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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 When the meal-replacement subjects were trying to lose weight, they'd eat one sensible meal, including two or three vegetables and a small piece of meat, fish or fowl, plus the two shakes, totaling about 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day.
Another expert, Anne M. Fletcher, a Minnesota dietitian who has written books about formerly overweight people who lose weight and keep it off, says, "I wouldn't see any harm in trying [meal replacements] if it helps."
"If it's a tool to help you get weight off, I don't think it is harmful," she says. Whether meal replacements will be a successful long-term strategy remains to be seen, she says.
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Paying more attention to the act of dining can also help weight-control efforts, Blackburn says. "When you eat, settle down, take 20 minutes to finish and think happy thoughts," he says. Don't multitask while eating, such as reading a book or watching TV.
Also, plan the day's food intake. "You really have to know what, when and where you are going to eat," Blackburn says. Writing down foods consumed, and keeping track of calories -- or, on the Weight Watchers program, "points" -- is another strategy endorsed by Blackburn and others.
You might also consider professional help, Fletcher advises. "Sometimes people need some help," she says. That might mean a weight-loss medication or consulting with a dietitian to help plan the daily diet.
Perhaps most important, Fletcher says, is to make what she calls a shift in thinking, from the "diet mentality" to the "healthy eating mentality." For her books on weight control, she has interviewed hundreds of people who have lost weight and kept it off for years. And she found a common thread.
"At some point, they made a critical shift in thinking where they went away from the diet mentality, and realized they had to keep doing certain things [such as watching their portions] for the rest of their life," she says.
More information
To learn more about serving sizes (www.eatright.org) and a recommended food pyramid, (www.eatright.org) visit the American Dietetic Association. Page: << Prev | 1 | 2
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