Fight hunger                             Substitute not sacrifice

1. 3500 calories=1 pound. So to lose 1 pound per week you need to eliminate 500 calories per day.
2. A healthy weight sedentary woman can consume 10 calories per pound of desired weight per day to maintain current weight. See below:
3. A healthy weight sedentary man can consume 13 calories per pound of desired weight per day to maintain current weight. See below for formula:
4. You have to run 1 mile to burn 100 calories.
5.  Fight hunger. Women need to consume 25 grams and men 35 grams of fiber a day to prevent health problems. Fiber is the part of food that makes us feel “full”.
   1. Beans and lentils are high in fiber-almost 16g of fiber in one cup of beans, lentils and split peas.
   2. Meat, eggs and milk or dairy have NO fiber.
   3. After beans, vegetables are the best source of fiber. For example, the following offer about 4g fiber for 100 calories of food: Brussels Sprouts or cabbage or an apple or green beans. 100 calories of cooked broccoli has over 8g fiber.
   4. You know you are not getting enough fiber if you do not have a bowel movement at least once per day.
6. Avoid empty calories-calories with no fiber to make you feel full-like alcohol, sugared soft drinks, coffee sweeteners and creamers, fat like mayo or oil or butter and desserts.
7.  Set rules for yourself to help you stay on track.
   1. For example, set a rule that you will never buy food from a vending machine. To help you “obey” that rule, keep an “emergency” snack available at work such as a bowl of dry oatmeal or a granola bar that can be eaten instead of chips from a machine.
   2. Always bring your lunch to work so you control what you eat. You cannot control and usually cannot detect by sight if a restaurant prepares food with oil which are expensive hidden calories. Restaurants generally do not offer fiber rich options, so you will be hungry sooner.
   3. If going to a party or event with food, eat before you go so you will not be tempted to eat nutrient empty foods like cheese and desserts. Allow yourself to eat raw vegetables but do not eat the dip as it will be high in calories (oil and no fiber). Besides, it is easier to socialize when you are not eating!
8. Restaurants-restaurants can be particularly challenging because calorie counts are seldom available. Restaurants tend to use oil when preparing food (120 calories per tablespoon) so the typical sit-down dinner at a restaurant is around 1600 calories-a full day’s worth for most women!
   1. Plan ahead-look at the menu and decide in advance what you will order so you will not be tempted or hurried once there. Asian restaurants are great options as they offer many vegetable rich dishes, and some will even offer tofu as a lower calorie alternative to meat. Mexican restaurants generally have a grilled vegetable fajita option or bean burrito which will be packed full of fiber. Italian restaurants are generally difficult as pasta has no fiber so you will be calorie dense and hungry in a few hours.
   2. If you are at a restaurant where everything is fried or otherwise calorie dense, cobble together a dinner of side dishes-several sides like a side of green beans and a baked potato and some corn on the cob. You will have a lower calorie dinner and feel satisfied much longer. Some ideas by restaurant type or chain are here and the calorie costs of not substituting are illustrated by a few restaurant meal selections here.
9. Know when you are the most vulnerable and plan for that time. Whether it is before bed or when you first wake up or when you get home from work-if you are ‘famished’ you will eat to stop the unpleasant nagging feeling regardless of the calorie count! Prepare for it and fight it!
   1. Greens have so few calories per cup of food, fill up on greens to get you to the point you can focus on something other than the hunger. Keep sliced broccoli, zucchini, celery, cabbage, anything green-in your refrigerator and let yourself eat as much of that as you need to until you can concentrate again.
   2. Do NOT chastise yourself for “overeating” green-the calories are so small compared to other options. If you “overeat” by consuming 3 cups of cucumbers, you just ate 48 calories. If you eat one ounce of potato chips –about 15 potato chips-that is 155 calories.
10. Allow greens to be a “free” food for you-that you can eat as much of them as you want whenever you want, to allow you to eliminate more calorie dense foods from your plate. Almost anything green is low in calories, but here are some great ones:
    

    ---

    Green Vegetable	Amount	Calories
    Cabbage	1C Raw	22
    Cauliflower	1C Raw	25
    Celery	1C Raw	19
    Cucumber	1C Raw	16
    Eggplant	1C Cooked	33
    Kale	1C Raw	35
    Mushrooms	1C Raw	15
    Zucchini or Yellow Squash	1C Raw	20
    Broccoli	1C Raw	31
    Broccoli	1C Cooked	54
    Carrots-Baby	1/2 of 1 Pound Package	88
    Green Beans	1C Fresh Cooked	44
    Green Beans	1 Can (1.5C) Cooked	70

    ---

11. Simple biology reminds us that the purpose of breast milk is to have infants rapidly gain weight. That is why “breast is best”. But we wean children at 12 months-they no longer need rapid weight gain. Ignore dairy industry advertising, you do not need cow breast milk, you do not desire rapid weight gain. For cooking instead use unsweetened almond milk at 30 calories per cup compared to 2% cow’s milk at 124 calories per cup.
    1. Cheese is particularly difficult because it concentrates that milk fat so 1 ounce of cheese, which is the size of a dice, has 113 calories. Some people find it difficult to give up cheese because milk contains traces of morphine, along with codeine and other opiates, which are apparently produced in cows’ livers and can end up in their milk. These hormones are what induce a baby to nurse. Generally people find if they give up cheese for 21 days, the opiates are out of their system and they find they are no longer addicted.
    2. Likewise, chocolate appears to stimulate the same part of the brain that morphine acts on, so people can, in fact, feel like they “need” chocolate. The best remedy for this is total abstinence because stopping after that first bite of chocolate, when the brain is stimulated, is harder than resisting the first bite.
    3. Butter is easy to substitute and at 102 calories per tablespoon is a big hit. See the full list of ways to substitute oil and butter when cooking.
12.  Eggs are easy to substitute. Instead of a 72 calorie egg, use 1/4 c applesauce when baking, saving you 60 calories for every egg eliminated and the applesauce adds 1 gram of filling fiber to your diet.
13.  Fat replacement in recipes, like egg replacement, is also a cooking art, but has great cholesterol and calorie savings pay-offs. Believe it or not, lots of time applesauce can be that replacement for baking. For sauteeing, use vegetable broth instead of oil. For toast, skip the butter and use only sugar free jelly!
14.  Salads are probably a less ideal choice than a side of vegetables. 2 cups of Romaine Lettuce have 2 grams of fiber but require calorie dense salad dressing to make it palatable. Instead choose steamed vegetables which are high in fiber and are full of flavor on their own. You will feel fuller longer after eating a bowl of steamed broccoli than a bowl of Romaine Lettuce and the broccoli has less calories than a tablespoon of salad dressing.
15.  Condiments, like oil and butter, are stealth calorie additions. Substitute, don’t sacrifice. Consider using catsup instead of butter on baked potatoes. Consider using salsa instead of catsup. Consider using steak sauce instead of barbeque sauce. Always “hold the mayo!”
16. To maintain your current weight, follow this formula: Write your current body weight in the equation that fits your activity level and gender. Then, multiply.
    •  Moderately active male:
    _____ pounds x 15 calories = _____ total calories per day.
    •  Relatively inactive male:
    ____ pounds x 13 calories = _____ total calories per day.
    •  Moderately active female:
    ____ pounds x 12 calories = _____ total calories per day.
    •  Relatively inactive female:
    ____ pounds x 10 calories = _____ total calories per day.
17. So if you want to weigh 120 pounds, you can consume 1200 calories/day to maintain that 120 pound weight.

2 Tablespoons of Condiments

Volumetrics

Barbara Rolls, PhD, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University, has proposed an innovative way of thinking about appetite control called Volumetrics. Her studies have looked at what triggers satiety-the sense of fullness after meals-and shown how to plan meals to bring on a feeling of satiety earlier. Surprisingly, what makes us stop eating does not seem to be the number of calories we have ingested, nor is it the number of grams of carbohydrate or protein in a meal. Rather, it is the weight of food we have taken in. It is as if your stomach has a scale, and once it registers a certain number of gams of food it signals your brain that you have had enough.  Dr. Rolls uses the term energy density to describe how many calories are packed into a food.”

There’s an easy way to check the energy density of commercial food products: Just take a look at the label. If one serving has fewer calories than grams, it is a good choice. For example, the label on a can of black beans shows that a serving has 90 calories and weighs 122 grams, so the beans are a good choice.  Skinless chicken breast has 173 calories and weighs about 100 grams (3.5 ounces). Not a good choice.

Tips for healthy plant based foods that are higher in calories for desired weight gain.

Consequences of being overweight

Study finds being overweight increases the risk for cancers of the oesophagus, colorectum, breast (postmenopausal), endometrium and kidney.

Risks of high animal protein diets
Harvard study finds: “A score representing a low-carbohydrate diet high in animal protein and fat was positively associated with the risk of T2D in men.” (T2D is Diabetes)

Medical dangers of low carb diet revealed

Cell Metabolism reports that animal protein causes premature death from cancer and diabetes

How the Atkin’s Diet or high protein diets will kill you here

From Harvard’s School of Public Health: Between vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, carbohydrates account for 3/4 of the Healthy Eating Plate.  The Healthy Eating Plate illustrates the importance of healthy carbohydrates from vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and (in the healthy protein section) beans. Carbohydrates from these foods, in general, have a gentler effect on blood sugar than carbohydrates from refined grains, and sugary drinks. They are also naturally rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (chemicals that are only found in plants).

Weight Studies

Study – Overweight increases risk of stomach cancer. World Cancer Research Fund International’s analysis of worldwide research on stomach cancer.

Ecological Analysis: Meat in Diet Just as Bad as Sugar, Correlates with Worldwide Obesity

Study – MRIs of brains show people fed high-fiber fruits and vegetables diets to lose weight learned to prefer healthful foods.

Study finds vegan diet more effective and easier and notes vegans have lower Type 2 diabetes and cancer rates (pdf pg 2).

We all know breast milk is made to put weight on babies. So not surprisingly, 8 week study finds a low dairy diet resulted in significant weight loss and reduction in waist and hip circumference.

Study of 71,751 participants consuming about 2000 calories per day found people who follow vegan diets weigh less and consume more protective nutrients. Levels of obesity increased as animal product intake increased.

Overweight or diabetic participants on 18 week vegan diet group lost an average of 10 pounds, lowered LDL cholesterol by 13 points, showed improved blood sugar control and increased the intake of protective nutrients.

U of Pittsburgh survey finds that people follow a vegetarian diet longer than calorie-restricted diets.

Study of African-American diets found those who consumed a vegetarian/vegan diet were 43% less likely to be obese.

Research: For at least 2 years after bariatric surgery, patients continue to lose bone, even after their weight stabilizes.

Study finds accumulation of body fat in adulthood is related to cancers of the colon, kidney, and endometriumand postmenopausal breast cancer.

Studies (pdf pg 2) show vegans have the lowest Body Mass Index (BMI) (weight per height), lowest risk of diabetes and certain cancers, and gain less weight as they age without self-monitoring calorie restrictions.

Study finds of five different dietary patterns a vegan diet leads to the most weight loss.

Study shows a low-fat, starch-based, vegan diet eaten without limit on the amount of calories consumed for 7 days results in median weight loss of 1.4 kg.

Study of employees in a major corporation who were overweight or have type 2 diabetes experienced significantly less impairment because of health and significantly reduced feelings of depression, anxiety, and fatigue when placed on vegan diet.

Study compares obese with non-obese children and find obese children have elevated blood pressure, LDL  cholesterol, and glucose, low HDL and enlarged left- and right-sided cardiac chambers and thicker left ventricular walls.

Study showed eating 1 daily serving of beans, chickpeas, lentils or peas can increase fullness (satiety), which leads to better weight management and weight loss.

A vegetarian or vegan diet is best for weight loss, according to a study published in Eating Behaviors.

Study finds reducing fat in your diet is better for weight loss than restricting carbohydrates (so high animal protein diets/high fat diets are less effective).

Meta-analysis of 10 trials found vegetarian diets, compared with omnivorous diets, showed a large and important relative reduction in body weight.