by Leigh Ann Otte

Fruits and vegetables fill you up with their fiber. Most have very few calories. So … eat more, lose more, right?

Yeah, actually. It can be that simple, if they replace higher-calorie foods. So why don’t we do it? Maybe because we don’t like vegetables. Maybe because they spoil before we can prepare them all so we don’t buy them. Maybe because we’re just not used to eating them.

Well we’ve got tips for all that this week. If you have a problem with rotting vegetables, check out “Vegetables Spoiling too Quickly? Tips When Cooking for One or Two.” If you don’t like fruits and vegetables or just don’t know how you can get more in your diet, ”How to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables: Quick, Easy, Healthy Ideas” should hit the spot. You’ll find easy, common-sense, totally useable ideas, such as:

• Toss fruit into things you’re already making, like oatmeal or cereal.
• Create your own salad bar, or build your own pizza. Try red, green, orange and yellow bell peppers; mushrooms; broccoli; spinach; zucchini; and pineapple cubes.
• Keep small plastic bags with single servings of cherries or grapes in your refrigerator to make fruit as easy to grab as a bag of chips.
• Bring five pieces of fruit to work every Monday for pick-me-ups—and more energy than vending-machine fare. (Add a little protein, like peanut butter, to help stay full.)
• At work, have a contest. Challenge each other to eat 4½ cups of fruits and veggies daily. Have a drawing for each person who records his or her intake for a month. See who can eat the most colors. Sample each other’s recipes, including fruit-based desserts.

Are you hungry yet? I am!

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Leigh Ann Otte is the managing editor of MyFamilyDoctorMag.com.

by Leigh Ann Otte

Did you have a good Fourth of July? Enjoy the sun? Spend time with family? Eat from the grill till you were stuffed and miserable? Sigh.

One problem many of us have is knowing when we’re full—and stopping eating at that point. In this week’s article, gastroenterologist Patricia Raymond explains this issue and gives tips.

Did you know that your meal should be no bigger than what you can hold in two cupped hands? Yep. Read on …

Leigh Ann Otte is the managing editor of MyFamilyDoctorMag.com and a freelance writer, editor and blogger.

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“Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that your body cannot digest; therefore it adds volume to fill you up without adding extra calories.  Weight loss genius!  A common complaint often expressed by people on a weight loss diet is, “I’m hungry.”  A wise dieter knows that it’s not only how much you eat, but what you eat that makes the difference between a rumbling stomach and a fully belly.

“Fiber creates a sense of fullness that will leave you satisfied and better prepared to pass up seconds. If you build your meals and snacks around high fiber choices like whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and lean proteins and good fats, you’ll have a great combination that will make it less likely you will overeat.”

—What’s Your Diet Type?: Use the Power of Your Personality to Discover Your Best Way to Lose Weight, by Heather K. Jones, R.D., Mary Miscisin, M.S., and Ed Redard, M.D., May 2009, Hatherleigh Press, $19

by Jill Weisenberger, M.S., R.D., C.D.E.

Wait too long to eat and your belly speaks louder than your good intentions. So says a report from the Economic Research Service of the USDA.

Americans know more about healthful diets and lifestyles, but waistlines keep growing and fruits and vegetables are rotting in the refrigerator anyway. So what gives? According to the report, long lapses between meals, eating out and long work hours overpower our health desires and lead us to temptation for some instant gratification.

By waiting five hours between meals instead of just four, the average person consumes an extra 52 calories. (more…)

by Jill Weisenberger, M.S., R.D., C.D.E.

I had a wonderful new patient come to me for weight loss guidance yesterday. Like many new patients, this is not her first dieting attempt and her idea of trimming down included deprivation. That is not my idea at all. I’m not giving up chocolate, and I don’t expect you to banish your favorite treat either.

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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

I must admit that I have a bias against the low-carb Atkins diet. It just doesn’t make sense to me and I don’t want to try it. I have written off past studies that conclude these diets do, in fact, lower cholesterol and weight by reasoning that the study is too short, or some other flaw. However, I am being worn down with facts.

Still, the devil is in the details.

The latest is a two-year study in the July 17 New England Journal of Medicine pitting the low-carbohydrate, non-restricted-calorie diet against the Mediterranean-style and low-fat diets, both restricted-calorie. Who won? It depends on how you look at it–and there are lots of numbers.

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by Jill Weisenberger, M.S., R.D., C.D.E.

I always ask my weight-loss patients to keep a food diary. It’s not for me. It’s their tool. Sure, it helps me guide my patients’ choices, but it’s for their own accountability and education.

Earlier this month, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research announced that in their weight loss study, the most successful losers kept the most food diaries and spent the most time exercising. Of course, this didn’t surprise me at all. I’ve read studies like this before, and I see it every week in my office. In the Kaiser Permanente study, those who recorded their intake daily lost twice as much weight as those who never kept records.
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