Dieters: Can You Eat All the Foods You Love and Still Lose Weight?

Is it possible to eat all the foods you love and still lose the weight? Well, if you are dieting, it is not possible to abandon all portion control and eat all the foods you love and still lose the weight, but it is possible to eat some of the foods you love in filling portions on a sensible diet while reducing calories and sodium on a weekly basis. It's an approach dieter and engineer George Radford used to call the "rhythm method of girth control."

This is not such a radical idea. What calories do to your diet depends on how "naturally" you reduce them. If you eat the same number of calories every day, your body will slow down its metabolism to burn fewer of them--making weight loss harder.

If you vary your calorie consumption, say 1200 calories one day, 1200 calories the next day, 2000 calories the third day but then getting right back on your reduced-calorie diet, your body will keep its metabolism running at a higher rate. The trick is making sure you get back your reduced calorie regimen on the fourth day to lose pounds. Eating a meal of sensible proportions at your favorite restaurant about twice a week can actually help your diet, if that meal out is part of your plan.

Every dieter knows, of course, it's the unplanned meals that put on the pounds. The problem is not so much eating one piece of pie that was not allowed even on, say, a three-day 1200-1200-2000 calorie a day plan, it is eating that second and third piece of pie after losing control the first time.

Successful dieters can have planned treats, but they can't go on binges. If a food is something that brings up intense emotions that propel you eat and eat and eat until it's all gone, that's a food you have to give up entirely.

It is easier to avoid binging if your everyday foods are flavorful. If your weight loss diet is not just low-calorie but also bland, it's possible that your taste buds, having given up all hope of ever being satisfied, will be brought back to life when you eat some cheat-food. If your diet meals are flavorful, colorful, and filling (and moist, juicy, soupy foods are more filling), then you will find it easier to get back to your plan when you stray.

The occasional higher-calorie meal upregulates your metabolism to keep you a calorie-burning machine. You will not be able to burn enough calories to keep your weight down, however, if you eat too much too often.

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