Diets, diets, diets…
Most people looking for a diet this New Year's will follow something that is extreme: no carb diets, liquid diets, count every calorie and gauge the carb points in every bite diets, meal replacement shake diets, order food over the internet diets, etc. All of these are extreme. Why? Because they are not a sustainable way of eating/living. You could have a shake for breakfast and lunch the rest of your life, but will you? The truth is, after losing the desired amount of weight, most people will go off their extreme diets and go back to the way they ate before--and gain back the weight they lost.
This may seem inocuous to some--what's wrong with having two sets of clothes so you can fit into your swimsuit in the summer and indulge in holiday food in the winter? Actually, rapid weight loss, especially if it happens over and over again, is very harmful to the body. All that adipose tissue that is melting away while on a fad diet has to get processed--first travelling through the arteries and veins, then onto the liver, out to the gall bladder and hopefully to the intestines where it will be eliminated but can also be reabsorbed! All of this can lead to worse blood lipid scores, arterial deposits, fatty liver, and gall stones.
But perhaps the greatest casualty of fad diets is that people don't develope a healthy, natural way of eating. For obese people, simply losing the weight will make them healthier and increase longevity. But once the weight is off, health isn't all about weight. Now, I used to know someone who lost 200 pounds on Weight Watchers and she was keeping it off by continuing to count points and calories and continuing to exercise. She was healthier than she had been. However, counting out exactly twelve cheesy Pringles chips (which she did at every lunch) and not eating one chip more does not make Pringles chips a healthy snack choice. What one should look for in a diet is one that allows a person to truly enjoy and savor the earth's bounty of fresh delectable food--without thinking about the bathroom scale! There are a couple of diets that come close to this--the Sonoma Diet and the South Beach Diet both present balanced views of eating and encourage eating fruits and vegetables in season. But a book I came upon recently had me saying "yes, yes!" to the recommendations and "yum, yum!" to the recipes included. It is "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano.
Guiliano presents the French way of eating and chronicles her own weight challenge as an adolescent exchange student to the U.S. After rediscovering her own French relation to food which can be described as joyful, sensible, gratifying, and even indulging at times, she shares it with the reader. The so-called "french paradox" has less to do with red wine and cigarrettes and more to do with a way of thinking about food and lifestyle. From a leek broth which helps lose water weight to tantalizing descriptions of ripe strawberries and creme fraiche, duck breasts with gingered plum compote, and chocolate/espresso souffle, this book will have you hooked on real food--real, fresh, ripe, seasonal, tasty food that feeds your senses and need for pleasure as well as your stomach. Although you won't be allowed to eat while walking and the number of pastries will be limited, you'll never have to look at a bathroom scale again!
I've had my weight number obsession in the past--thinking I had to do something drastic if I somehow slipped two pounds over my "ideal" weight. This is not an enjoyable way to live and keeps one focused on oneself--rather than focused on hobbies, being part of a community, or actually doing something for someone else. And worst of all, you don't get to enjoy food! The best thing I ever did was get rid of my bathroom scale. Yes, I don't have one in the house at all and every time i've been weighed at the doctor's in the last 15 years, I've fallen within a four pound range (except during pregnancies).
It's about getting back to basics--to fresh, seasonal, yummy food enjoyed in a relaxing atmosphere. I have to admit, Europeans know how to do this far more than we do. I learned this while working on a farm in Germany almost 20 years ago. Bread in the morning was fresh rolls from the bakery, we enjoyed farm fresh raspberries in a variety of ways, and nobody jumped up after a Sunday lunch outdoors to bring on the dessert or wash the dishes--yes we had two hour lunches at home sometimes. Since then I've worked for organic farmers in California, had a garden myself, and developed a knowledge how enjoyable FRESH food really is. It's sad that many people have never tasted a truly ripe strawberry or fresh ear of corn!
I encourage you--if you're looking for a new diet this year, look for one that illustrates a menu plan rich in ripe, fresh, tasty foods, coaches on portion size, and makes eating an enjoyable part of a balanced lifestyle. Learn from French women--after all, they don't get fat!
