Weight-less
Why do we hate fat people? Why do we look at them with disdain, with holier than thou attitudes? We are all guilty of their perceived sin, and, to boot, when blinds are drawn and monitor screens glow, we are the first to type “diet” into search engines of choice. Food companies spend millions of annual dollars hawking the latest miracle aliments promising to lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and increase energy, libido, and everything short of our bank accounts. The high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate (HPLC) diet of yesteryear has been touted from its throne on high for years, until recent research demonstrated its hand in promoting plaque buildup in the highways and byways of our bodies, otherwise known as arteries. While it is obvious that becoming “weight-less” is difficult at best, it certainly isn’t brain surgery. If the solution to the obesity epidemic, however, is as simple as eating more healthily and being more active, then how do we explain the plethora of unsuccessful fad diets and even crash dives into unnatural decreased calorie intake that can leave our bodies in physiologic starvation modes, eat away at healthy muscle, burden our minds with fatigue, grouchiness, and irritability, and disfigure waistlines with that all-too-common B-word, “binge” eating?
We all know the problem. We’ve been victims of it time and time again. What can we do about it? In this case, we are not talking about an ounce of prevention. Pounds are the name of the game, with a new lease on life coming at as simple a cost as a change in eating habits, albeit a small change at first. Let this short piece serve as both a primer to our initial foray into the realms of salubrious diet and healthy weight, and as a rematch between ourselves and past New Years’ resolutions kicked to the curb. While any good change in diet and eating habits begins with our family doctor, we must realize that the men and women in white simply do not have the time to completely overhaul our current lifestyles. They are underpaid, overworked, and, in many cases, more concerned with drugs and “pharmacologic surgery” of the problem than preventive medicine and patient education. We must become creative ourselves, and look to our own proactivity.
First and foremost, we must examine the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. In other words, we must make a concerted effort to assess our own dietary strong and weak points. Are we eating five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables every single day? Is calcium part of our diet and a plan to preempt brittle bones? Do regular whole-grain, high-fiber foods bring up the rear (no pun intended!), contributing to our regularity and preventing unwelcome house guests such as colon cancer, diverticulosis, and something as inconsequential, yet troublesome, as chronic constipation? Will we never learn that too much sugar, salt, and saturated fat is just plain no good? We’ve heard ad nauseam that fatty meats, cakes, cookies, potato chips, biscuits, and sweets not only increase calorie counts, obesity, and weight, but also lead to high cholesterol and heart disease. Nonetheless, we desist from limiting them in our diets and making those small changes, such as adding fresh fruit or vegetables to every meal, or getting more fiber in our diets, that would make hospital emergency rooms, cardiologists, and funeral directors quite unhappy. While keeping food diaries to that end is an exercise in persistence and healthy obsession that many of us do not possess, something as simple as a kindly reminding refrigerator magnet can reap untold economic and quality of life-preserving windfalls.
Lest we forget portion size and the gentle admonishments of our parents who cajoled the benefits of cleaning one’s plate, we may have taken this too far. Current statistics bear this out, and they’re not pretty. The American Institute for Cancer Research has reminded us of what we already know to be true, and that being that more Americans than ever are making Jack Sprat proud, by “licking their platters clean.” Were that not enough, the public is grossly unaware that we unconsciously consume 56% more calories when we are served larger portions, and that more than 78% of Americans are deluded into thinking that the specific food they eat is more important in losing weight than the amount they ingest. God help us!
With Christmas and New Year’s Eve on the horizon, and a change in waistline in the cards unless we act now, here are some “no-brainers” and food swaps that may not trim food expenses in the short term, but will most certainly balance the future medical budget, both personally and nationally speaking. Substituting low-fat, whole breads for white breads, English muffins for doughnuts, baked potatoes for French fries, turkey dogs for regular hot dogs, low-fat cheese for Cheddar, and non-fat for regular mayonnaise may not entirely please the palate, but will certainly keep us around long enough to see our loved ones grow and prosper. And we’ve saved the best for last, as we urge blind obedience to the eight commandments of clever food choice, and those being: have a healthy side dish with meals; go easy on the butter or margarine; avoid high-fat sauces and gravies; serve fresh fruit with the skin on; eat more fresh fish than beef or chicken; consume five or more portions of fruit and vegetables daily; bake, broil, roast, or steam instead of frying; and, finally, substitute dry beans, peas, or lentils as often as possible for red meat in favorite recipes. Impossible, you say! Start slowly, and build up to a crescendo.
Do as we say, and not as we’ve done in the past, and we can liberate the term “weight-less” from the exclusive lexicon of NASA.
ã 2009, Albert M. Balesh, M.D. All rights reserved.
posted by Dr. Al at
12/13/2009 11:22:00 AM
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