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Don't Diet | |
| By The Associated Press WASHINGTON - "Don't do it," says Jane White, associate professor of nursing at Catholic University. She's talking about dieting, or more exactly, the concept of dieting. "The word diet for many of us means a dramatic and short-lived change in eating habits that results in a temporary weight loss. What we really need to strive for is not only weight reduction but maintaining weight loss and changing our lifestyle. Unfortunately, that point escapes many of us." White has treated patients with eating disorders and has identified different types of dieters: the tried-and-true dieter who sticks to one plan whether it works or not; the novelty-driven dieter who latches onto the latest fad diet; the control-freak dieter who chooses very restrictive diet plans; the pseudo-healthy dieter who follows the dictates of the latest published health and diet article or book; and the exercise hound, who thinks excessive exercise alone is enough to lose weight. There are some dieters who combine many of these traits. "What all these types have in common is failure. They will never succeed in losing and maintaining weight loss unless they eliminate the concept of dieting from their lives." She advises people to keep in mind that calories do count and must be reduced but that omitting any food group unbalances nutrition. Any weight-loss plan must be compatible with lifestyle and be flexible if it's to be successful, she says. "Consider your everyday lifestyle. You have to think about things like how much you travel. Are you the type of person who likes to cook and will make elaborate low-fat and low-calorie meals, or are you someone who buys frozen dinners? Even your culture and the kinds of food you usually eat are factors to be carefully thought about when choosing a weight-loss plan." And you will need to make behavioral changes, she says. "You have to stop things like eating every time you watch television, and you have to start doing things like perhaps exercising regularly and eating slowly." Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | |