Key To Dieting: Keep Treats Out Of Sight

04 Aug 2012

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The author of The Nutrition Post.

People who lose the most weight may be those who can overcome urges when they see, smell or dream about something tasty, researchers said this week. And their study adds to a growing body of evidence that another key to success is keeping a food diary.

72 Comments

MammaLu June 5, 2012 at 2:51 pm

Agreed! Walking is free, easy and convenient.
OriginalNYCChica June 5, 2012 at 2:47 pm

I think it's helpful to think of it as changing your eating habits rather that being "on a diet." To me that implies something I can go on and off of. If you want to lose the weight permanently then you have to change your habits permanently. I've tried many diets with little success because I believed that I could go back to my old habits once I lost the weight, (silly me.) Once I opened my eyes to how people I knew had lost, and kept the weight off, I realized they made permanent changes to their habits. You have to be willing to look at yourself honestly and see where, what, and why you are overeating. Then you can begin to change your habits step by step. My first step was to aim for nine servings of fruits and veggies a day. Some days it's tougher than others to reach that goal, but now I turn to the healthy stuff far more often than the junk I used to eat. I also paid attention to habits that encouraged me to eat junk, like going into certain stores when I'm super-hungry or stressed. Now I find something else to ease my stress like a two-minute meditation, and make sure I've eaten a healthy snack or meal before I shop. Most recently I started walking more. I've lost some weight without feeling deprived and I plan to keep right on changing until I reach my goal.
ginadeoliveira2008 June 5, 2012 at 2:30 pm

Excellent article. It's nice to know I've been doing all the right things to keep my optimal weight. Goodie.
ginadeoliveira2008 June 5, 2012 at 2:28 pm

There's a well known secret to those keeping a healthy diet. Even when what you read is nothing new, having it presented to you as reinforcement works wonders -- keeps you on track.
AngelaQuattrano June 5, 2012 at 1:54 pm

I always am disappointed to see weight loss gurus say that it is of critical importance to join a gym, leaving out a large part of the population that can't for reason of disability, money, or busy work schedule. No, it is very important to continually increase your activity level, but even people who are unable to do any of this can and should be helped, not told it's not worth bothering if they can't.
AngelaQuattrano June 5, 2012 at 1:48 pm

Surgery results in lots of complications and long-term side effects. The results are mostly cosmetic. Although the patient may appear slender, they have not achieved the health of a person who has always been thin and healthy. Many do not even approach their weight goals.
AngelaQuattrano June 5, 2012 at 1:45 pm

The common assumption is that genetics plays little or no role, and the only difference is attitude. This is convenient, because it makes it easy to blame those with extra pounds, while avoiding the fact that most medical recommendations do not result in reaching the weight goal and maintaining that weight. The fact is that genetics plays a huge role. I base this on the fact that I have 10 cats, each of whom gets a different portion size, carefully weighed out at feeding time in order to keep them all at their ideal weight.
MyOcean June 5, 2012 at 1:42 pm

There are people who refuse to believe there isn't a short cut to losing weight, though. So this reinforces what healthy people already know. Great! Maybe it'll get to those who think otherwise.
CatfishJohn June 5, 2012 at 1:36 pm

Such a concise and useful article. excercise cannot be overemphasized. enlist a support system while overcoming the rigors of estsablishing a cardiovascular fitness base level. after that, make exercise social by playing an active sport ( NOT golf!). Sweat should be every guy's 2nd favorite body fluid!
HerrMonk June 5, 2012 at 1:29 pm

How full your stomach "feels" has nothing to do with how your body reacts to a change in the number of overall calories taken in.
katmeyster June 5, 2012 at 1:28 pm

The longer I've been around the more I realize how little the medical and scientific community knows about how our bodies work on the individual level -- metabolism and hormones seem especially elusive. For example, people who get gastric bypass surgery often lose their Type II diabetes immediately after surgery, before losing any weight. They have no idea why. And then there are the millions of people (I'm assuming) like me. I've always had a weight problem and have always burned less calories than I consume. I've spent countless hours calculating my energy coming in and my energy going out (the old calories in, calories out nonsense), and for years I have been at a deficit -- I shouldn't even be alive (or at least very, very, skinny). I finally thought I had the solution and lost a lot of weight by eating more fat calories and almost no carbohydrates, sugar, and very little processed food. But then I hit my late 40's and menopause kicked in -- it all came to a halt. I get more exercise and eat less food (just not all that hungry these days), and no weight will come off. I do have difficulty keeping my thyroid normal, but so do a lot of people. And if those calorie-nazis really believe in the calories in, calories out theorem, my thyroid levels would be irrelevant, right? Anyway, diet doctors, nutritionists, general practitioners, and endocrinologists all seem relatively clueless. We are on our own here.
Wendy S Dunst June 5, 2012 at 1:19 pm

There are about the same number of calories in a 4 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast as there are in a 95% fat free hamburger. Just because you have had good but slow progress in losing weight does not mean that others will have the same experience. Also, come back in 5 years and tell us where you are - SCIENCE says that you'll probably have gained back all (or more) of the weight you lost on a calorie deficit diet. See this link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/17469900 There are many more studies that come to the same conclusion (see the bottom of this post: http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/for-fat-patients-and-their-doctors/ I lost 40 lbs. three years ago and gained it all back. I've lost about 15-ish again, but I'm more focused on getting healthy rather than trying to lose weight. That's where the real focus should be - health.
alphakat333 June 5, 2012 at 1:18 pm

Overall some decent tips here, but the multiple references to "fat-free" being good make some of it suspect. I'd expect better from someone who feels the need to identify themselves as an "actual diet doctor".
GhostOfFDR June 5, 2012 at 12:55 pm

Have a job that pays really well, but only requires you to put in a maximum of 7 hours a day, 4 days a week, so you have lots of time to exercise but can afford to pay someone to do all the household chores that people that work long hours spend their time doing.
Janet Stockey Swanborn June 5, 2012 at 12:55 pm

Lay off the starch, sugar and alcohol.
liberalarmyfamily June 5, 2012 at 12:47 pm

that's what they do in where is it, Bahrain?
ks78 June 5, 2012 at 12:31 pm

I didn't see anything where she suggested starving oneself. Eating a low calorie diet doesn't force you into starvation - it causes you to realize that not everyone needs to be eating 2500 calories a day. I have successfully reduced my calorie intake by cutting out food that was not necessary to fuel my body and seen weight loss and an increase of energy. Since you seem to be an expert - how do you propose we change the weight problem in society? Assuming you can see the connection between our weight problem and all of our health problems...
Joshua Veverka June 5, 2012 at 12:29 pm

The only tip you need: eat better and move your body more.
Cuthbert June 5, 2012 at 12:26 pm

Again with the low fat, low calorie thing! That STILL doesn't work in real life for a prolonged period of time! Also, food volume doesn't account for most of satiety. I'll say it again, and as a trained professional I hope she listens, eating less nutritious food means your body doesn't get what it needs so it keeps looking for more of whatever is available to get it! If you want your body to maintain itself, you have to eat nutrient rich sources of real food. Food IS medicine!
quipped June 5, 2012 at 11:54 am

That is incorrect. One of the tips is to replace calorie dense foods with the same volume of calorie light foods. Your stomach experiences the same volume, and thus doesn't not starve, nor slow down your metabolism. Instead of a hamburger, eat a verger volume of grilled chicken or other lower calorie foods... so no, starvation is not ALL that any low calorie diet is. I have been switching out the foods i ate, for lower calorie more balanced options, and have experienced great, but slow, results. But that doesn't mean that i eat less, or even have eliminated high calorie options. You are correct that low fat diets are troublesome... our bodies need fat, but the type of fat is important. fats that are found naturally in foods are great, but fats found in processed foods are not. I see so many people take the skin of their chicken, but then butter their biscuit with processed fake butter. What do you think is better for you, the natural oils and fats that the chicken makes to keep itself healthy, or the fats that we make to make things taste better?
mary896 June 5, 2012 at 11:43 am

Sorry, but fat goes away when you increase your calorie burning and decrease your calorie intake. Fact. Go into old age fit and healthy and you won't have to be an old fat lump. Yes, there are exceptions, but most is preventable.
mary896 June 5, 2012 at 11:39 am

Common sense. I have a spinning machine and hand weights in my living room so I can frequently (all day long) grab one or the other and bang out a bit of cardio. (I also work from home and bike downtown). Find what works for you to slip in some exercise every single day. Eat light, eat loads of veg and stay away from processed foods and calorie drinks. I drink green tea all day, scour the farmers market twice per week and am vegetarian. I weigh what I did in high school and am 40+. You can do it, just take it one step at a time and JUST DO IT. And be patient. Slow and steady WILL show results and WILL make you happy!
nycagnes June 5, 2012 at 11:12 am

No new information here.
sandlev June 5, 2012 at 10:51 am

I have lost about 30 pounds over the past few years using these principles, aided by Weight Watchers. I would add one more: Writing down everything you eat keeps you honest.
HellBank June 5, 2012 at 9:59 am

Diets and exercise work, but the minute you stop, watch out! I had huge success taking octopamine based diet pills--lost 30 lbs in 6 weeks and that was when I couldn't exercise because I was recovering from surgery. If exercise worked, there wouldn't be so many chubby landscaping crew.
davedave June 5, 2012 at 9:59 am

how successful are you at creating weight loss w/o recidivism?
normandie June 5, 2012 at 9:45 am

really good tips. And I'm happy to see weight loss articles that talk about ditching the all-or-nothing mentality. very helpful and motivating!
darcy June 5, 2012 at 9:38 am

These tips are a waste of time when it comes to fat that is placed on a person's body through the magic of genetics, especially as a person gets older. It's easy to lose and keep off the fat that one gains by over-indulging, but genetically placed fat is resistant to every diet except starvation.
Demi A June 5, 2012 at 9:03 am

...or have surgery and forget the struggle.
Alvarask June 5, 2012 at 8:58 am

This is great advice if you're 20 years old, have never dieted before in your life and don't mind destroying your metabolism through starvation (which is ALL that any caloric deficit diet is). Most of the people who lose weight in this manner will regain everything lost and then some more, because as soon as we starve our body of calories through diet or a diet/exercise combo (although actual experts readily admit that there's nothing quite so ridiculous as the suggestion that you can "burn off" calories to lose weight...see Dr. Lustig's "Sugar, the Bitter Truth for that insight) we reset our weight setpoint to a higher level. Unbelievable to see alleged medical practitioners recommending the low calorie-low fat fad with a straight face. Really.

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