Fad diets have fallen out of fashion — and out of favour with nutrition experts. Today’s advice for losing weight isn’t about drastic changes, such as ramping up protein portions. It’s about adopting “normal” healthy eating habits — a “non-diet diet.”
New research has shown that a normalized approach to eating wins out over any extreme diet in the long term, says Kim Barnouin, a holistic nutritionist in Los Angeles and co-author of Skinny Bitch: A No-Nonsense, Tough-Love Guide for Savvy Girls Who Want to Stop Eating Crap and Start Looking Fabulous.
“Extreme diets were really popular a decade ago because they offered a quick fix to weight loss,” Barnouin says. “Over the long term, studies have shown that overdosing on protein wasn’t healthy.”
Too much protein can result in kidney stress, fat gain and osteoporosis. And any way of eating that involves the word “diet” can lead to counterproductive behaviour such as binge eating — in which the dieter rebels by overindulging on junk food.
Habitual healthy eating, on the other hand, not only leads to a thinner waistline, it also can reduce a person’s chance of developing heart disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes.
> Make Small “swaps.” If there is something you want to eat, try aiming for a healthier alternative of the same food, says Rose Reisman, author of various cookbooks and founder of Art of Living Well, a nutrition-focused caterer based in Toronto. “If you love having a plain bagel and cream cheese in the morning,” Reisman says, “try swapping it for a multigrain bagel with real cheese instead.”
Such minor trade-offs add nutrients to your diet, Reisman says, without making you feel deprived. That is important if you are going to stick to a regime of normal eating.
> Don’t Subtract; Add. “Cutting [out a food] is restrictive,” Barnouin says, “whereas when you focus on simply adding a healthy food to your diet, you are less likely to binge.”
For example, rather than cutting out coffee, which restricts the absorption of nutrients and reduces hydration, try adding more water and vegetables to your diet.
> Control Those Portions. The Canada Food Guide recommends that men get between 2,300 and 2,900 calories per day, while women should have 1,800 to 2,250 calories.
“The body needs a lot less food than the typical food guidelines recommend to be healthy,” says Bob Cavanaugh, managing director of Newport, N.C.-based Calorie Restriction Society. The CRS recommends middle-aged men and women consume no more than 1,800 and 1,600 calories daily, respectively.
Instead of counting calories, Reisman suggests, fill up your plate in the following manner: one-half vegetables, one-quarter protein and one-quarter starchy grains such as couscous, pasta or quinoa. “Vegetables enable you to feel full,” she says, “and they are easier for your body to process.”
When ordering a dish such as pasta when eating out, ask for it to be split in half before it arrives. Putting half in a takeout bag ensures portion control.
It’s also important to make any changes to your eating habits gradually, Cavanaugh adds: “You shouldn’t be losing more than a pound a week, or the results of weight loss aren’t sustainable.”
> Get Moving. Along with eating healthier, Reisman adds, it’s also important to exercise: “The positive domino effect on your eating will be monumental.”
For example, after working out, Reisman finds she craves salads as opposed to unhealthy food. “Eating well and physical activity,” she says, “go hand in hand.” IE