Tips for Weight Loss

Look, we all love to eat, but there comes a time when you have to push aside the lovely Fatted Calf bacon and fresh burrata cheese, and start eating oatmeal. (Usually it's when your pants don't fit.) Let's face it, food bloggers get fat just like the rest of the world when we eat too much, and everyone has their methods for dealing with a consistently gluttonous lifestyle.

Today Oprah had Dr. Mehmet Oz on to talk about his new book, You on a Diet. Dr. Oz shared a lot of really interesting facts, most of them geared to help you lose weight.

(Okay, wait. Before I go on, I just have to get something off my chest -- sorta fitting, since Dr. Oz is a heart surgeon. Does anybody else think he is cute? And kind of sexy? It's not just me, right? I'm going to assume lots of you are nodding, so let's move on.)

For instance...

...Pregnant women should take Omega-3 fatty acids because those oils help prevent depression and post-partum depression. Since suckling bébés suck all the good fats out, new mommies end up depleted and are therefore more prone to post-partum depression.

...Red pepper and cinnamon help reduce your appetite.

...You should eat the same thing for breakfast every day and for lunch, too, because consistency, rather than being the hobgoblin of little minds, is really a waist saver. Too much choice = too much eating, whereas limited choice = less eating = weight loss. Makes sense to me; if, every day at lunch, I forage through my pantry and fridge, desperate to concoct a new, creative entree, I'm going to be eating a lot of BLTs and blue cheese omelets. But if I have my standard tuna salad sandwich with grapes, there you go. (Obviously if your standard is McDonald's, there's going to be a problem.)

...High fructose corn syrup, besides being the devil that is ruining American farming, also prevents the brain from sensing when you are full. (It blocks something called leptin.) Yikes!

...If you are craving sweets, you are depressed. Ice cream? Anxious. Salty snacks? Stressed. Carbs? You're sexually frustrated. Stick-to-the-ribs comfort food? You're lonely.

...If you eat a handful of nuts 30 minutes before a meal, your brain has time to feel a bit satiated and thus you will eat less at dinner. It doesn't have to be nuts, but stay away from simple sugars because they will make your appetite spike.

...Finally, Dr. Oz says it's less about weight than waist size. A woman's waist should measure 32 1/2 inches or less, and a man's 35 inches or less, to be healthy. The rest is all vanity.

Comments

[cookiecrumb]

Blue cheese omelets? Is that allowed?
I'm doomded.
(OTOH: Nuts. Yes.)

[Mom]

Well, that's one explanation for why I can't get enough salty snacks lately! Sorry I missed the show.

[jenny]

Everything within reason! I plug everything I eat into www.sparkpeople.com and weigh myself every day. I've started to lose a bit of weight and look better, about a pound every few weeks, but its working! I dont think it works to deny yourself, but when you're plugging everything in, the high calorie density foods seem a little less attractive! Why cant I get the balance right! I always want to eat more than I need.

[Tea]

You are not alone, Catherine! I used to work with Dr. Oz's agent and, well, the guy's got charisma coming out of his ears. I'll just leave it at that:-)

[Kat]

My weight related site of choice is www.Calorie-count.com. It's very simple and easy to use. I really love great food but I have no problem eating the same things during weekdays for brekkie and lunch (it makes life easy). Once I went through and figured out the calorie intake/burn ratio and checked my typical meals I was good to go. So far i'm down almost 15 pounds! Funny but Sean on Hedonia just wrote about this topic as well. I guess it's that time of year.

[susan]

It's a good thing none of you aspire to be food critics or full-time food writers. I have to eat whatever is put in front of me six nights a weeks and often six days. I can't think about the cream, the butter, the burrata, the bone marrow or the pork belly, and I can't ask the waiter to "hold the oil." If I worried about all this stuff, my writing would have no passion; no life; no honesty. (Growing up Italian, I never heard the words "calories" or "diet," but that's Europe vs. America). I run with my pit bull puppy, and I do muay Thai kickboxing with my trainer four days a week because I enjoy it, it gives me energy and I feel better physically. But obsessing over calories and what you're eating every minute of every day is not going to work for someone who writes about food for a living, and I think Catherine's heroine, Nigella, would agree with me.

[rav]

Hey interesting post and a nice site about food (although I'm in the UK). Anyway this post seemed especially relevant since I made something to help me eat better and do some of the stuff you hint on in your post. Many of us forget to consider the properties of our foods, such as how good certain spices can be for us or good stuff found in other foods (because food isnt ALL bad).. Anyway I'm wondering if you would like to check my program and offer your comments. Interested?

[pelle]

Dr. Oz is an attractive man. He's very sexy and seems like a genuine warm and caring guy.

I am going to download his book on my Itunes 'You on a Diet'. I've tried some of his suggestions and they're already working.

[spiritblossom]

Tea - I agree he's got charisma. Who was Oz's agent that you used to work with?