I’ve had a few AHA! moments. Sometimes I feel as if I haven’t eaten very much during the day, but then I see that the calories, fats, or carbohydrates were significantly higher than I thought they were. Usually in those situations, I realized I gave myself excuses for eating something earlier and only fooled myself. Keeping records helps me see what I’m really doing and guides me to make good choices.
WEEK 3 ACTION STEPS
Continue your current goals or rewrite them if necessary. Additionally, select from the following goals or steps, modify them, or create your own. Choose goals from the previous weeks if applicable. This week I will:
This week you will expand on your meal-planning skills and put more emphasis on including foods that keep hunger at bay. You’ll also build on the food label lesson from Week 2, when you examined the serving sizes. In this chapter, you’ll learn to evaluate some of the claims made on labels and to compare two similar products. Finally, you’ll make a plan to reward yourself.
Eating more can actually help you lose weight!
Any diet plan that leaves you hungry will be short lived. Success comes when you find an eating plan that consists of tasty foods that both trim overall calories and fill the belly. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of delicious and filling low-calorie foods. Those are the foods you need to go after. What makes a food filling? One thing that keeps hunger away is eating water-rich foods, like vegetables, fruits, and soups. The water that’s naturally present in fruits and vegetables adds volume to food, giving you a bigger, more satisfying portion than if the water was not present. Consider this example: which is more filling, 15 grapes or 15 raisins? The grapes come out on top due to their high water content.
Generally, vegetables are a better calorie and carbohydrate bargain than fruits, so focus more on veggies. Starting your meal with a low-calorie salad is a smart strategy. It helped women in a study at Pennsylvania State University eat fewer calories than when they ate a high-calorie salad or no salad at all before their entrée. Broth-based soups also work quite well. Avoid creamy soups, though, because the fat in the milk or cream adds calories to the soup.
Your options are endless. For example:
• Double your vegetable servings at dinner.
• Make sure each meal and snack contains fruits, vegetables, or both.
• Add veggies to pastas, casseroles, and other mixed dishes so you can have your usual (or bigger) portion but with fewer calories.
• In the winter, warm up with a vegetable or minestrone soup. In the summer, cool off with a cup of cold gazpacho.
You’ll learn more about bulking up your meals to trim calories in Week 10. The following books are also helpful.
• The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet: Smart, Simple, Science-Based Strategies for Losing Weight and Keeping It Off, by Barbara Rolls, PhD, with Mindy Hermann, RD
• The Volumetrics Weight Control Plan: Feel Full on Fewer Calories, by Barbara Rolls, PhD, and Robert A. Barnett
• The Volumetrics Eating Plan: Techniques and Recipes for Feeling Full on Fewer Calories, by Barbara Rolls, PhD
Evaluating foods based on the front of the package is a common trap for shoppers trying to eat well. Big letters with words like “Free,” “Less,” “Reduced,” and “Low” lure us in. They sound good, but are they? Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. Here are some things to consider:
• Does the food provide good nutrition or is it simply lower-fat junk food?
• How do the calories and carbohydrates fit into your meal plan?
• How do the sodium, saturated fat, and other components of the food fit into your meal plan?
• Does the modified food taste good?
• How does the cost compare to the regular product?
The key to avoiding this common trap is to examine the Nutrition Facts panel. It takes a little bit longer than just glancing at the front of the packaging, but it is a necessary step. Consider the food labels below. When you compare 1% low-fat milk with whole milk, you can see that the 1% milk is a much better bargain in calories and saturated fat. Making the switch from whole milk to 1% milk saves you 40 calories and 3.5 grams saturated fat in each cup. The cholesterol content is significantly lower in the low-fat milk as well. The amounts of sodium, carbohydrate, and protein are similar in the two products, making the low-fat milk a much better choice.