Most dieters want to lose weight quickly. The problem is that plan tends to backfire. You can lose weight fast or lose weight forever—but not lose weight fast and forever. Most dieters regain about two-thirds of their weight loss within a year and all of it within 3 to 5years.

If you have lost weight quickly, your body will fight for food as a response to having been starved. You’ll have to white-knuckle the situation for as long as you can (but you’ll unlikely win the war against extreme hunger).

If you have lost weight slowly, here are some tips to help you maintain that loss of undesired body fat:

--exercise regularly

--eat fewer fatty foods

--watch less TV

--have strong social support

--sleep more than 5 hours a day.

Chewing gum can help lean people consume fewer calories, but that is not the case for obese gum-chewers. (Perhaps the act of chewing increases their desire to eat?)

To stay on track, successful dieters should plan ahead by predicting everything that could possibly go wrong with their eating plan and develop strategies to deal with the unexpected. For example, if the waiter serves the salad soaked with dressing (the dressing is not served on the side, as requested), the dieter knows he or she can

1) send it back,

2) not eat it, or

3) eat less of it.

Eat wisely ad be well,

Nancy

For more information on weight management:

My Sports Nutrition Guidebook has a strong section on how to lose weight, maintain energy for exercise, and keep the weight off.

Happy Day-After-Valentine’s-Day! Or maybe it’s not so happy if your sweetie gave you a chocolate-filled heart and you are staring at it, trying to “stay away” from the yummy treats. Do you eat them all today to “get rid of them”? Or can you enjoy one every day for the next few weeks?

If you are like too many of my clients, you believe you cannot eat just one chocolate. As one marathoner reported “I am addicted to chocolate... I ate the whole candy-filled heart in two hours.”

I beg to differ with her. I doubt if she is “addicted” to chocolate. My hunch is, she doesn’t give herself permission to eat chocolate very often. Hence, when chocolate crosses her path, this becomes her “last chance” to eat the stuff. You know “I’d better it all now to get rid of it, because I can never ever eat chocolate again. It’s a “bad” food…”

When a food has power over you, you need to eat it more often, not stay away from it. How about a little (preferably dark) chocolate every day with lunch? With time, you’ll get tired of the stuff. And remember, chocolate is not a “bad” food. Actually, it is quite delicious! The trick is to learn how to eat it in moderation.

Eat wisely and be well,

Nancy

For help with taking the power away from food, see Chapter 16: Dieting Gone Awry in my Sports Nutrition Guidebook.

You might also want to meet with a sports dietitian for personalized help. To find a local expert, use the referral network at www.SCANdpg.org.

“What should I do to jump-start my diet?” my client earnestly inquired. She was ready to get back on track after having gained three pounds over the holidays and was eager to lose that weight plus seven more “quick loss” pounds to get to her "happy weight.”

“Don’t bother jump starting your diet!” I responded. Here’s why:

Dieters who lose weight quickly by severely restricting their calories inevitably regain the weight, if not more. That's because the body overcompensates for extreme dieting (extreme hunger) with overeating. Just as you will gasp for air after having been trapped under water without oxygen, you will devour food after having been denied calories during a crash diet.

Hunger is physiological. Just as your body needs air to breathe, your body also needs fuel to function. Extreme hunger is simply an urgent request for fuel. Crash diets lead to binge eating (also called “blowing your diet”). This overeating has little to do with your "having no willpower" and lots to do with the physiology of hunger.

Yes, you can white-knuckle yourself to stick to your crash diet, but your well-meaning plan to quickly shed some pounds has a high likelihood of exploding into a demoralizing pattern of yoyo dieting. You’ll inevitably end up gaining more weight than you lose. Don't go there.... it’s depressing.

Be smart,

Nancy

Additional reading: Chapter 15: Losing Weight Without Starving in Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook

For personal weight reduction help: Find a local sports dietitian at www.SCANdpg.org

Athletes of all sports and abilities commonly ask me what they should eat before, during and after a competitive event:

     When should I eat the pregame meal: 2, 3 or 4 hours beforehand?

     How many gels should I take during a marathon?

     What’s best to eat for recovery after a soccer game?

The same athletes who worry about event-day fueling often neglect their day to day training diet. Hence, the real question should be: “What should I eat before, during and after I train?” After all, you can only compete at your best if you can train at your best.

As you prepare for each workout, remember you should be training your intestinal tract as well as your heart, lungs and muscles. To get the most out of each workout, you need to practice your pre-, during- and post-event fueling as well as your sports skills. Then, come day of the competition, you know exactly what, when and how much to eat so you can compete with optimal energy and without fear of bonking nor intestinal distress.

For help with personalized advice on optimizing your training diet, find a local sports dietitian by using the referral network at www.SCANdpg.org. (SCAN is the Sports and Cardiovascular Nutrition Dietary Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association.) Alternatively, many active people have found my Sports Nutrition Guidebook to be very helpful.

Fuel wisely and enjoy training faster, stronger and longer.

Nancy

Q. I want to bulk up while getting leaner. How can I gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?

A. It’s difficult for the body to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. Building muscle requires calories. If you are restricting calories to lose undesired body fat, your body does not have the fuel it needs to create new muscle tissue. Instead, the body breaks down muscle to use for fuel.

A dieting athlete can minimize muscle loss with—

1) a small calorie deficit that contributes to slow fat loss.

Knock off 200 to 400 calories a day (not 800 to 1.000 calories!).

2) an adequate protein intake (i.e., enjoy a protein-rich food at each meal and snack).

A reasonable target is about 0.7 to 1.0 gram protein per pound body weight, or about 100 to 150 g protein for a 150-pound person. That equates to 1 quart of milk (32 g), 1 can tuna (35 g) and 6 ounces chicken breast (45 g), plus the protein you get in other foods (bread, cereal, vegetables). Protein supplements tend to be needless; food can supply what you need.

3) frequently eaten meals that offer a constant supply of protein and fuel.

Eat at least every three or four hours, and have a small protein-rich bedtime snack, such as some cottage cheese.

4) strength training to help protect against muscle loss.

Your body protects the muscles you use, but breaks down the muscles that are less active and uses them for fuel.

For more information on how to lose fat and maintain energy for exercise, see

my Sports Nutrition Guidebook.

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD

Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics