Tips for Offing Weight in the New Year

In a perfect world, we wouldn't be advised to "consult a physician" prior to starting a new diet if all diets fit each individual. But this is not how it works! Diet plans are designed by individuals who (a) generally are educated in nutrition/metabolic/fat-cell formats; (b) have experienced a level of weight-off success with their system; and (c) attempt sale-of-said to the public for profit. The Zone, Atkins diet, Sugar Busters and Jenny Craig are a few, familiar promotions and more get added by the day. So what's the best of the bunch especially following food-laden holidays? The American Medical Association sticks by its proven "healthy diet and life style" recommendation and encourages people to eat their way healthy this new year using common sense choice-making.

1. To keep from overeating at a party or company lunch, munch a small to medium apple prior to leaving the house or in the car. Apples are high in pectin, a soluble fiber that slows the digestive process making one feel full on less food. Pectin is a natural "diet pill" that gives the instant gratification dieters perpetually seek and it carries well, i.e. to tailgate parties, etc. Read up on foods containing pectin that keep a stash in-home in case of emergency!

2. Weight-managing gurus are still reeling over a research finding from the University of Texas wherein a person's risk of obesity increased 41% for each can of diet soda consumed daily. The black-hat in this discovery is artificial sweetener (example: aspartame or sucralose) which seemingly dulls the body's ability to "feel full" which thus leads to overeating. Foods containing artificial sweeteners tend to do the same so again read nutritional labels to outsmart dietary food slides.

3. The good news? Consumer Report's survey of 37,000 people trying to lose weight found that the majority of people who lost/keptoff weight did not follow commercial diets or use prescription/over the counter pills. Their one common dynamic was bypassing "convenience" food for nutrition-dense goods (again) via label scrutiny to insure low fat content + zero trans fats; no artificial syrups/sugars.