Cookbooks tout such recipes and on a subtle level, they communicate "you must suffer for your fat sins" or even more dangerously, "you can lose weight while not having to think or substantially change your life and how it looks."
I've yet to meet an maintainer who subscribed to either philosophy. It's one subtle example...
Read more »
When you think of food in macro-nutrients, you have a foundation upon which to get creative with. The health/weight aspect's addressed -- then cooking just becomes a process of wedding the nutrients you need with flavors that fascinate you. Somewhere in there you build a newfound confidence from knowing that you’re not what you...
Read more »
Doctors, researchers, marketers … there’s a lot of very smart people in weight loss. God love ‘em for it. But maintenance research is in its infancy and Center of Disease Control Statistics and the weight loss media clamor are all important but don’t seem to be enough. It’s because intelligence isn’t enough on its...
Read more »
Whew lord, but do I have a lot to talk about the path I’ve been this month back in North Carolina. The whole ballgame’s changed. I’ve spent the two years of this Web site choosing my words very carefully: discussing maintenance, post-weight issues, and answering “now what?” is so rare I thought I had...
Read more »
Pan sauces are boon for livening up otherwise tepid healthy eating and provide a skill to focus while navigating all the "Now whats?" of weight maintenance. You're still eating healthfully -- just now, hopefully, with a deeper sense of fun.
Read more »
If you think of food in terms of cuisines and standard recipes, it's much more difficult to eat healthfully because, on a cuisine-by-cuisine basis, the available dishes are more limited.
So to make interesting health food, I simply stopped thinking that way. Gastronomic purity -- a fancy term for "eating Italian exactly like an first-generation...
Read more »
And therein lies the key difference between weight loss and weight maintenance: results vs. progress. Weight loss is all about hitting a number, achieving a goal; maintenance is about the paradox of staying at said number while continually, gradually, building a life that makes the number irrelevant.
There's isn't a Result to achieve anymore --...
Read more »
Now, now, don't say "Well, duh!" In attempts to stay contemporary, many fast food chains are marketing or creating "lite" menus and more healthful dishes. While they're a great last resort, the point is you can diet and still easily rely on the same restaurants that contributed to your weight. Again, flip sides of...
Read more »
In some ways, Angela’s review of key maintenance predictors yesterday was a nice validation for those of us who’ve been slugging out on our own. After all, the National Weight Control Registry’s research is pulled from surveying successful maintainers. Yet in my interview with Graham Thomas, he explains that while they were able to...
Read more »
There's nothing wrong with celebrating success -- unless, of course, it comes at the expense of addressing the challenges involved "success" long lasting and powerful. If so, then all the media are celebrating is reaching the half-way point. And then wonder why only 6 percent of us maintain the weight we lose. Too bad...
Read more »
