The Top Dieting Mistake and How to Avoid It
As millions of dieters resolve to lose weight in the New Year, it can be helpful to know what NOT to do as you start a new diet. According to Jill Garling, R.N. for the HMR Program for Weight Management at Valley View Hospital, there is one popular diet strategy that is almost certainly doomed to fail.
She explains, “The idea of eating less in order to lose weight is one of the biggest dieting myths that exist today.” She adds “If you follow that advice, chances are you’re going to feel deprived and hungry. And when people are hungry, they go for the quickest food they can find, which in most cases will be higher calorie.”
She adds that, “It may be possible to muscle through being really hungry and stick to your diet, but for every time someone does stare down the cookies, or the chips, pizza, candy, etc., there are countless times when the cookies will win. When you let yourself get hungry, all bets are off, and for that moment, the diet is over.”
The good news is that dieting doesn’t have to be that way. Jill says the research is clear… instead of simply trying to eat less, you can eat more— a lot more— lower calorie, higher volume foods such as fruits and vegetables that can actually fill you up without the calories adding up. Being full makes it a lot easier to resist temptations to eat off the diet, and as a result, you lose more weight.
She adds that “In our HMR weight-loss program we tell our dieters that it’s possible to eat a lot of food and still lose weight.” She says, “It’s much more important to change what you’re eating than it is to try to change how much you’re allowing yourself to eat.”
She offers the following examples:
Breakfast: Instead of a 3 oz. donut for about 350 calories, have a weight-loss shake with a cup of strawberries blended in. You’ll feel more full with almost a half-pound of food, for only 200 calories.
Lunch: Instead of a fast food burger and fries (940 calories and about 14 oz. of food) have a low calorie packaged entree with two cups of vegetables for 20 oz. of food and only 320 calories.
For more easy and filling calorie “wins” from HMR, go to: www.weightlossvvh.hmrdiet.com/succeed
These are just some of the strategies used by dieters in the HMR Program, a lifestyle/weight management program that offers diet classes, at-home diet kits, and a line of low-calorie, high volume meal replacements including shakes and entrees. To learn more about the program, call (970)945-2324 or visit weightloss.vvh.org
