Lose weight with no-diet diet
When Steven Hawks is tempted by ice cream bars, M&Ms and toffee covered almonds at the grocery store, he doesnt pass them by. He files up his shopping cart.
Its the no-diet diet, an approach the Brigham Young University health science professor used to lose 50 pounds and to keep it off for more than five years. Hawks calls his plans intuitive eating and thinks the rest of the country would be better off if the people stopped counting calories, started paying attention to hunger pangs and ate whatever they wanted.
As part of intuitive eating, Hawks surround him self with unhealthy foods he especially craves. He says having an overabundance of whats taboo helps him lose his desire to gorge.
There is a catch to this no-diet diet, however: Intuitive eaters only eat when theyre hungry and stop when theyre full. That means not eating a box of chocolates when youre feeling blue or digging into a big plate of nachos just because everyone else at the table is.
The trade-off is the opportunity to eat whatever your heart desires when you are actually hungry.
One of the advantages of intuitive eating is youre always eating things that are most appealing to you, not out of emotional reasons, not because its there and taste good, he said. Whenever you feel physical urge to eat something, accept it and eat it. The cravings tend to subside. I dont have anyone near the cravings I would as a restrained eater.
Hawks should know. In 1989, the Utah native had a job at North Carolina State University in Raleigh and wanted to return to his home state. But at 210 pounds, he didnt think that a fat person could get a job teaching students how to be healthy, so his calorie counting began. He lost weight and got the job at Utah State University. But the pounds soon came back.
For several years his weight fluctuated, until he eventually gave up on being a restrained eater and the weight stayed on. You definitely lose weight on a diet, but resisting biological pressures is ultimately doomed, Hawks said. Several years later and still overweight at a new job at BYU, Hawks decided it was time for a lifestyle change. He stopped feeling guilty about eating salt-and-vinegar potato chips.
He also stopped eating when he wasnt hungry. Slowly and steadily his weight began to drop. Exercise helped. The one thing all diets have in common is that they restrict food, said Michael Goran, an obesity expert at the University Of Southern California. Ultimately, thats why they usually fail, he said.
At some point you want what you cant have, Goran said. Still, he said intuitive eating alone wont give anyone six packs abs, Hawks said but it will lead to a healthier lifestyle. He still eats junk food and keeps a jar of honey in his office, but only indulges occasionally.
My diet is actually quite healthy. Im as likely to eat broccoli as eat a steak, he said. Its a misconception that all of a sudden a diet is going to become all junk food high fat, he said.
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