portion of whatever they are served (no matter what it is). They can even eat a dessert (or half a dessert) if it will put them and their hosts at ease. The key is to eat extra carefully the rest of the week. The lesson: You can have a social life while trying to lose weight. Follow your meal plan as closely as possible when you are in control of cooking at home or ordering in a restaurant, but relax and allow yourself to be an easy dinner guest .
Starvation diets backfire. Fashion model Rinna was convinced that if she lost just 10 more pounds she would be able to book more jobs, and resorted to starving herself when nothing else worked. By the time she came to see me, she was depressed and desperate—her self-imposed diet had worked for a little while, but then she regained every pound. Rinna skipped breakfast, exercised in the morning, skipped lunch, drank diet sodas all day long, chewed sugarless gum, and ate a calorie-controlled dinner. Then came what she called her all-night eating orgy—nonstop binging on the limited food items she kept in her apartment (things like dry cereal, oatmeal, and toast with peanut butter and jam). Her body craved food! She would wake up the next morning feeling bloated and sluggish, and then start the cycle all over again. We figured out that between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and midnight, she would eat about 1,800 calories—as much as many people eat all day! I encouraged her to start eating regular meals. She was terrified that she would gain even more weight, that she would eat all day and then eat all night, too! But eventually she trusted my experience and took the leap. She ate breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, and even a small snack before bed. After one week, she lost 4 pounds. All 10 pounds were gone after six weeks. The lesson: You can feel good and look the way you want to, all while eating healthfully. Starvation is never a good choice, and it may even move you further from your goal .
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FAQS
My husband and I both went on the same diet at the same time, but he’s losing weight so much faster than me. How come?
Men generally burn more calories than women just by living and breathing. On average, men are taller, heavier, and have more lean muscle mass than women. It takes more energy (in the form of calories) to fuel all the body processes necessary to keep his larger body going than it does to keep your body going. Plus, lean muscle mass increases metabolism, so his testosterone-fed muscles give him an automatic weight-loss advantage. Increasing your muscle mass through resistance training will give you a boost, but his weight loss will always be easier than yours. Try not to make losing weight a competition. Instead, plan a celebration every time one of you loses 10 pounds—with the two of your losing at different rates, you’ll be able to celebrate twice as often.
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Limit or eliminate alcoholic beverages. Nearly every weekday, Scott—a brilliant CEO for a large, national company—meets with clients for lunch and dinner. These schmoozing fests often involve alcohol, sometimes two or three drinks each. Scott understands the use of alcohol as a social lubricant, but he has no particular craving for it himself. In fact, he would just as soon drink ice tea, but he wants clients to feel comfortable and typically matches them drink for drink. The problem, of course, is that alcohol is loaded with empty calories, and they contributed significantly to Scott’s weight problem. Perhaps worse, the alcohol lowered Scott’s usual inhibitions; his best laid plans to make healthy menu choices crumbled after a couple of drinks, and decadent, calorie-rich desserts often followed full meals. We did two things that helped Scott take control while still enabling him to court clients. First, I made him promise that his first drink of the meal would be club soda, and then he would alternate between club soda and his standard vodka. That way, if the client had three
Starvation diets backfire. Fashion model Rinna was convinced that if she lost just 10 more pounds she would be able to book more jobs, and resorted to starving herself when nothing else worked. By the time she came to see me, she was depressed and desperate—her self-imposed diet had worked for a little while, but then she regained every pound. Rinna skipped breakfast, exercised in the morning, skipped lunch, drank diet sodas all day long, chewed sugarless gum, and ate a calorie-controlled dinner. Then came what she called her all-night eating orgy—nonstop binging on the limited food items she kept in her apartment (things like dry cereal, oatmeal, and toast with peanut butter and jam). Her body craved food! She would wake up the next morning feeling bloated and sluggish, and then start the cycle all over again. We figured out that between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and midnight, she would eat about 1,800 calories—as much as many people eat all day! I encouraged her to start eating regular meals. She was terrified that she would gain even more weight, that she would eat all day and then eat all night, too! But eventually she trusted my experience and took the leap. She ate breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, and even a small snack before bed. After one week, she lost 4 pounds. All 10 pounds were gone after six weeks. The lesson: You can feel good and look the way you want to, all while eating healthfully. Starvation is never a good choice, and it may even move you further from your goal .
----
FAQS
My husband and I both went on the same diet at the same time, but he’s losing weight so much faster than me. How come?
Men generally burn more calories than women just by living and breathing. On average, men are taller, heavier, and have more lean muscle mass than women. It takes more energy (in the form of calories) to fuel all the body processes necessary to keep his larger body going than it does to keep your body going. Plus, lean muscle mass increases metabolism, so his testosterone-fed muscles give him an automatic weight-loss advantage. Increasing your muscle mass through resistance training will give you a boost, but his weight loss will always be easier than yours. Try not to make losing weight a competition. Instead, plan a celebration every time one of you loses 10 pounds—with the two of your losing at different rates, you’ll be able to celebrate twice as often.
----
Limit or eliminate alcoholic beverages. Nearly every weekday, Scott—a brilliant CEO for a large, national company—meets with clients for lunch and dinner. These schmoozing fests often involve alcohol, sometimes two or three drinks each. Scott understands the use of alcohol as a social lubricant, but he has no particular craving for it himself. In fact, he would just as soon drink ice tea, but he wants clients to feel comfortable and typically matches them drink for drink. The problem, of course, is that alcohol is loaded with empty calories, and they contributed significantly to Scott’s weight problem. Perhaps worse, the alcohol lowered Scott’s usual inhibitions; his best laid plans to make healthy menu choices crumbled after a couple of drinks, and decadent, calorie-rich desserts often followed full meals. We did two things that helped Scott take control while still enabling him to court clients. First, I made him promise that his first drink of the meal would be club soda, and then he would alternate between club soda and his standard vodka. That way, if the client had three
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