Eat More Not Less

I figured it was time for me to give my little input. I am Pam's sister. I got my undergrad in dietetics and am getting my Master's in nutrition so she asked me to make comments. If any of you have specific questions I can answer those for you but most things are pretty general. First of all diet is the key to losing weight. Diet alone will have a greater impact on losing weight than exercising alone. Together you get the best results but alone diet is better. I don't mean to say that you should stop exercising. Studies have shown that exercise has many benefits even if you don't lose weight. Here are some tips to hopefully give you a little more confidence for losing weight because it can be hard sometimes.

1. Add more before taking away. It is always easier to eat more than less. Go to www.mypyramid.gov and enter your information. It will give you a recommendation for the number of servings to have of fruits and vegetables. Concentrate on getting all of these servings so that you are fuller and you may not have room for dessert.

2. There are no "good foods" or "bad foods" but there are foods you should avoid eating everyday. If you have to have ice cream everyday then have ice cream everyday, but limit yourself and take calories away from other meals to make up the difference. Self control is the hardest part, so sometimes it is easier to avoid it than to have only a small amount. The only problem is that you end up binging later. One tactic may be to chose one day a week for dessert and then avoid it the rest of the week. Find what works for you. Experiment to find your style.

3. Fill up on fiber and protein. If you are hungry after having cereal in the morning try other things that have more protein in them to help you stay fuller longer. Some foods that have a higher protein and fiber but not fat content that you can have as a snack or to start out your day are egg whites, string cheese, yogurt, oatmeal, cream of wheat, granola, and granola bar. Check the nutrition label and aim to gets breads that have ~2 gm fiber/100 kcal. Make sure your bread is 100% whole wheat and not just wheat. If it doesn't say 100% whole wheat it won't have as much fiber in it and it's more like white bread.

4. Weigh yourself often, everyday if possible, at the same time, with the same scale. You will be more conscious of your weight and have more success at losing weight.

That should do it for now. Again, if anyone has any questions just ask. Good luck and don't give up. It is hard but so worth it.