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Lose Weight and Keep it Off

If you’ve struggled to lose weight, you’re in good company. Two of every three Americans are overweight — a trend that’s prompted about $50 billion in spending on weight-loss products and services each year. But health experts have shifted toward recommending that people follow a healthy diet rather than trying to become thin. Many people have unrealistic expectations about how much weight they need to lose. Losing just small amounts of weight — about 10% of your body weight — can improve your health.

This report provides details on the science behind many popular weight-loss diets, as well as information on programs to help people shed pounds, from organized self-help programs to medically supervised, hospital-based services. You’ll learn which weight-loss supplement ingredients to avoid and which you might (cautiously) consider trying. Information on prescription drugs for weight loss is also included, as well as descriptions and illustrations of the two most common surgeries for weight loss. The Special Section features a week’s worth of menus (including recipes from the Culinary Institute of America) and lifestyle advice to start you on your weight-loss journey. Finally, there’s a section on weight-loss maintenance that includes tips for keeping weight off — which can be just as challenging as losing weight in the first place.

Prepared by the editors of Harvard Health Publications in consultation with Annaswamy Raji, M.B.B.S., M.M.Sc., Medical Director, Program for Weight Management, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Assistant professor, Harvard Medical School; and Kathy McManus, M.S., R.D., L.D.N., Director of Nutrition, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. 46 pages. (2009)

  • Are you overweight?
    • What’s your BMI?
    • What’s your body shape
  • How extra weight affects your health
    • More disability and a shorter life
    • Health benefits of weight loss
  • Why people become overweight
    • Genetic
    • Environmental influences
    • Other causes of obesity
  • When to seek professional help
    • Medical evaluation for weight loss
    • Screening tests
    • Designing a treatment program
  • Weight-loss basics
    • Counting calories: How many do you need?
    • Physical activity: How much is enough?
  • SPECIAL BONUS SECTION: A weight-loss starter kit
  • Popular diets
    • Low-carbohydrate
    • Low-fat
    • Correct carbohydrates
    • Perfect proportions and careful combinations
    • Calorie-density diets
    • Behavior change
    • Mediterranean-style
    • The diet studies
  • Weight-loss programs
    • Commercial programs
    • Self-help programs
    • Clinical programs
  • Weight-loss aids: Buyer beware
  • Weight-loss medications
    • Who should take them?
    • How should they be taken?
    • How do they work?
  • Weight-loss surgery
  • Keeping the weight off
    • Studying success
  • Resources
  • Glossary

For some people, the hardest part of losing weight is deciding what and how much to eat. For others, it’s figuring out how to squeeze exercise into a busy schedule. Some people find it relatively easy to stick with a diet and exercise routine, while others become bored or frustrated and need a little extra inspiration.

The following seven-day plan provides advice in all of those areas, in the form of the “three M’s”:

  • menus — to guide your daily eating choices (including recipes for healthy, calorie-conscious dinner entrées)
  • movement — suggestions for adding activity into your daily routine
  • motivation — lifestyle changes and habits that can help foster weight loss.

Sample one-day menu and recipe

Menu

Breakfast1 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal
½ cup strawberries
1 cup skim milk

Lunch
3 ounces sardines on 2 cups mixed
greens
1 slice whole-rye bread
1 cup honeydew melon

Snack
3 tablespoons hummus
1 cup baby carrots

Dinner
Grilled Flank Steak with Pineapple-Shallot Sauce (see recipe below)
¼ zucchini, ¼ summer squash, and ½ cup mushrooms stir-fried
in 2 teaspoons olive oil

Snack
1 ounce pistachio nuts (about 47)

Calories 1,493
Carbohydrate 157 g
Protein 91 g
Fat 63 g
Sat 13.1 g
Trans 0 g
Cholesterol 108 mg
Sodium 1,280 mg
Fiber 33 g

Movement

Find an exercise buddy, which could be a friend, your spouse, or
your child. Make a weekly exercise date to do some form of exercise
together, such as walking, racquetball, golf, or tennis.

Motivation

Try eating slowly, which can actually help you eat less food. Chew
each bite a little bit longer and put down your utensil in between
bites. Sipping water between bites also helps. This strategy works
because it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to “tell”
your brain when you feel full. Until then, you continue to feel
hungry and want to eat. If you eat quickly, you’ll end up consuming
more than you need to feel full. But eating slowly gives your
brain the time it needs to get the signal that you’ve had enough.

Grilled Flank Steak with Pineapple-Shallot Sauce

(Makes 4 servings)

Flank steak and marinade: Pineapple-shallot sauce:
1 pound flank steak, trimmed 1 tablespoon unsweetened pineapple juice
1¼ cups unsweetened pineapple juice 2 teaspoons lime juice
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar ¼ teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
2 teaspoons olive oil ½ cup peeled shallots, sliced very thin
1 lime, sliced ½ cup chopped fresh pineapple
½ cup chopped cilantro 1 cup beef broth (homemade or low-sodium)
¼ cup thinly sliced red onion cornstarch (optional)
2 tablespoons minced garlic 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon minced jalapeño
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 drops Tabasco sauce
  1. Trim the flank steak, removing all visible fat.
  2. Combine the rest of the ingredients for the marinade in a zip-close bag. Add the flank steak to the marinade, close the bag, and turn it over a few times to coat the steak evenly. Marinate the steak in the refrigerator for at least 2 and up to
    6 hours.
  3. To make the sauce, combine the fruit juices, vinegar, and peppercorns in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture is reduced by half. Add the shallots, pineapple, and broth.

    Bring the sauce to a simmer and let the sauce cook over medium heat until it has a good flavor and consistency. (You may want to add a bit of cornstarch to thicken the sauce; mix with a little cold water before adding so it doesn’t form lumps.) Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with a few drops of lime juice or vinegar if necessary. Keep the sauce warm while grilling the steak.
  4. Preheat a grill to medium-high heat. Grill the steak on the first side for about 4 minutes, turn once, and finish grilling on the second side to the desired doneness (about 3 minutes for rare, 5 minutes for medium rare). Remove the steak from the grill and let it rest for 3 or 4 minutes before carving into slices.
  5. Slice the steak thinly on a diagonal. Stir the cilantro into the sauce and drizzle over the steak.

Nutrition per serving (including steak and sauce): 348 calories; 13 g fat; 4 g saturated fat; 0 g trans fat; 22 g total carbohydrate; 34 g protein; 196 mg sodium; 51 mg cholesterol

Recipe from Culinary Institute of America

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This report was interesting but the menus left me cold. I am a single person who hates to cook. I do not carry a good share of the ingredients required and probably only used once. Why can't simple, easy recipes be used and for one person. thank you

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