Don't Diet!  Just Eat, Be Happy and Lose Weight

First, the following "diet" is really not a diet, in the conventional sense, but a nutritionally sound eating plan.  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, healthful life.  There is no need to give up all your favorite foods or drastically change your lifestyle, because doing so is a recipe for failure.  The term "diet" implies restrictions by either eliminating or radically reducing the intake of certain foods or food groups.  Most diets are inappropriate, unhealthful (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 (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 (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, etc.).  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:

• Medline Plus  -  http://nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/foodnutritionandmetabolism.html



• Food and Nutrition Information Center  -  http://nal.usda.gov/fnic/



• McKinley Health Center  -  http://mckinley.uiuc.edu/



• USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory  -  http://nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/

Remember, the key to weight control is to be healthy, happy and fit.  Beyond the recommendations to be provided later, you must understand which foods will provide these three, all-important elements.  Believe it or not, there are foods 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 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 (˝ hour per day, 3 days per week) will greatly accelerate weight control.  Weight training, when done properly, is the most effective way to change one's overall health, energy level, strength, conditioning and physical appearance.

If you feel like having a snack or something sweet, have it.  Your body is telling you it needs something.  Of coarse, it would be better to eat a piece of organic fruit rather than a candy bar.  However, either is preferable to over-eating at your next meal or constantly agonizing over the decision to indulge the urge.

Eat everything in moderation.  In other words, do not over do any one food or food group.  A varied diet is the best diet.


A Way of Eating

Bear in mind that not completely adhering to every detail, everyday, of this natural way of eating is not a sin.  There will be certain situations or circumstances that will prevent you from following one or more of the guidelines.   Do not worry about this and do your best! 

There are a number of recommendations that are very easy to understand and apply to your everyday life.  They are as follows:

Do not eat or drink anything before noon except fresh, organic fruit, raw fruit juice and/or water.  Distilled water is ideal for cleansing and detoxification however, consuming distilled water for more than a few weeks is unwise.  Most tap water contains chlorine, and varying amounts of other chemicals, and should be avoided whenever possible.  Filtered water or a pure spring water are the best choices.

Avoid processed foods, processed sugar, white flour and cheese.  If you do not know which foods are processed or are unsure, a good rule of thumb is anything in a can or a box is processed.  Processed foods have little or no nutritional value and tend to be loaded with sodium (salt), processed sugar and chemicals used as preservatives.  Ideally, you only want to eat raw organic foods.  Once any food has been heated to temperatures above 116 degrees Fahrenheit, all enzymes necessary for proper digestion have been destroyed.  Additionally, many of the vital nutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc.) have been lost or altered during the cooking process.  (Note:  Pasteurization is simply another term for "cooked.")  Generally, most people eat too much processed sugar because they are unaware of the amounts in so many processed foods.  Foods that contain white (bleached) flour such as pasta, bread, bagels and many cereals are loaded with simple carbohydrates that have little nutritional value and can cause rapid weight gain.  Pasteurized cheese is loaded with fat and offers very little nutritional value.

Reduce the amount of carbohydrates you consume.  Generally, most people eat too many carbohydrates and the more carbs you ingest, the more you will "crave" them.  Carbohydrates exist in most foods with the exception of meat, poultry, seafood and some vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, spinach, etc.).  As previously stated, some foods have extremely high amounts of carbohydrates.  When you eat bread, cereal, pasta, rice and other high-carb foods, try to choose whole grain products.  The fiber content and nutritional values are much higher.

Eat fresh, all-natural foods (again, raw is best) instead chemical-laden "diet" or "fat-free" products.  For example, it is better to eat butter than margarine.

Due to the mineral depletion of the farming soils around the world, most foods lack the minerals necessary to sustain our bodies.  Plants can manufacture vitamins but can only draw minerals from the soil in which they are grown.  You should take either colloidal (liquid) minerals or Coral Calcium in order to provide your body with all the vital minerals.  Once your knowledge of food and their nutrients increases, you should begin to see the need for other all-natural health supplements.

Do not mix starches and proteins in a meal or snack.  For example, do not have a sandwich with meat or cheese.  Also, do not have spaghetti with meat sauce.  Your body has difficulty properly digesting food when starches and proteins are consumed at the same time.  Consequently, much of both foods will be stored as fat.  Separating starches from proteins initially will require some thought and knowledge of exactly which foods are starches and which are proteins.  Unfortunately, strict adherence to this recommendation could possible eliminate some of your favorite foods such as cereal (cereal is a starch and milk is a protein).  Remember, if you feel a strong desire have a particular food such as cereal, have it.  Do try, however, to minimize the meals or snacks that mix starches and proteins.  Proteins are largely derived from animals, animal by-products, seafood and beans.  Starches are primarily flour, grains, corn and potato.  The following table reflects some of the starches and proteins.