Are you so afraid of gaining weight that you routinely avoid food you really love? Do you avoid eating all day so that you can binge at dinner? When you’re standing before a buffet do you routinely tell yourself that you can’t have what you really want? Do you weigh yourself several times throughout the day? If you step on the scale and weigh a pound or more than usual, do you routinely beat yourself up for it? Do you let it ruin your day and influence what you eat? Do you allow yourself to get so hungry that you gulp whatever is available, rarely even tasting it? Do you say, "I’ll eat this now but I’ll start on a diet on Monday," or "after New Year’s eve?" Do you routinely drink coffee or caffeinated diet drinks during the day as a substitute for food? Do you know the calorie count of almost every food? Dr. Christiane Northrup says this is the Diet Mentality!

There has been a 30% increase in obesity in the last ten years despite the numerous diets, the volumes of good information available, and the increase in "Participaction." STOP DIETING! STOP DEPRIVING YOURSELF! STOP COUNTING CALORIES! Start focusing on your health! Learn to buy and cook nutritious food and balance your meals with good quality protein, complex carbohydrates and lots of veggies!

1. Be realistic about your weight. Fashion models these days are the "ideal weight" when they are 25% below the average woman! Surely this forced starvation is going to cost in the long run. Determine if you have a large, medium or small frame and accept that you may not measure up to the weight charts if you are large boned or muscular.
2. Weight is a meaningless measure of health; rather, get your body fat measured. For women a healthy percentage is 20—28% and for men it is 15—20%.
3. Increase your muscle mass by weight training, doing regular aerobic exercise and flexibility exercises. The more muscle the less fat, as muscles burn fat for energy.
4. Stress, allergies, sub-clinical underfunctioning thyroid, poor self-esteem and passivity, and toxic overload can all contribute to inability to lose weight, as can poor diet and lack of exercise.

Food generates complicated hormonal responses that will affect the amount of body fat you store. Learn how to control these responses by choosing the right food combinations and proportions and you will be successful at losing and keeping the weight off. The International Organization of Nutritional Consultants, and many other nutritionists, are recommending 40% carbohydrates, 30% proteins and 30% fat to achieve the balance of hormones and resulting weight loss. A key is to be aware of refined versus complex carbohydrates, good versus poor quality protein and healthy versus unhealthy fats. With this knowledge and the 40-30-30 formula you will achieve an improvement in your health as well as permanent weight loss.

The "glycemic index" is the rate at which a carbohydrate (carb) is absorbed into the system and quick absorption = higher insulin and high insulin = excess fat. The more complex carbs generally have a lower glycemic index. Did you know puffed rice cakes have a glycemic index of over 100% (relative to a glucose level set at 100)? And here we deprived ourselves all these years believing the "low calorie rice cake" was our friend! Soybeans, for example, come in at 15% and ice-cream at 36%.

Firstly, whole grains and legumes, cracked grain cereals and whole grain flours are the carbs we want to consume. Eliminate all of those white flour and white sugar products and you will have taken a gigantic step towards health and weight loss. Veggies have carbs but a lower glycemic index usually so fill up on these great diet foods.

Secondly, decrease your carb intake to 40% of your diet. "When carbohydrates are restricted, the fat and protein you consume will be used as fuel, and your body fat will not increase," says Christine Northrup, M.D.

Unprocessed flesh foods such as chicken, turkey, lamb, fish, wild game, lean pork and beef, eggs and dairy products, and/or a combination of legumes, grains, nuts and seeds, all organic if possible, are protein choices. Leave the processed, formed, nitrate preservative and filler-laden meats on the shelf!

Use natural sources of fat such as raw nuts and seeds, the fat occurring in lean flesh foods and fish, and butter and olive oil. Do NOT consume hydrogenated fats of any kind such as margarine. Read labels on all of those processed foods and shop around for products made without hydrogenated fats. Cut out all of the deep-fried fast foods and store-bought baked goods to further ensure you have control over the quality of the fat you consume. Good fat is essential to weight loss! Use flax oil daily for the omega 3 content.

Blackstrap molasses, brown rice syrup, honey, maple syrup and stevia are excellent choices. Use fruit juice and fruit purees to help sweeten baked goods. Read the labels and leave aspartame products out of your diet, as research shows the side effects are too numerous to mention (including the fact that aspartame users do NOT lose weight–probably due to the fact that it causes carb cravings).

Drink 2 litres of water daily away from food, as water helps to suppress the appetite and helps the body metabolize stored fat.

To support your healthy weight loss use supplements such as a good multivitamin and mineral with chromium, enzymes, and a natural metabolism-raiser formula without stimulants.

Regardless of what you have been told are "good manners," it is better to leave some food on your plate than to continue eating when you are full.

CREPES *

You may freeze these for later use!
Combine and blend just until smooth:

• 8 eggs
• 1 cup skim milk or rice dream
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

Brush pan with butter. Heat over high heat. Pour in barely 1/2 cup of batter; rotate pan to spread batter. When the top of the crepe is dry, turn to bake other side. Cook until lightly browned. Remove from pan, roll up and keep warm until all the batter is cooked. Serve with yogurt and Fruit Sauce (recipe below).

FRUIT SAUCE*

Great substitute for all of that yucky syrup!

• Bring 1/2 cup apple juice to a boil.
• Add 2 cups of berries or fruit of your choice, fresh or frozen, and simmer until the fruit is tender.
• Mix a bit of arrowroot powder in a bit of cold apple juice and stir into the fruit sauce to thicken. May add a dash of nutmeg, cinnamon or ginger for added flavour.

SAUERKRAUT SALAD*

This goes well with a baked potato.

• 1 cup sauerkraut
• 1 tbsp. flax oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small dill pickle, finely chopped

Chop sauerkraut. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and chill. Keeps well in the fridge.

ROSEMARY CHICKEN*

Easy and Yummy!

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 4 boneless chicken breasts or slices of turkey breast meat
• sea salt to taste
• 1 tsp. crumbled rosemary leaves, or may use fresh
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth
• 2 tbsp. yogurt
• 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and cook for about 4 minutes. Turn and cook 4 minutes more, adding rosemary during the last minute of cooking.

Meanwhile, whisk the chicken broth, yogurt, mustard and lemon juice together. Remove chicken to a plate and keep warm. Drain the fat from the pan, add broth mixture, and boil until thickened to a sauce-like consistency, or use a bit of arrowroot powder dissolved in 1/4 cup of cold water to thicken the sauce. Return chicken to pan, coat in sauce and serve. Great with steamed brown rice.

CABBAGE TOMATO SKILLET *

Kids of all ages love this!

• 1/4 cup butter
• 5 cups of shredded cabbage
• 2 cups of chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (or more if desired)
• 1 tsp. sea salt

Melt the butter in a skillet. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and cover, bringing to a boil. Cook 5 minutes, stirring once. Uncover and simmer a few minutes to reduce the amount of liquid.

ZUCCHINI MEDLEY*

• 2 sliced onions
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. of diced zucchini
• 1/2 lb. of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp. of chopped parsley
• 1 tsp. minced thyme (optional)
• 1 minced garlic clove
• sesame seeds

Saute onions in the oil. Add the rest of the ingredients except the sesame seeds and simmer for 1/2 hour. Add sesame seeds to taste and serve. Yummy!

*taken from Nutrition, Cooking and Healing by Paulette Millis.

References: Fats and Oils, Udo Erasmus; Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, Christiane Northrup, M.D.; International Organization of Nutritional Consultants.

The above information regarding nutritious food is not intended to replace any instruction from medical or health professionals.

Paulette Millis lives and works in Saskatoon as a nutritional consultant, counsellor and family life educator. Her cookbook, Nutrition, Cooking, and Healing is available at Health Food Stores. To contact her call (306)244-8890.