Diets

Ken's Diet Theory

Rule 1: Conservation of Energy

Calories-in minus calories-out equals weight gain. This is a law of physics. Any diet that claims to have found a short cut around this rule is a lie or is dangerous or both. The only way to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than you burn.

Rule 2: Humans are Omnivores

Our bodies are designed to eat a wide variety of food groups. Any diet that completely avoids a particular food group might work in the short run. (By reducing choices, it is likely to reduce calories-in, see Rule 1.) But, these diets become unhealthy as a long-term life style. For example, you should be very afraid of any diet that allows a bacon cheeseburger if you skip the bun!

Low-carb diets, like Atkins, The Zone, and South Beach, often work in the short term, but by breaking Rule 2, their long-term effectiveness is questionable. However, if you can follow it, you'll probably lose weight. And, even slightly unhealthy diets are probably better for you than staying overweight.

Rule 3: Exercise Needed

A diet plan that only focuses on what to eat is missing half of the equation. A complete diet plan should always work to reduce calories-in. But, nearly all experts also recommend increased exercise to increase calories-out.

Exercise has the added advantage that muscle cells burn calories faster than fat cells. (Fat cells store energy but don't burn much energy.) And, exercise increases metabolic rate, which burns calories faster.

Any, with lots of good exercise, you'll feel better, which makes it easier to keep going.

Rule 4: Organisms Adapt

The human body is amazingly adaptable. The strength of each muscle adapts to the amount that you use it. Bones grow stronger or weaker depending on the load they carry.

What is the typical binge and then diet lifestyle telling your body? You're telling it, "I live in a world of feast and famine." So it adapts by making you feel hungry all the time, growing lots of fat cells and slowing down your metabolism, because it never knows when the next famine will come. Not the best message to be sending.

On the other hand, what does consistent meals every day plus exercise tell your body? "Don't worry about storing fat; we live in a land of plenty. But, we need muscles!" It will adapt by growing lots of muscles and speeding up your metabolism, because it never knows when a saber tooth tiger might be chasing you.

Rule 5: Emotions Matter

We're not robots or machines. We're likely to eat even if we're not hungry. Some of us overeat when we're celebrating; others when we're depressed. Some overeat when we're overstressed; others when we're bored. Many obese people overeat for all of these reasons and more. If a diet is too restrictive you're going to cheat or give up.

Any diet that meets rule 1 will work. Any diet that meets rules 1, 2, 3 and 4 is a candidate for a good, healthy diet. But, it's the perfect diet for you only if you can stick with it. For some, peer support, like Weight Watchers® or eDiet, is best. For others, prepackaged, pre-measured foods, like Nutrisystem® or Jenny Craig®, is best. Most of these and others have counselors to help you focus and stay on the diet.

Rule 6: Life Style Choices

Merriam-Webster defines "diet" as: a) food and drink regularly provided or consumed b) habitual nourishment c) the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason d) a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight

If you follow their fourth definition for "diet", you will probably fail! A "diet" should not be something you "go on" until you lose weight. If this is your philosophy, you will fall off your diet and the weight will come back.

Statistically, almost everyone who tries any commercial or fad weight loss program soon gains back the weight. Statistics also show that the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to understand how to eat healthy, such as my rules 1 through 4, and change your lifestyle to match.

It's the other three definitions for "diet" that you need to follow. You have to make permanent changes to what, when or how much you eat.

The Reader's Digest Change One diet is a good example of this. They recommend "One small change a week". By focusing on one change to your eating habits or lifestyle, you're more likely to achieve long-term goals. For example, replacing one can of Coke per day with Coke Zero, and not changing anything else, will result in a reduction of 15 pounds in a year!

Rule 7: Motivation

The key to dieting success is motivation. It's hard!

Here's an analogy: The key to accumulating wealth is simple. Spend less than you earn! Do the opposite and you'll go broke no matter how much money you earn. The rule is easy; the execution is hard. It's the same with losing weight and maintaining your new weight. Rule 1 says you need to burn more calories than you consume. The hardest part is finding a diet that works for you, one that you can live with.

My late wife had a crystal clear motivation. Her doctors told her that she could die in a year if she didn't lose weight. She would say to herself, "Which do I want more, this slice of cake or another Christmas?" And, even with that obvious choice, she still had great difficulty sticking to her diet. But, it did give her six more years of life instead of only one.

In my case, the initial motivation was to be a diet buddy for my wife. I needed to give her all the support and encouragement that I could. After her death, my motivation changed to preserving her memory. I am the main repository for her life's story. I want to someday tell her grandchildren how wonderful she was. I want to be a living example that it is possible to improve your health. Once I reached my goal weight, my motivation changed again. I now want to maintain this feeling of being healthy. I'm in better shape and more active than I was 20 years ago! I feel so much better now. I want to enjoy a long life!

So, if you need to lose weight, you need to find your motivation. No one else can do that for you. Friends and family can help. Groups like Weight Watchers can provide additional support. But, you must find and maintain your motivation.

My Personal Diet

Many people have asked me what specific diet I've used. I struggled for years to find a diet that worked for me with no success.

Finally, I tried a diet called "grazing", which consists of frequent small sensible meals plus daily exercise. By frequent, I mean five to six meals per day. By small, I mean 200 to 300 calories and less than two cups volume. By exercise, I mean 30 or more minutes almost every day.

I lost about one pound per month for four years, resulting in a total weight loss of more than 50 pounds. I gradually went from "obese" to "overweight" to "normal" over the course of four years.

Why does this work? I feel like I'm always having a snack. If I've just eaten a few hours ago, I know I can't really be hungry.

Like many people, I've often confused the feeling of an empty stomach with hunger. By rigorously avoiding large meals, over time, my stomach shrinks in size. I've learned to associate the feeling of being too full as an uncomfortable feeling to be avoided. As a result of my "no large meals" rule, I now rarely get the feeling of my stomach being too full or too empty.

It's surprisingly easy to confuse the feeling of thirst with hunger. If I know I've eaten within two hours and I think I'm feeling hungry, I realize that I must really be feeling thirsty, so I'll drink a glass of water.

Most of my meals are very small: a bowl of cereal, a ham sandwich, a small bowl of chili, or one turkey hot dog. I measure food by "fists", the volume your hand makes when you form a fist, about 1/2 pint. My goal is to have two "fists" of food for each mini-meal. On rare occasions, like family get togethers, I'll go for 3-fists. I try to avoid going beyond that. Thanksgiving Day is a real challenge! An "all you can eat" buffet is torture! After just one overly large meal, it takes about a week for my stomach to shrink back to normal. And, I feel hungry the whole week!

I don't count calories but I do avoid refined sugar. I try to keep most of my meals high in protein and fiber but low in fat and sugar. Occasionally, one meal is decadent, like a scoop of ice cream on a brownie. I find it's best to satisfy cravings with a small but delicious treat before the cravings overwhelm me.

For exercise, I prefer a mix of a wide variety of different activities. Several days a week, I work out with vigorous exercise, like: lap swimming, weight lifting, cross-country skiing, elliptical trainers, step machines, or hiking. On other days, I unwind with gentler aerobic activities, like: walking or bicycling. But, my favorite exercise is dancing. What can possibly be better than getting healthy while moving to the music with a girl in my arms? <grin>

My test of whether or not my diet is working is to record my weight every morning. I largely ignore my daily weight because the fluctuations are mostly "noise", more about how much water I drank then how many calories I consumed. Every few weeks, I enter my daily chart into Excel and plot them. (My weight log now has about 3,000 daily entries.) If I see an upward trend, I immediately take corrective actions (smaller meals, fewer treats, more exercise, etc.).

After losing the initial weight, I've continued to follow this diet for two more years to maintain my new weight. It's still hard to stick with it. It's a difficult struggle but it's worth it. Feeling alive and healthy sure beats the alternative!

How about you?

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