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As spring is slowly approaching (far too slowly for me), thoughts of beach getaways are trickling into my daydreaming mind and, like most other women out there, I'm wondering how my swimsuit will look on me this year. And I'm not even the slightest bit overweight. It's true that the issue of weight is a heavy one for women everywhere and we mark our own beauty, often times unfairly, based on our weight. We try every kind of diet we're told to try: low fat, low carb, high protein, blah, blah, and blah. And really, all we need to do is eat less.
Dr. Frank Sacks, a professor at Harvard, just authored a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that says all we need to do to lose weight is eat less. It seems as though this is something we should have known all along, yet massive amounts of Americans spend extra dollars on special diet food each year.
Catherine Loria, another author in the study, says, "People do have to choose heart-healthy foods. I think the beauty of the study is that they have a lot of flexibility in terms of the dietary approach."
Am I telling you to starve yourself? Heck no. And I'm not telling you to eat a bag of Cheetos and a candy bar a day, either. The key to eating fewer calories and still feeling full often times lies in fruits and vegetables. They're virtually fat-free (which we now know from this study may or may not matter), but they're high in fiber. Because they're high in fiber, they leave you feeling full, which causes you to eat less. Fruits and vegetables are simply better for you than that bag of Cheetos and that candy bar, yes, but they're also more sensibly environmentally, particularly if bought organic and local.
So, eating less=losing weight. That part is easy. But eating less and still feeling full? Well, that requires doing the eco-thing=eating more fruits and vegetables.
