No More Diets

What is the best way to eat the “right” number of calories without having to go so obsessive?

Actually even if you are obsessive it’s difficult to get calorie counting right without being wired up to scientific measuring equipment.

Sure, there are calculations you can do where you input your age, your sex, your height, your weight and your level of activity but it will all still depend on your own metabolism (rate of burning calories).

And of course the amount you need changes (gets less) as you lose weight - and also changes day to day with the activities you do.

So it’s best that none of us get obsessive about calories - though it sometimes helps to have an idea of the rough amount you use each day if only to help put you off eating mega amounts of fast food or a big plate of cakes.

If you follow a few simple guidelines you can usually forget about calories altogether and still lose weight

a) eat your calories rather than drinking them - it’s quite easy to drink a whole day’s worth of calories in an evening out or throughout the day and not feel like you’ve had anything to eat (you haven’t)

b) eat only when you are physically hungry - not just because food is there or because you feel like nibbling something

c) stop eating before you are full - once you are full you have eaten too much. As a guideline serve lean protein about the size of the palm of your hand, a handful of carbohydrate (pasta, rice or potatoes) and fill up on veggies or salad

d) choose healthy food (low fat, whole grain, fruit) over unhealthy (fried, white bread/pasta/rice, dessert)

e) eat unhealthy food (chocolate, snacks) in very small doses - and no more than once a day

f) move your body whenever you can - if it needs doing, do it, if an errand needs to be run, run it, if a dog needs to be walked, you walk it…I’m sure you get the idea

I don’t generally advise low-calorie substitutes for foods - to my mind you are better eating smaller quantities of real foods and enjoying them than eating chemicals or even poor substitutes in terms of taste. But if you’re happy with that it’s one other way to reduce calories without counting.

Salad upsets my stomach, what sort of diet do I do?

Nearly all traditional diets prescribe lots of salad. In many ways, it’s the perfect diet food. It has very few calories and quite a lot of bulk - although I do find that without some protein and slow-release carbs with your salad the full feeling tends not to last too long. And you have to be careful with dressings too - if you add more than a tablespoon (15ml) of anything the perfect dieter’s meal turns into a dieter’s nightmare. Salads in restaurants are a particular problem.

Whether it’s a good salad or a bad salad, doesn’t matter to you though. If salad doesn’t agree with you (or you hate salad) don’t eat it!

This probably counts out 90% or more of the diet books on the market which have a rigid meal plan.

I guess, what you’re asking me is what do you eat instead to get the low calorie/high vitamin combination that salads provide. The simplest thing is to replace salad with cooked vegetables (which are gentler on your stomach) and eat a little fruit too so that you get a good helping of vitamins and minerals that the salad would give you without going overboard on the calories.

If you don’t like or can’t eat too many cooked vegetables then you have to get a little creative with them. You may find that you tolerate them better if they are pureed or incorporated into soup or pasta sauce and this can go a long way towards getting your healthy quota of 5 portions for the day.

The thing is you don’t need any particular food or food combination to lose weight - you just have to avoid eating too much of whatever you choose. Particular food groups are essential for good health though and this includes fruit and vegetables. It’s just not necessary to eat them in the form of salad.

I don’t recommend any particular diet - diets are a temporary thing that may work for a time - but weight just piles back on when you return to “normal” eating. I recommend that you gradually change your eating habits step by step until you are eating (and enjoying) modest portions of healthy delicious foods every day (with the occasional splurge on less healthy food, which is good for the soul) and that you eat that way for the rest of your life.

And this works salad or no salad.