HOW CAN YOU LOSE WEIGTH AND CONTROL IT?

The first thing to do to lose excess weight (and I do emphasize excess) is to forget about all of the quick weight loss diets, fad diets, and pills that are all of varying degrees of danger to your health.

The "secret formula" is to follow my five basic rules to lose weight and control it:

1) Eat only what is good for you, low fat meats, vegetables, grains, fruits, clean water, certain spices, some oils, and some teas and coffees. Also eat a variety of these foods, and vary your food from day to day. In later articles I will discuss details of what specific foods, spices, oils, teas, and coffees are "good."

2) Stay away from the "junk foods" such as sweets, chips, and refined foods such as white bread and white rice.

3) Eat only reasonable helpings of each food, not too much of any one food, and don't take extra or "second helpings." Especially high glycemic carbohydrate foods such as breads, and certain vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and beets (small portions are ok.) High glycemic means foods that will rapidly load your blood with too much glucose which will lead to fat gain. (You need glucose in your blood but a normal metabolism regulates it to the correct level.) You can fill a regular 12 inch dinner plate with your breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as long as you follow rule 1 and rule 2 above, but again, no second helpings. But don't cheat and pile up your plate over 2 inches high! Its better to leave the table a little hungry than stuffed to the limit.

4) Always try to eat a balanced meal that has protein and carbohydrates. Don't eat more than 50 grams of protein a day as your body will excrete the excess and it will put an extra load on your kidneys. When I say carbohydrates this includes oils. Don't eliminate oils from your diet as your body needs oils to maintain health. Eating a balanced meal two or three times a day will help to control your appetite so that you will not overeat at one meal. Overeating is the worst thing you can do and will lead to excessive weight gain over time.

5) Decide on what and how you are going to eat long term, following my five rules, and decide that this is how you are going to eat for the rest of your life! Of course, you may have to make adjustments from time-to-time if you are still gaining too much or loosing too much weight.