It is all about what you eat.

  It could be scary. You have been trying to lose weight for years, trying one diet or another, when suddenly, or even gradually, you follow Dr. Sneider’s instructions, or any diet instructions for that matter, and you start to lose weight. You lose 5, then 10 pounds and people start to notice. “Are you OK?” they may ask, wondering if your weight loss is a good thing or a part of a bigger problem.  What’s worse, you begin to wonder yourself. Why am I losing weight now when I couldn’t before? Could I have cancer or an ulcer or some other disease? Maybe I should try to put some of the weight back on to show that I am OK! It doesn’t help to think of all the other diet gurus who have ultimately succumbed to diseases they hoped to cure with their diets. I remember Georges Ohsawa, a fanatical writer about diet and the philosophy of oriental medicine. When I was in medical school, I followed the Zen Macrobiotic diet for a while. I ate lots of brown rice and veggies and m...

I know. Changing your eating habits is hard. Don't worry if you have difficulty finding the right things to eat. Just keep trying to explore the food choices that you have and work to avoid the worst offenders. I will continue to add tips as time goes on so that we can all do better and beat that fat. Let's start with bread. How in the world, no, how in  America  can you avoid bread? It is everywhere; and in the fast-food nation, bread makes everything portable, quick and easy to eat! That is the genius of the sandwich. It takes one hand to eat a sandwich - so you can eat it while you drive, while you walk, at a football game or at your desk. And, let's not even mention pizza, the perfect food, except that it is built on a piece of bread. I am sure that there will be times when it seems like the only thing to have is a sandwich. When you plan to eat while driving, for instance. Understood. I find it most difficult to eat right while traveling, but it can be done. ...

Here is some of the background for my diet recommendations. You will note that there are 3 references on the previous post.  They are the source of the three principles that I recommend for finding a healthy diet, and I expand upon them briefly below.   1. Eat real food (Michael Pollen). You know what real food is. It is non-processed food. The bread and cereal that we eat each day is highly processed. Even the grain itself has been genetically modified from what it once was just a few generations ago. When choosing food to eat, choose foods with fewer ingredients and less processing. Ideally eat all non-processed foods - real meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables. When you can't figure out what to eat, always go towards the real food, the unprocessed food. No matter what it is, it will be better than the alternative. 2. Maximize the nutritional quality of the food you eat (Dr. Joel Fuhrman). Fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, raw or lightly cooked, have the most nu...

You have diabetes, or maybe other problems like high blood pressure. You are obese (body mass index over 35), or you just want to lose weight and feel better. What can you do? The answer here is all about diet, because diet can make a big difference. Your diet is what you eat. So, what should you eat? I have tried to make my advice here simple and easy to understand for the average American style eater. There is no calorie counting. There is no carb counting. There are no percentages of fat or carbohydrates to balance.  Let me start with what foods you should not eat: let’s make it simple - to succeed in this diet, you should not eat the following foods. Period.  No bread or bread products white, multigrain or whole wheat   No crackers or chips  No cereal   No cookies   No cakes   No sugary soft drinks   No beer   There will always be times when you slip or compromise. The next meal is always th...