how to succeed at weight loss

by Don Ardell, PhD, Wellness Center Director

There are no secrets to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Yet, since so few Americans have managed to do so, a review of tried and true keys to weight loss is in order, every now and then.

I begin any such review with an emphasis on the “most equal” of all the equal requirements, namely, regular vigorous exercise that enables and sustains a high level of physical fitness. From there, moderation in food consumption should be noted, particularly in the sense of a diet oriented to high fruit and vegetable intake, low intake of saturated fats and modest consumption of low-density foods loaded with sugars.

Finally, a word about the ubiquitous best-seller diet book titles and supermarket tabloid headlines -- they are not to be taken seriously. A pity but the fact is that there are no amazing new food combination tricks, thermonuclear supplements or fat dissolving liquids from Himalayan mountain tops or remote jungle swamps that will remove fat, add muscle and secure lifestyle fitness and health with no effort on your part. Life as we know it does not entail any such opportunities; despite the advent in the past few decades of many laborsaving advances, we cannot expect a diet breakthrough to eliminate the need for exercise. Nor is it possible, contrary to the promise “guaranteed” in a recent spam e-mail I received, to “smoke and consume high levels of sodium in the diet and live to be 120 years old.”

To get to a state of optimal weight, consider the following tips:

View the challenge of eliminating excess weight and becoming fit as an integrated endeavor. The former without the latter is unlikely.
Take the challenge of weight loss and fitness seriously but approach it lightly. Without becoming stressed about fitness or achieving a worthy self-managing lifestyle, set about to deliberately organize your days around an all-out commitment to exceptional health.
Establish a few goals that are challenging but not heroic. Goals should be specific and have a time frame. Identify activity commitments for each goal, and anticipate barriers and how you will overcome them. Think about benchmarks that will signal your progress and build in little rewards.
Set a realistic pace. Weight loss, like art, is a step-by-step process. Take things little by little. Attempt to find ways to make exercise as much fun as possible, and choose a wide variety of foods.
Eat slowly, and don’t do other things while dining. Don't eat while you drive, watch TV or ride a stationary bike. However, it’s OK to eat popcorn in a theater -- who can watch a movie without popcorn? Try to be as attentive as possible to internal cues that you have had enough. When you dine out, share a meal -- in America, portions are almost always excessive for one.
Pay attention to signals that tell you when you have had enough. We've become a society accustomed to "jumbo-sized" food portions, and so it’s easy to assume that the right thing to do is “clean the plate.” Reducing food portions is an excellent practice.
Add more fruits, vegetables and whole grains to your diet by experimenting with unfamiliar varieties of these foods. Look for recipes and other ways to work unfamiliar items into meals and snacks. Try preparing varied dishes loaded with such nutritious foods utilizing juicers, mixers, steamers, crock-pots, woks, blenders and/or similar contraptions. Don’t allow cooking to be boring.
Take classes, learn new tricks, and experiment on your own. The payoffs are high in both enjoyment and health benefits.

Remember, the foundation for healthy weight is fitness, along with an otherwise healthy lifestyle. Simple changes can complement your efforts, like becoming a bit more deliberate about food consumption. An article in Nature (June 29, 2000) recommended slow dining for the first ten minutes of a meal, noting that this will recruit your brain into any weight loss plan. The rationale is based on studies utilizing high-tech brain images of 21 adults, which showed that 10 minutes after they started eating a meal, their brain turned off their appetite switch. At that point, the urge to continue eating seemed to diminish. So, learn to pace yourself for 10 minutes instead of wolfing down your food, and you'll find you may be quite satisfied with a smaller meal.

These tips are hardly secrets for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, but they are widely neglected aspects of common sense worth reviewing every so often.

Best wishes. Be well.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area category of nutrition. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

Posted October 2002