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The Common Sense Diet
Chapter One
Introduction to Weight Loss

 Copyright © March 2, 2020
by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.

The following is not medical advice nor is it a medical recommendation.
Please consult a licensed medical professional to have your medical questions answered.

Introduction

Please stand in front of a full-length mirror and then completely relax. Now carefully look at yourself and consider your overall weight. Then turn sideways and carefully look at your profile in the mirror. If you are not pleased with what you see then the information in this book may help you to gradually and systematically trim down your body so that the image you see in the mirror several months from now will be significantly thinner than what you see today.

The First Critical Step

Before anyone begins any type of diet the first step should always be the same. Have your family doctor or your preferred medical practitioner give you a complete physical exam that includes a comprehensive blood analysis. The reason is simple -- your objectives should be to lose weight and also become a healthier person. Based on the results of your exam and blood tests, your doctor can give you some good advice about dieting and some specific foods to eat, and not eat, in order to help you avoid making some really bad choices that could negatively impact your health and your life expectancy. (Note: Your doctor will ask you to not eat anything for 12 or more hours before your blood test to improve the accuracy of the results.)

Most of us have had friends or family members who have lost weight following a specific type of diet but they died within six months or less after starting their diet. They didn’t die accidentally, or due to some natural cause, or due to old age. They died because the food they were eating was lacking in something their body desperately needed, or the food included something that was harmful to their body's chemistry.

A simple example would be sodium or table salt. Some people have a sodium deficiency and their doctor will advise them to add salt to the food they eat to increase the amount of sodium in their body. Other people have an excessive amount of sodium in their body and their doctor will tell them to never add salt to their food and to avoid eating foods that have a lot of sodium. This is an example of the type of information that each one of us needs to know before we begin any diet. Based on our doctor's advice we can select foods that will help us lose weight and that will also help us become healthier people.

This is one of the reasons why a "one diet for everybody" is usually not a good idea. Just because a specific diet helped one of your friends or one of your family members lose a lot of weight does not mean that it would be a good diet for you. After you receive feedback from your physical exam and your blood tests then you can strategically evaluate any proposed diet with your doctor to see if the diet will help you to remain healthy while you lose weight.

Pregnant Women and Nursing Mothers

If you are pregnant, or if you are nursing a baby, then your body requires special nutrients because you are eating and drinking for two people. You should follow the advice of your doctor and eat the foods and drink the beverages specifically recommended for you. You should not attempt to follow any type of diet that is not in the best interests of your health and the health of your baby.

Some Practical Advice that can Help Almost Anyone
Lose Weight on Almost Any Type of Diet

The remainder of this chapter will be devoted to strategies that can be successfully used with almost any type of diet, including "The Common Sense Diet."

The information in this chapter is based on the knowledge I have acquired during the past 50 years about dieting, exercising, how to lose weight, and how to have a healthier stronger body. This chapter will rarely quote specific scientific research to support my suggestions because I no longer have access to the books, magazines, and newspaper articles that I read during the past 50 years that helped me form my opinions. The suggestions is this chapter are based on applying the information I read and then seeing what impact it had on my own body. You can determine for yourself whether or not the suggestions in this chapter can help you lose weight without being hungry all the time.

Daily Multivitamin

Unless your physician has advised against it, a daily multivitamin tablet may help your body maintain a reasonable balance of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients while you are on your diet. If possible, select a multivitamin that is designed for your age group and your gender in order to maximize its benefits. Gummy vitamins are not recommended because they will stick to your teeth and promote tooth decay. If your physician has also advised you to take specific vitamin supplements then you should follow your doctor's advise. This will help you maintain a healthy body as you lose weight.

Beginner's Headache

When we begin a new diet it takes our body between one to five days to adjust to burning some of our body fat each day instead of adding just a tiny bit more fat to our body each day. This chemical change inside our body may or may not cause us to have a headache. If the headache is more than you can tolerate then you can relieve the discomfort using your normal headache medicine. After our body adjusts to burning fat instead of adding fat then the headaches will stop.

Slow Down. Take Small Bites.
Chew Each Bite Completely Before Swallowing.

These are the eight reasons why you should: Slow Down, Take Small Bites, and Chew Each Bite Completely Before Swallowing.
  1. More Bites: If each bite is small then you will have more total bites of food to enjoy from the same amount of food that is on your plate. This also means the food on your plate will last longer.
  2. Brain and Stomach Communication: After you put some food into your mouth, immediately put your tableware down (knife, fork, or spoon). If you are eating a sandwich or finger food then put your partially eaten sandwich down on your plate. Put your empty hands on your lap or on the table beside your plate. Now focus on chewing and on thoroughly enjoying the food that you just put into your mouth. You are not in a hurry. The other food on your plate is not going anywhere. Do not prepare your next bite until after you have completely finished chewing and swallowing the food you just put into your mouth. This will give your stomach and your brain more time to communicate and it will require less food to make you feel full and satisfied. A side benefit is that it will also give other people the impression that you have good table manners and that you are not a glutton and that you don't just shovel food into your mouth.
  3. More Eating Pleasure: The longer you chew each small bite of food, the more time the food stays inside your mouth, and the longer you will be able to enjoy its flavor and the eating pleasure it brings to you. Being able to chew food is one of the least appreciated pleasures of eating.
  4. Easier Swallowing: If every small mouthful of food is completely chewed into miniscule pieces then you will be able to swallow your food more easily. And you may be able to live your entire life without choking on a piece of food that wasn't chewed well, and you may never need to have your back hit really hard or your chest squeezed really hard to help loosen a big piece of food that is caught inside your throat.
  5. Easier Digestion: If you chew your food really well then you will be sending extremely tiny, tiny pieces of food down into your stomach and your stomach will be able to more easily digest that food. This means you should have fewer problems with indigestion or an upset stomach.
  6. Weight Control: As you eat your stomach sends messages to your brain to let it know that you have eaten. Your blood automatically carries these messages to your brain and if you are eating slowly then your brain will receive these messages while you are still eating, and your brain will inform you that you are no longer hungry and you can stop eating. In other words, you will feel full by eating less food and this will help you control your weight and have a healthier body. Eating more slowly also increases the level of weight-reducing hormones in our body. One study discovered that people who thoroughly and completely chew their food usually eat about 12% less food per day than people who only chew their food long enough to be able to swallow it.
  7. Sensory Perception: Our five senses (taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing) are constantly sending messages to our brains and our brains are constantly responding to these messages on a subconscious level that we are normally not aware of. This is how the brain works to keep us alive and healthy. When we take smaller bites our eyes see us putting food into our mouths over a longer period of time. If the food has a pleasant aroma then our nose sends messages to the brain about what we are eating over a longer period of time. When we chew each bite completely our mouths are sending messages to our brain that we are still eating, and our taste buds are enjoying the flavor of the food longer, and our taste buds are constantly sending messages to our brain over a longer period of time. Even if our mouths are closed as they should be while we eat, our ears can still hear the sound of the chewing as it takes place inside our mouth and our ears are sending messages to the brain that we are still eating for a longer period of time. If we eat slowly then all of these sensory messages are being received by the brain over a longer period of time and our brain will gradually inform us that we can stop eating because we are full. This is an example of using the subconscious power of the brain to help us eat less, and still feel completely satisfied, and lose weight at the same time.
  8. Easier Bowel Movements: If your teeth do a good job chewing your food, then your stomach can do a better job digesting that food. And when your stomach sends that food to the next part of your body then your body will have an easier job of processing that food and removing the nutrients from the food. When it is time to expel the stuff your body doesn't need then you will have easier bowel movements for two reasons: the food will be more completely digested, and there will be less food to expel because you ate less and your body removed more of the nutrition from the food you did eat.
If you eat an entire meal in less than 20 minutes then you are eating too fast. It takes at least 20 minutes, or longer, for your stomach and your brain to effectively communicate with one another and inform you that you are full and that you should stop eating. If you are not eating alone then one way to help extend your meal is to engage in a pleasant topic of conversation during the meal with the people you are eating with. Please practice good manners and do not talk with food in your mouth. Please chew that food completely, swallow it, and then speak or answer a question. Avoid discussing unpleasant topics at mealtime because they can upset your digestion. Talk about unpleasant topics at some other time during the day.

Eat Until Your Hunger is Satisfied and then Stop Eating

A time honored weight loss strategy is to eat until you are full and then stop eating. Being full means you are no longer hungry. Being full does not mean you are so stuffed that you could not possible swallow another bite. This is overeating and it is not the same thing as feeling full. Feeling full is called being satisfied or satiated.

Use Smaller Plates

An easy and convenient way to begin eating smaller servings is to use smaller plates. Use an 8.5 inch diameter “bread or salad” plate instead of a standard 10.5 inch diameter "dinner" plate. A smaller plate will hold less food and this will automatically reduce the size of your meal. However, the smaller plate will appear full even though it contains less food than a 10.5 inch diameter plate. This is important because our eyes are constantly sending messages to our brain and the subconscious message will be that we will be eating a full plate of food instead of a skimpy portion of food. This may help make the meal more satisfying even though the meal contains less food than we used to eat.

Water

A generous amount of plain pure cold water should be consumed every day for the following reasons:
  1. Water contains no calories but it helps the stomach feel full. This reduces the amount of food eaten and increases weight loss.
  2. Water is absolutely necessary for the stomach and the intestines to properly digest food. If our bodies are not properly hydrated then digestive problems and several other health problems may result.
  3. Water lubricates the digestive system so food flows more easily through the body.
  4. Water facilitates normal bowel movements and helps prevent constipation. Water helps dissolve and flush toxins out of the body.
  5. Water enhances kidney functions and may prevent kidney stones.
  6. Water lubricates our joints and spine and makes movements easier.
  7. Normal brain functions gradually slow down as the body becomes more dehydrated. The result is more frequent and severe headaches.
  8. Our body's cells are continuously replacing themselves. A properly hydrated body makes it easier for new cells to replace old cells.
  9. Water lubricates the skin and helps prevent premature wrinkles.
  10. Drink a glass of cold water shortly after waking up in the morning and after you have weighed yourself for the day. The water will rehydrate your body and reactivate all your body’s metabolic processes so you begin burning more calories all day long.
  11. If cold water is consumed just before a meal then less food will be eaten during the meal and this will facilitate weight loss. Drinking water has the same weight loss benefit as eating a small bowl of broth based soup before a meal, or eating half a grapefruit before a meal because a grapefruit is mostly water and it has few calories.
  12. Drinking 6 cups of cold water per day (1.5 liters) may help your body burn an additional 50 calories per day, or 18,250 calories per year, which is approximately 5.2 pounds of body fat per year.

Relieve Yourself Frequently

When you feel the urge to relieve yourself then you should do so as soon as it becomes possible. It is not healthy to postpone our normal bodily functions. Our body is an amazing organism and after it has removed all the nutrients from the foods and fluids that we eat and drink then our body tells us it is time to relieve ourselves of the food and fluids that our body has finished processing. If we will expel these items from our body at the earliest possible opportunity then our body can focus on processing other food and fluids that still require further processing. However, if we delay expelling foods and fluids from our body then our body may continue to extract stuff from that waste material that may not be healthy for our body. Therefore to maximize our weight loss and to minimize absorbing potentially harmful stuff into our bodies, we should relieve ourselves as soon as possible after we feel the urge to do so.

Weight Loss When We First Begin Dieting

The most significant and dramatic weight losses will occur the first week that we begin dieting. These exceptional weight losses will usually continue sporadically through the entire first month that we are on a new diet. This is because the human body will begin by eliminating the weight that is easy to shed. The human body is an amazing organism and it will gradually adjust itself to whatever food that it receives. Therefore weight loss will usually slow down during the second month of our diet. This is normal and it is something that we should expect. However, if we are aware of this issue when we first begin our diet then we can maximize our weight loss during our first month of dieting by staying on our diet as faithfully as possible, and we should attempt to avoid straying from our diet except on rare occasions. As we continue on our diet we will be very pleased with our weight loss that first month and this may motivate us to stay on our diet.

Weight Loss Does Not Happen Every Day

Be emotionally prepared for your weight to not decrease every day. Be prepared for your weight to actually increase on some days. There are factors other than your diet that can impact your daily weight, such as the amount of water your body retains from day to day, and the type of activities you participate in each day. In addition, some foods take longer to digest and those foods will remain inside you longer before your body expels the residue it does not need. The important issue is the long term trend in your weight from week to week until you approach your weight loss goal. As you approach your goal your weight loss will gradually slow down and then the important issue will be your weight from month to month as you maintain your desired weight.

Keep Track of Your Weight Every Day

Before you begin a diet weigh yourself and record your weight along with the date. At approximately the same time each day weigh yourself again and record your weight for that day. For most people the best time to weigh themselves is about 20 minutes after they get out of bed after a good night’s sleep, and after they have relieved themselves in the bathroom, and before they get fully dressed, and before they have anything to eat or drink. After you have weighed yourself then drink some water to rehydrate your body and to activate your body’s normal metabolic functions.

Daily feedback is a powerful incentive to stay on your diet. It can help you resist temptations to eat when you are only a little bit hungry. Being able to visually see the progress you are making on your diet will help you stick to your diet and not give up. If your waistline is important to you then also use a cloth tape measure, such as the ones available in the sewing goods department of a store, to measure your waistline at your navel. If you always measure at your navel then you will be able to accurately determine the impact your diet is having on your waistline as you continue to lose weight.

I suggest measuring your waistline two ways as follows:
  1. Relaxed: With your body totally relaxed measure the distance around your waist. Record the date and the measurement. This is what other people see when they look at you.
  2. Suck Your Tummy In: Suck your tummy is as much as you can and then measure your waist again. Record the measurement beside your first measurement above. This is the smallest your waist can be for a very short period of time.
By measuring your waist both ways you will have a more accurate record of the impact of your new diet on the number of inches you lose around your waist. The reason is because the above method eliminates the temptation to suck your tummy in just a little bit when you measure your waist in a relaxed position. Your waistline will change slower than your body weight so you only need to measure your waistline once every two weeks, or once per month.

I have been reading dieting advice, off and on, for 50 years. I am fully aware that a few dieting professionals, but not all, recommend that you not weigh yourself every day. And some dieting professionals actually recommend that you get rid of your home weight scale completely. I disagree with that advice. I am an industrial engineer, a manager, and a teacher, and I intimately understand the importance and the benefits of feedback on a timely basis. Therefore I recommend that a person record their weight each day to receive an immediate benefit when the scale shows that they have lost some weight because this helps to reinforce their behavior and it helps them stay on their diet.

Therefore please do not become discouraged is someone criticizes you for weighing yourself every day. You are weighing yourself to help you stay on your diet and lose weight, and not to please anyone else.

Immediately after you weigh yourself in the morning, and after you have done your morning exercises, drink some water. Water will help to rehydrate your body and water will reactivate many of your body’s metabolic processes. This will result in a long-term improvement in your health and in your weight loss.

How Much Weight Can Be Safely Lost in One Week?

If a person is overweight, then that person can safely lose up to one percent of their total weight in one week. For example, a person who weighs 300 pounds could safely lose 3 pounds a week. A person who weighs 200 pounds could safely lose 2 pounds a week. And a person who weighs 150 pounds could safely lose 1.5 pounds a week.

Get a Good Night's Sleep Every Night

Sleep deprivation negatively impacts your body in many different ways. When you are asleep your body is inactive and your body can perform its normal necessary nighttime functions. Lack of sleep can cause you to eat more food to compensate for the loss of sleep. Sleep deprivation may adversely impact your health and your judgment and it may result in poor choices on what to eat and not eat. Sleeping in a cool room instead of a warm room may increase the number of calories you burn while you are asleep. In a cool room your body will burn more fat cells to keep your body temperature at a proper level. However, do not lower the room temperature below the point at which you can get a good night's sleep.

Eating Just Before Bedtime

If possible, schedule your last meal of the day at least two hours before bedtime. This gives your body a chance to partially digest the food you have eaten, and this provides some energy to your body so you can get a good night of sleep.

Eating just before retiring will usually result in a spike in blood sugar and insulin levels, and it can interfere with your normal digestive processes. Therefore eating just before bedtime is not compatible with getting a good night of sleep. And eating just before retiring can also result in weight gains instead of weight losses.

However, if you develop a strong craving for a specific food just before bedtime then it is usually a good idea to eat a small quantity of that food before retiring. A small quantity of the food, about 200 calories or less, will not require a significant digestive effort while you are sleeping. And a small quantity of the food may help minimize or eliminate the food craving you have for that specific food so you can go to sleep.

As an example, cherries contain the hormone melatonin which helps to regulate sleep. Cherries also contain a lot of antioxidants that are beneficial to weight loss. Fresh tart cherries are best. Frozen tart cherries or red tart cherries canned in water are fine when fresh cherries are out of season. Eating six or fewer cherries will not add too many calories to your diet and they may help you sleep better. If you try to ignore a strong food craving just before bedtime then that food craving will normally interfere with your sleep and you will not get a good night of rest. Getting a good night of sleep is much more important than adding a few more calories to your diet.

Keep a Reasonable Supply of
Healthy Low-Calorie Foods in Your Home

If you have a variety of healthy low-calorie foods to pick from then when you get hungry it will be easy to select something that will satisfy your hunger without consuming too many calories.

Keep Food Out-of-Sight

Always store your food in a food cabinet or in the refrigerator or freezer. Do not put food on a counter or table where it can be easily seen. Food that is always visible encourages snacking and snacking will increase your daily consumption of calories. Food that is not visible will not encourage hunger or thoughts of eating.

Brush Your Teeth After Eating

Brushing your teeth after eating is obviously good dental advice. However, after we have brushed our teeth most of us automatically resist the temptation to eat something before the next normal meal. One reason is because our brain subconsciously interprets teeth brushing as an indication that more food will not be eaten for a reasonable period of time. Another reason is because food does not taste the same immediately after we have brushed our teeth because the toothpaste has temporarily desensitized the taste buds on our tongue. Not eating between meals can help some people lose a significant amount of weight. However, if possible, wait about 30 minutes after eating to brush your teeth because our tongue will continue to taste the food flavor that remains inside our mouth, and our mouth and our saliva will continue to remove small food particles out of our mouth for a short period of time after eating. This continues to send taste messages to the brain that we have eaten and this is a desirable consequence of waiting 30 minutes before we brush our teeth. If you can’t brush your teeth then consider rinsing your mouth with a good mouthwash because this can have almost the same effect on your appetite as brushing your teeth.

Food Cravings

If you develop a strong desire to eat a candy bar, or some cake, or some ice cream, then it is usually best to resist the temptation and stick to your diet. However, sometimes the desire to eat a specific food is a message from our body to our brain telling us that our body is lacking something that can be provided by a specific type of food based on how that specific food has satisfied our body’s needs in the past. In this situation it is advisable to eat the food item that you strongly crave for two reasons:
  1. It you eat the specific food item you crave then it will satisfy your craving for that food, and your body will be able to extract whatever nutrients it needs from that food, and you can think about something else instead of that specific food item.
  2. If you don't eat that specific food item but you eat something else then your mind will keep reminding you that you are still hungry and that you need to eat that specific food. When you ignore this type of food craving then you will usually end up eating several different things that don’t satisfy your real hunger and you will consume more calories than if you had just eaten the food item that you desire.
If your food craving is for something sweet then consider eating a sugar-free sweet that you enjoy. Detailed information about sweets that are compatible with weight loss are in chapter 24.

Hunger

It is normal for people to get a little hungry just before their next regularly scheduled meal even if they are not dieting. However, after we begin a diet and we start to lose weight then it is not unusual for us to get hungry more often than in the past. The reason is because hunger is the message our body sends to our brain in the hope that we will eat something to supply it with fuel to burn so our body doesn’t have to consume the fat that has been stored on our body. Therefore a minor degree of hunger is a good thing because it lets us know our diet is working. If we can learn to say "no" to these minor hunger feelings between meals then we can be more successful in losing weight. However, when it is time for our next meal, or when our hunger reaches the point where all we can think about is how weak we feel and how hungry we are, then we need to eat something healthy. If it is almost time for our next meal then it is okay to eat our next meal a little early.

Will Power

When it comes to losing weight, "will power" is your ability to stay on your diet simply because you force yourself to do it through the strength of your will. There are very, very few people who can force their minds to think about something besides food when their bodies are telling them that they are really, really hungry and they should eat something. This would be similar to trying to force our brain to ignore a significant pain that we have somewhere on our body. Our brains help us stay alive by responding to the messages our brains receive from our bodies. Attempting to use “will power” to change the natural function of our brains is extremely difficult and most people cannot do it. Perhaps 1% of the people in the world can actually do this and these people will sometimes criticize the rest of us who can't do this as being "weak willed." In my opinion, we are not "weak willed." Instead we are normal people with normal body functions. Therefore please do not become discouraged if you cannot "force" your mind to think about something other than food when you become really hungry.

An easier way to use our brains to help us lose weight to do simple things that send subconscious messages to our brain that will help us to eat less. Previously in this chapter I have mentioned three activities that can send subconscious messages to our brains to help us lose weight:
  1. Slow down. Take small bites. Chew each bite completely before swallowing.
  2. Use a smaller 8.5 inch plate instead of a 10.5 inch plate.
  3. Brush your teeth after eating.
Some of the chapters later in this book also contain some additional simply things you can do that send subconscious messages to your brain to help you more easily lose weight.

Calorie Counting

An entire chapter will be devoted to calories later in this book. However, in this introductory chapter a few basic comments about calories are absolutely necessary.

A lot of scientific research has been conducted over the years to determine the number of calories burned by the human body when it does different types of activities, such as running, playing tennis, playing golf, riding a bicycle, walking, swimming, standing, sitting, and sleeping. In addition, research has been done to estimate the number of calories that need to be burned by the body in order to remove one pound of fat from the body.

The result of all this research has shown that:
  1. If we burn more calories than we eat per day we will lose weight.
  2. If we eat more calories than we burn per day we will gain weight.
  3. If we eat approximately the same number of calories that we burn per day then our weight will remain approximately the same.
On the average this is absolutely true. However, this simple calorie model does not take into consideration the nutrition per calorie.

Nutrition per Calorie

Some foods contain more nutrition per calorie than other foods. Nutrition is important for satisfying hunger and for maintaining a healthy body. Foods that are nutrient rich include beef, fish, pork, poultry, beans, dairy products, nuts, grains, fruits, and vegetables. These foods will satisfy your hunger and help you maintain a healthy body. Foods that are low in nutrition include cookies, candy, ice cream, white bread, white pasta, and potato chips. Foods that are low in nutrition will not help you maintain a healthy body nor will they provide you with a feeling of fullness after you eat them. Therefore although eating fewer calories per day than you burn per day will help you lose weight, you may be compromising your health if you are not careful in strategically selecting the types of foods you eat. That is why a diet should help you lose weight and improve your health. This can be accomplished by eating foods that have good nutritional values.

Nutrition Labels

Reading the nutrition labels and the list of ingredients on food packages will add a few minutes to the time you spend shopping. However, if you take positive action based on what you discover on those food labels then you may be able to add several years to your life. And your life may be a much healthier and more enjoyable one.

In the USA all commercially processed foods must contain a nutrition label. The information on that label must conform to the standards of the National Labeling and Education Act (NLEA).

However, nutrition labels are not required on fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and fresh unprocessed meat, fish, and poultry.

Anyone on a diet should carefully read and understand the information of the nutrition label on every food item that they are considering to purchase and eat. Each of the nutrition items on a nutrition label is discussed in detail, and in simple language, in a chapter by itself later in this book. However, following is a very brief explanation of the basic information on a nutrition label:
  1. Servings per Container: Either the exact number of servings or the approximate number of servings in the container.
  2. Serving Size: The amount of food on which all the nutritional data on the label is based. If there is one serving per container then the data also represents the nutrition for the entire container. If there is more than one serving per container then multiply the number of servings per container by the nutrition per serving to determine the total nutrition in the entire container.
  3. Calories per Serving: The number of calories based on the serving size specified on the label.
  4. Total Dietary Fat: Dietary fat is one of the body’s three primary sources of fuel. Fat helps keep the skin and hair healthy. Fat helps the body properly absorb some vitamins. Saturated fats raise your body’s bad LDL cholesterol level. Saturated fats come from butter, cheese, milk, and meat fat. Unsaturated fats can lower your body’s bad LDL cholesterol level. Unsaturated fats come from oils, such as olive oil, most nuts, peanut butter, vegetables, grain, meat, fish, and shellfish.
  5. Cholesterol: Cholesterol is used to make body cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D, and it helps the body digest food. The liver can make all the cholesterol the body requires. Plant foods contain no cholesterol. Cholesterol is in animal products such as butter, cheese, egg yolks, and meat. Too much bad LDL cholesterol can result in plaque that sticks to the walls of the blood arteries and this can cause serious health problems including death (blocked artery). HDL cholesterol contains more protein and less cholesterol and it can benefit the body. The liver stores and releases cholesterol to the body as it is needed.
  6. Sodium: Sodium is a mineral and it is regulated by the kidneys. Sodium is necessary for the body's nerves and muscles to function properly. However, extra sodium in the blood will attract more water into the blood (blood volume) and this increases blood pressure. Sodium is naturally present in most foods but it can also be added to foods. A lower sodium level can help control the fluid in your legs, heart, and lungs. Table salt is approximately 40% sodium and 60% chloride. Most commercially processed foods contain more sodium than the human body needs.
  7. Total Carbohydrates (Carbs): Carbohydrates are one of the body’s three primary sources of fuel. Carbohydrates contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They provide nutrients for the brain, for the nervous system, and for muscle functions. There are no carbohydrates in butter, fish, meat, or poultry. Simple carbs provide a quick energy burst. Simple carbs are in candy, cookies, sodas, sucrose sugar, and syrups. Complex carbs provide longer lasting energy. Complex carbs are in beans, corn, grain, nuts, peas, and potatoes. Total Carbs includes starches, fiber, and sugar. Fiber and sugar are usually shown below the Total Carb amount on the nutrition label. However the grams of fiber and sugar are already included in the Total Carb amount.
    • Starches: Starches are not listed as a separate category on a food nutrition label but they are part of the Total Carb value.
    • Dietary Fiber: Fiber is in plant foods (beans, fruit, grains, nuts, vegetables) but not in animal products (fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk). Fiber is a nutrient that the body cannot absorb. However, fiber helps to clean the digestive system so the body can expel what it doesn't need. Fiber needs a reasonable amount of water to facilitate its effectiveness.
    • Total Sugars: Includes all types of sugar including lactose and fructose.
      • Added Sugars, or Other Sugars, or Free Sugars: Sugars that are added to the natural sugars that are in the food. Added sugars are for flavor and they are included in the Total Sugars amount. Added sugars may appear under a variety of different names.
  8. Protein: Protein is one of the body’s three primary sources of fuel. Protein is the basic nutrition the body uses to create muscles and tendons, and to rejuvenate and provide nourishment to the skin and to the internal organs. Protein can increase the number of calories you burn while simultaneously reducing your appetite.
  9. Vitamins: Most nutrition labels will show the amount of vitamin D, Calcium, Iron, and Potassium per serving as a percent of the recommended daily dietary adult allowance (RDA) of that specific vitamin. The label may also include other vitamins if the food contains a reasonable percent of other vitamins.

Natural Foods, Processed Foods, and Fast Foods

Most commercially processed foods and fast foods contain too much sodium, added sugars, added fats and calories, and preservatives. Preservatives disrupt our stomach’s normal process of sending messages to the brain to let it know that we have eaten and that we are full. The extra salt causes our body to absorb more water which can make us feel dehydrated and bloated. These foods are designed to temporarily satisfy our hunger but they also increase our hunger more rapidly after eating. They cause us to eat more at one meal, and to become addicted to that particular food. This helps to increase the sales and profits of the food processing company or the restaurant. However, it is bad for us because we gain weight.

Natural foods, such as fresh meat, fruit, and vegetables, are more nutritious and they do not contain added ingredients that can adversely impact our health and our weight.

Fad Diets

Anyone who has just a little age on them can probably remember some of the "fad" diets that were extremely popular for short periods of time. Most of these diets helped a lot of people lose an impressive amount of weight in one or two weeks. The weight loss was possible because these fad diets starved the person's body of some essential nutrient that their body was accustomed to obtaining on a regular basis. When that nutrient was eliminated from the person's diet then their body began burning stored fat in an effort to compensate for the loss of that nutrient. The problem is that the human body cannot remain healthy for very long when it is deprived of something it really needs. When these people began feeling bad and they lacked the energy to do their normal daily activities then they began to eat some of the foods they had been denying themselves. The result was that they not only gained back all the weight they lost but they also put on additional weight because of their body's natural defense mechanism to protect itself from this type of nutrient starvation in the future. Therefore I strongly recommend that you carefully evaluate any diet that you are considering and verify that it is not totally lacking in some nutrient that your body needs. It is okay to eat less of a specified nutrient and to eat more of another nutrient. Depending on the nutrient that is minimized and the nutrient that is increased, there will be some health benefits associated with that particular type of diet. But there may also be some corresponding health problems depending on how extreme the diet is. This is where your doctor's advice can help you to not sacrifice your long-term health for a short-term temporary weight loss.

Exercise

Chapter 26 later in this book will be devoted to exercise. However, in this introductory chapter a few basic comments about exercise are absolutely necessary.

When we exercise we burn more calories. That is good. But any exercise you do should be approved by your doctor. For example, people with high blood pressure will usually be told by their doctor to not lift weights because it can aggravate their medical condition. Therefore listen to your doctor and select one or more types of exercise that your doctor recommends specifically for you.

Properly selected exercises can help tone specific parts of your body and help you become healthier and more attractive. When we first begin a regular exercise program our body's metabolism increases and we burn more calories. But eventually our body adjusts to our exercise routine and we are able to exercise regularly without burning as many calories as when we first began exercising because our body is now healthier and it is easier for our body to do the exercise.

In addition, exercise increases our feeling of hunger and it may take a little more food than before to help us feel satisfied. If this happens then our additional calorie intake may be equal to the number of calories we burn as a result of exercising and the net result will be that we don't lose any weight as a result of exercise. However, the exercise is still good because it helps to tone our bodies and improve our health. The reason I am including this paragraph is because some people frequently expect to see the same weight loss that they experienced when they first began exercising to continue for an extended period of time.

In my opinion a new exercise program should be delayed until after we have been on our new diet for four weeks. During our first month on a new diet most of us will have enough emotional stress to deal with that is related to the new diet. Therefore it will usually be easier to remain on a new diet if we do not immediately add a new exercise program to our schedule. In addition, weight is easier to lose the first four weeks on a new diet, and weight gradually becomes more challenging to lose the longer we remain on our diet. If we delay our new exercise program for four weeks then our body will be a little healthier, and our body will have adjusted to the foods we are now eating, and we will be emotionally, mentally, and physically ready to add a new exercise program into our schedule. And the new exercise program will help increase our total weight loss during our second month on a new diet which is when weight loss normally slows down for most people. This will add positive reinforcement to the benefit of our new exercise program and it may motivate us to continue our new exercises and not give up.

Fitness Tracking Watch or Wristband

Affordable attractive comfortable watches, or fitness wristbands, are now available on the internet. These devices will continuously monitor your daily activities, including sitting, walking, exercising, and sleeping, and those watches will keep track of and report the approximate number of calories you burn each day. This is a significant advantage for someone who is trying to lose weight.

Most watches require you link to a smart phone to do almost everything, including updating the watch to the correct time. The most common functions on these watches when linked to your smart phone include: heart rate, blood pressure, total steps walked (pedometer), distance traveled, and the number of calories burned for a variety of different activities, exercises, and sports. Usually only a few of these functions are imbedded in the memory chip of the watch. Most of these functions will only work after you have linked to a smart phone. Most watches require you to download their recommended software into your smart phone. The software determines what the watch can do and how the information is monitored and reported. Therefore read the customer reviews on the exact software that is recommended for your watch. Some of the software is free but some of the software has a monthly fee that can range from $0.99 per month up to $39 per month. Almost all of the software apps require that you agree to their privacy policy which states something like: "We sincerely respect your privacy. However, to use our software you must now agree to allow us to access all the information on your mobile device without any restrictions, including your most private and personal information. We assure you we will use your information discretely but we will also sell your information to third parties. If you agree to our privacy police then you also agree that you forfeit all your rights to sue us or any third party for any damages of any type that may result from the release of your confidential personal private information from now on and forevermore." Although something may be legal that does not mean it is also ethical or moral.

When your smart phone is nearby and it is turned “on” then most watches will alert you of phone calls and text messages. Some watches have a “find phone” feature to help you locate a misplaced phone. Most watches only work with specific types of smart phones. Therefore verify that the watch you are interested in will actually link to the type of smart phone you have.

Waterproof and water resistant are interpreted differently by each watch manufacturer. Read the customer reviews to see what actually happens to a specific watch if you take a shower or swim in a pool.

Some watches have an adjustable wristband. This is an important feature for someone who is loosing weight because your wrist diameter will gradually be shrinking.

Some watches have to be charged every day and some last several days. Some optional features are a GPS function, a stopwatch, an alarm, and a display brightness adjustment. Some watches (software) monitor sleep duration and type of sleep (light and deep). And a few watches (software) have a sedentary alert reminder that will inform if you have been sitting for too long so you can get up and move around to reactivate your metabolism. Some watches (software) include calorie tracking data on a greater variety of activities, exercises, and sports.

All watches have setup instructions. Some watches have very easy to follow instructions that can be done in a very short period of time. However, some watches have very complicated instructions that can take a very long time to properly execute. Read the customer reviews to determine the difficulty of the watch initialization instructions.

A huge selection of affordable watches and fitness bands are available for less than $50 on the internet and many are less than $40. There are also some that cost a lot more than $100. However, the price is not always related to the quality of the watch. Read the customer reviews very carefully if you are interested in purchasing one of these watches or fitness bands. Some of the advertised functions on some watches and fitness bands, including some of the extremely expensive ones, do not work properly and they should be avoided.

Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com

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