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		Fit and TrimFeature Articles"Miss Universe and Me" Diet by Sue Spataro suespa@caro.net
	Families-First.com Fit and Trim see also: Mom-to-Mom		Miss Universe and Me Does the media create an unrealistic sense of thinness? Introduction | Diet | Exercise Diet: The word diet means the food that you eat. Somehow over time, it has been largely associated with lettuce and cottage cheese plates. There are hundreds of these so called diets- grapefruit, high protein, high carbohydrate- it's mind boggling! The one thing that we all know is that if we reduce the number of calories we consume along with exercise we will lose weight. But what do we eat and how much? Counting calories can be one way to manage weight. I have found calorie guides at my local book store which helps me keep track of what I am eating . A quick way to determine how many daily calories you should be taking is to take the weight add a zero and subtract the weight. So, if you weigh 150 pounds you would subtract 150 from 1500 to determine that you need about 1400 calories to maintain the current weight of 150 pounds. If you want to lose weight you would decrease the daily calories by a 200. Physicians can be helpful in guiding you to a nutritionist or other specialist in this field. This can be beneficial as your doctor knows your medical history and can make appropriate recommendations. It is always a good idea to consult with your physician before going on any weight reducing diet. What do I eat? Well, in some ways its pretty simple. Watch out for all the fried foods. Instead of frying the chicken, how about oven baked fried chicken? How about a baked potato instead of fries? I know this is easier said than done and who doesn't just love French Fries, but your body can get used to doing with less. Decreasing the amount of meat helps to shed those pounds. Meals that are centered on a roast or other meat, can be substituted with a stir fry that still contains the meat, but not as much. Read labels. Thanks to outgoing head of the Federal Drug Administration Dr. Kessler, all products are mandated to list the amounts and kinds of nutrients contained in a product. This gives you a rapid read of what you are about to buy. This is very helpful in meal planning. Change is a process. No one can go from eating a rich diet full of fat to eating lettuce and carrot sticks. That's just plain silly. But what needs to happen for serious weight reduction that works and lasts is a diet that you can live with. This doesn't mean you never eat cake again, but now maybe once a week instead of 5 times a week. Nowadays there a so many great products available at our grocery stores it is easier to cut the fat down in our diets and still feel satisfied. Things like reduced fat cream cheese and sour cream, frozen yogurts are very popular and taste good. There are many cookbooks and web sites that offer tons of great tasting recipes and ideas for low fat cooking. Graham Kerr and Richard Simmons both have books out there that are easy to use and contain tasty recipes too. Libraries also offer books that teach interested people how to cook lighter and not feel deprived. In our Hot Links section you can find a couple of web sites that offer terrific low fat and delicious recipes. Also check out the Recipe of the Week on the Mom to Mom for other helpful and yummy recipes!
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reprinted from Mom-to-Mom newsletter Feb 21, 1997