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Lose the popular diets, work on small changes

The Wichita Eagle

Originally published on March 8, 2007

BY KATHY MANWEILER

A new study that compared four popular diets for a year says that the case for low-carb diets is bulking up.

But a closer look at this research indicates that any restrictive diet is a loser - and not in a good way.

Of the 311 women studied, those on the low-carb, high-protein Atkins diet lost an average of 10.4 pounds, compared with 5.7 pounds for those following a plan based on U.S. dietary guidelines, 4.8 pounds for the Ornish dieters and 3.5 pounds for the Zone dieters.

But these women had been dieting for a whole year. That means the Atkins dieters lost an average of 0.2 pounds a week.

Those results are just pathetic.

Even worse, by the end of the study, most of the dieters on all of the plans were regaining some of the pounds they had lost. In the second part of the study, the Atkins dieters gained back more weight than the others.

That doesn't spell success to me. Besides, low-carb diets like Atkins are very tough to take for people who love bread, pasta or fruit.

Creators of the other diets complained that the women in the study didn't lose much weight on their plans because they didn't follow the guidelines strictly.

Hmmm. Maybe that's because those diets expect people to change their eating habits in ways that are practically impossible to stick with.

• The Ornish diet only allows about 10 percent of calories to come from fat. But the average American can't even manage to limit fat intake to 30 percent, so while the Ornish diet may be healthy, it's not exactly realistic.

• The Zone diet asks people to eat a precise balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates at every meal and snack. Again, it's just not something that most people would follow for very long.

• A plan based on the U.S. dietary guidelines gives people a little more leeway. But if you eat all the recommended amounts of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean meats and low-fat dairy products, you have very few calories left to spend on sugar or fats. Most Americans will fall off that wagon.

The study's lead author, Christopher Gardner of Stanford University, tells the San Jose Mercury News that the Atkins diet has "one of the simplest messages to get out there for weight loss: absolutely no sugar and no refined carbs."

What planet is this guy living on? I'd be willing to bet that he's never had a weight problem.

With mandates like that, it's no wonder people get so discouraged about losing weight.

As someone who has lost 100 pounds and kept it off, I'm here to say that you don't have to give up cookies, ban bread or live on vegetables to lose weight. A restriction like that is a recipe for failure.

I was in the weight-loss trenches for a long time, and I've lost count of the diets I tried.

If you totally change the foods you're eating or force yourself to eat stuff you don't like, those extra pounds are likely to come back sooner rather than later.

But I've found that if you work with what you're eating now, you can find small changes that you can live with forever:

• Experiment with ways to eat a little less but stay satisfied.

• Discover recipes that help you cook your favorite foods a little healthier while keeping the flavors you love.

• Find some physical activities that you like and will do on a regular basis.

• Sneak in more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. They're not only good for you, they help you feel full longer.

Those small changes may not seem like much at first. But trust me, they can add up to make a big difference that actually lasts.

Kathy Manweiler has lost 100 pounds. Reach her at 316-268-6266 or kmanweil er@wichitaeagle.com.