOON. WHY?Answer: There are usually three reasons people become hungry on this program.A. You may not be eating enough food. You may have calculated your protein requirements incorrectly arid simply need more food just to satisfy your daily calorie requirement. In that case, increase your protein, your carbohydrates, and your fat proportionately! Do not be tempted to throw in a high-carb snack between meals (like an apple or bag of popcorn, for example). You may find it particularly helpful to add a well-balanced snack midafternoon or before you go to bed. Check the recipe section in Appendix A for excellent snack suggestions. Your meals should be spaced about four to five hours apart, no longer. If you have to wait longer than that to eat because of your schedule, plan a snack to fill in the gap. There is absolutely no reason to feel hungry on this program. Hunger will not increase or speed up weight loss.B. The most common reason for hunger is that you are still consuming too many carbohydrates. Keep a food diary for a few days and analyze your meal history. Restrict your carbohydrates a little more and see if the hunger doesn’t abate. Give your body about two or three days to balance itself.C. Your body may need time to adjust. Sometimes your food allergies kick up a fuss by making you hungry when you eliminate them from your dinner plate. It’s a false hunger. Learn to listen to your body. Give yourself a few days to get past the allergy; the hunger and other unpleasant symptoms will disappear soon.*60\319\2*

SUPPLEMENTS AND EATING TIPS: HELPFUL HINTS FOR TAKING OFF THE POUNDS AND KEEPING THEM OFF!

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:10:54 +0000

In weight loss and weight management, like so many other things in life, it’s the little things that count. I tell my overweight patients not to make sudden, huge changes in their habits. Instead, start with little ones. You don’t have to stop eating all of your favorite foods at once. Begin by eating one less cookie than you normally would. Order a sandwich without mayonnaise, for a change. Have an extra serving of vegetables. If you start to change your habits slowly, you’ll probably find that it’s not so painful at all. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, one good habit can build and become a whole host of good habits. So don’t be hard on yourself. Life is for living! Just do better than before. That, and Chitosan, will get you where you want to be.

To help you on your way, consider the following tips for successful eating:

Try not to skip meals—As I’ve mentioned before, skipping meals can set you up for overeating later on. It can also lower your metabolic rate, which translates to a faster weight gain and a harder time getting it off. So keep eating regularly—at least three meals, coupled with the requisite Chitosan for the larger ones, plus two snacks per day.

Don’t constantly count calories—Although I’ve given calorie counts for the 2 examples of meal plans that were given earlier in this chapter, that was just for general reference. I discourage my patients from counting calories throughout the day because it puts an emphasis on the energy content of a food, instead of its nutritional content. (According to a calorie counter, a roast beef sandwich is the same as a hot fudge sundae! Nutritionally, of course, there’s a big difference.) In any case, given that the Chitosan you are eating will be eliminating an unspecified number of fat calories, counting total calorie intake is a waste of time: You won’t know how many more calories you are getting from sugar, compared to how many you are saving from fat. Instead, count servings from the food groups since that assures you of a correct intake balance. Then use the Chitosan to avoid the excess fat.

*94\29\2*

THE ROTATION DIET9

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:08:17 +0000

A 1986 entry into the world of fad diets, the Rotation Diet argues, correctly, that diets with severe calorie limitations fail
because of the innate starvation response. When we restrict our intake, according to this diet’s author, our bodies respond by slowing everything down (dropping the basal metabolic rate). A low-calorie diet will knock off pounds, but it will also slow the metabolism, and it will take less food than ever to make us fat again.

The diet’s author suggests that the only way to avoid this starvation response is to rotate through a dietary cycle, with each cycle supplying a different amount of calories. Thus, a woman on the Rotation Diet would consume 600 calories a day for the first 3 days, 900 per day for the next 4 days, then 1,200 per day for a week. A man would eat 1,200 per day for the first 3 days, 1,500 per day for 4 days, and 1,800 per day for a week. The entire cycle is repeated once, then the dieter stops dieting completely for a week, a month, or as long as he or she feels is proper. After this vacation from dieting, the dieter repeats the entire process (2 cycles and stop) until the desired weight is reached.

This 3-stage, twice-repeated, on-and-off is supposed to prevent the starvation response while motivating you to succeed. You will allegedly look forward to every new dietary cycle with eager anticipation. Like most fad diets, this one is based on science of suspicious origins. The on-and-off cycles sound like they will encourage bingeing or other poor eating habits as the dieter hurries to eat whatever she likes before going on the diet again. What does the dieter learn about lifelong healthful eating habits from a plan such as this? Nothing much. You’re much better off adopting a consistent eating plan that fits comfortably into your life and sticking with it.

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DIETERS BEWARE

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:05:44 +0000

Back in 1969, an overweight man named Frank came to my office to see me, demanding that I give him those special shots.

“What shots?” I asked.

“The diet shots,” Frank replied. “The ones that make you lose weight. You gave them to my friend and they were great! I want to lose 50 pounds in 2 months because if I don’t I’ll lose my job as an airline pilot. And then I’ll also be healthier, because I’ll be thinner.”

I told Frank that I hadn’t given anyone diet shots and didn’t know what he was referring to, but this tall, obese man was insistent. “I want those special shots. I have to lose weight.” After careful questioning, I discovered that he was talking about HCG shots, the diet rage of the day. HCG stands for horse chorionic gonadotrophin, a substance made from the urine of pregnant mares.

I understood why he was so desperate to slim down, so I acceded to his demands for the special shots. I gave him instructions on low-fat eating and told him to come to my office every morning for a shot.

So every morning Frank came in and my nurse gave him a special shot that consisted of ½ cc of water. She also weighed him, and acting on my instructions, scolded him. It didn’t matter what he weighed, how much he had gained or lost, she scolded him and told him to eat more vegetables and whole grains and less fatty corned beef, ice cream, and candy.

You know what? My special shot diet worked! Frank lost weight. Obviously it wasn’t because of the injections, but because Frank believed that they would help. His belief gave him the motivation to stick with the simple dietary instructions I gave him (and the admonishments of my nurse), and he lost weight. As I recall, he lost 50 pounds in 12 weeks and was able to keep his job. Unfortunately, when the special shots were discontinued he gained it all back.

Frank’s story illustrates the final three points of the Fat Blocker Program. He had unreasonable expectations, he confused being very thin with being healthy, and he was desperate to try the latest weight-loss fad.

Like so many of us, Frank had unrealistic goals. He wanted to look like a dashing, handsome, slim, young, leading-man type, even though his natural build was on the round side, making him closer to the chubby, best-friend type. Frank would have to starve himself in order to get down to a weight that made him look anything like a leading man. And even then he wouldn’t succeed, because he would become gaunt and emaciated, not handsome and fit. Of course, I understood Frank’s desire. As a teenager and young man I wanted huge muscles, but could never seem to develop them, no matter how hard I tried. I finally had to accept the fact that I was just not the body-builder type, and was better off developing an appreciation for the mind and body that nature had granted me.

Frank also believed that if he were thin he would automatically be healthy. Would that it were so! As pointed out earlier, low poundage does not necessarily equal good health. Achieving ideal body weight is desirable since there is a positive correlation between health and slimness, but rapidly losing lots of weight or keeping your weight unnaturally low by eating a nutritionally unbalanced diet can work against your health rather
than for it. Certainly, keeping your weight low by using highly potent prescription drugs is a terrible thing to do to yourself.

And finally, Frank was willing to try any fad weight-loss program or diet that came along as long as it took off the pounds. What he didn’t know was this: Practically every single diet he’d ever heard about would work—but only for a little while. They’ll all knock the pounds off (and some will do so quickly) but they all also suffer from one big flaw—like my special shot diet, they’re temporary fixes. You lose the weight, then you put it right back on. And many times, you put more back on than you lost in the first place. The only way I have ever heard of to safely, permanently, and reliably lose weight while building better health is to use my Fat Blocker Program (in context with the lifelong, sensible, doable eating and exercise program outlined in this book). It will work for almost everyone; fad diets will work for almost no one.

To prove my point, let’s take a closer look at some of these popular fad diets, as well as certain weight-loss products and surgeries to see why they all fail in the long run—and why some of them are downright dangerous.

*135\29\2*

STAYING MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT: EATING WHILE COOKING AND EATING BECAUSE IT’S THERE

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:03:09 +0000

It’s really hard not to taste the foods we cook. Sometimes, in fact, it’s absolutely necessary. How else will we know if the seasoning is right, if the noodles are done, or the food is hot enough? But some cooks eat enough while standing over the pot to make up a whole meal! If this is your problem, try one of these strategies:

♦ Have a small snack (a piece of fruit or some cut-up vegetables) before you begin to cook so

you won’t be overly hungry.

♦ Never taste from the cooking spoon. (It’s unsanitary, anyway!) Instead, take a sample from

the pot with the cooking spoon and pour it into a small teaspoon. Taste from the teaspoon.

This extra step may be enough trouble to make you stop and think before you taste.

Eating because it’s there-You’ve probably heard the old joke about a guy who went on a diet. He explained, “It’s a seafood diet. I see food, I eat it!” To some extent, we’re all on the see-food diet; we’re programmed to be stimulated by the sight of food. That’s one of the things that kept us alive back in prehistoric times. Unfortunately, in this day and age we see food all the time. We’re bombarded with visual stimuli that encourage us to eat when we don’t need to, or even want to. Here are a few tips to help you cope with the visual cues:

♦ In addition to keeping your Chitosan bag with you at all times, put some low-calorie

munchies and healthy snacks such as carrot sticks and fresh fruit in the front of your

refrigerator.

♦ Use a small plate rather than a large one so that your portions will look big but won’t be

big. (I realize that this may seem hokey, but it works for two reasons: It really does make the

food you’re about to eat look more satisfying, and remember what you believe is half of what

is; and in addition, just the slightly unusual act of choosing a smaller plate will remind you

not to eat more than you want.)

♦ Serve food from the stove top, rather than in large bowls on the table (family style). That

way you won’t see the extra food while you’re eating. It also takes more effort to get up from

the table to get another serving.

♦ Bring healthy snacks (your Chitosan bag) to work and set them on your desk. After eating

these healthy foods, you won’t be so tempted to gobble high-calorie snacks.

♦ Only eat in certain designated rooms at home, for example, the kitchen and the dining

room. That way you reduce the number of places at home that you associate with eating.

After a while, eating will not be directly on your mind as you sit down in the den to watch

television.

♦ Keep high-calorie foods out of sight and out of mind.

♦ Better yet, bring only healthful, low-calorie food into the house. If you don’t buy fried pork

rinds or triple-chocolate tortes in the first place, they won’t be there to tempt you.

♦ Make main dishes in advance and freeze them in individual portions. Or, keep on hand a

supply of some of the excellent new, calorie-controlled frozen meals. Either way, you’ll have

the right meal size available when you come home hungry. Just pop it into the microwave!

But remember, don’t make the portions too small. If you are not satisfied with your single-

serve portion, you’ll probably just grab a second one. And if you’re like me, you’ll certainly

polish it off entirely. Instead of a portion of maybe a third more than your prepared meal
(which would have satisfied you nicely), you have now tricked yourself into eating twice as

much as you started out to consume.

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THE FAT BLOCKER EXERCISE PROGRAM: FREQUENCY

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:00:14 +0000

For the best results, you should do some form of exercise at least 4 times per week. It needn’t be too strenuous, or take up too much of your day. And even on your off days, it helps if you do something physical. The important thing is to keep moving.

At the start, if you haven’t been doing any exercise, you will find that 4 times a week is simply too much. Don’t push it. Work out once or twice a week. Skip a day or 2 if you find the whole thing too tedious, and then go back to it a day or 2 later, rested and with renewed enthusiasm. It’s not so bad if you miss a little exercise because you’re taking the Chitosan and losing weight.

The fact is that as time passes and you continue to lose weight (or keep it down) without your normal, terrible—and doomed—dieting efforts, you’ll find your energy level creeping up. Very gradually, you’ll find that exercise is a little easier, a little more fun. You’ll do more.

At this point, you see a very happy upward spiral starting to form. The more you exercise, the more you’ll find you want to exercise. People who are fit will tell you that after a day or two of little physical activity, the urge to exercise can become overwhelming. They’ve just got to get out and do something! The same can be true for you.

But, I repeat, don’t push for it. Just find yourself something physical you enjoy, and then do it as frequently as you can without having to force yourself unduly. For most people, this gradual approach will lead to doing more and more exercise over time—and feeling better and better about it. You never know: While you’re not looking, you just might become a real athlete.

*106\29\2*