ASK DR.MOORE September 01, 2006
Dr. Mark Moore, author of the gender selection book Baby Girl or Baby Boy--Choose the Sex of Your Child, answers readers' questions on pregnancy and pediatrics.
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THE EASIEST DIET IN THE WORLD
or How to lose weight after pregnancy without really trying!
AKA: "The no french fries or chips, no soda, no cake and candy diet"
We live in a consumer society. That is an understatement. It is compounded during pregnancy, unfortunately, when many mothers gain anywhere from thirty to one-hundred pounds. This, by the way, is a uniquely American trait. It is not surprising that it is considerably more difficult to lose this weight than it was to gain it.
There are hundreds, even thousands of diets out there, all with their own ways to lose weight. Each year, several of the diet books make the best-sellers lists. There’s the Adkins Diet, Sugar Busters Diet program and Jenny Craig Diet. Of course, the famous South Beach Diet, and the old standby, Weight Watchers Diet.
This diet is different. It is simple, it is easy and it is FREE.
Rule 1: American portions of food CONTAIN TOO MANY CALORIES.
Rule 2: American Restaurants, Fast Food and Snack Vendors SERVE TOO MANY CALORIES.
If you just had a baby, begin by breast-feeding. This will literally melt fat from your body (you must resume your normal eating pattern except modified increased protein intake as per your ob/gyn) If you did not just have a baby, just begin.
Now, for the rest of "the worlds easiest diet", read on.
Healthy eating begins at home. This is an important place to eat because you have the most control over what you make. Actually, it starts with the weekly grocery store visit. Every time you pick up an item off a shelf, ask yourself two questions: 1. Is it healthy for my family? 2. What is the total amount of calories in this package? For example. A gallon of skim milk contains 16 x 8 oz servings, each about a hundred calories. 1600 calories. Milk is a good food. Next, a 32 oz bag of potato chips: 150 calories/oz. X 32 oz. = 4800 calories. Potato Chips are not a very healthy food. In a week when that chip bag is completely empty, you will have bestowed 4800 calories of very low nutritious food onto your family. Not good. Those calories will either replace healthy ones in your family’s diet, or add to them causing them to get fat. There, I said it. As unpolitically correct as that is.
Ok, shop healthy at the grocery store. Then, cook healthy meals at home. If you work, bring a simple bag lunch sandwich. Eat lots of vegetables, drink tap water and skim milk.
Do not eat any of the following until you have returned to your normal weight:
French Fries, Salted Snack Foods (chips and related high calorie, high fat products) Soda (or any other sugar drink including juices or alcohol), Cake, Candy or Fast Food. This recommended exclusion list is a guideline; feel free to add others to the offensive list. This short list does NOT mean, you can go eat pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Common sense and judgement must still be applied. Sorry. You may also have small limited amounts of the excluded stuff, too. Who could have an infant and not need a glass of wine or beer every now and then.
CAUTION: Do not use a typical American serving size or potion as your guide.
Finally, walk 20 minutes to 30 minutes a day when possible, though this will NOT make you lose weight in the same way as eating healthy will. Take a multi-vitamin daily. See your doctor to follow your progress.
And by the way, when you reach your goal weight, continue to eat a healthy diet. You’ll live longer and better.
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Readers may send questions to our email address. This column is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional or medical advice.
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