By Lisa M. Belisle, MD, MPH
Originally published March 13, 2008, The Maine Switch

Many of my otherwise healthy patients need to lose weight—by their own admission. When one tells me he is going on a “diet,” however, I cringe. “Dieting” usually involves significant food restrictions; sometimes even fasting. I have yet to see a patient who can stay with a restrictive diet for long. In my practice, I advocate eating enhancement: dietary revival rather than deprival.

Unnecessary dietary restrictions are one of the biggest reasons people cannot maintain a stable weight. Food is one thing we believe we can control. We can’t easily control the air that comes into our lungs. We can’t easily control the sounds we hear, or the smells that delight or annoy us. But once we are adults, we think we can control what we eat.

We often end up having less control than we realize. While it is true that we can chose what we put in our mouths, our attempt at control typically leads to over-control. Followed by hunger. (And feelings of deprivation.) Then bingeing. (Then guilt.) Then weight gain. Not surprisingly, National Nutrition Month in March follows hot on the heels of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

If we aren’t over-controlling our eating, it’s likely that our efforts to partake of appropriate nourishment are stymied by the confusing array of opinions we are offered. Proteins vs. carbs? Good fats vs. bad? We long for simple directives. The book Eat This, Not That has been wildly successful—and small wonder. It promises a simple solution. To lose weight, chose ‘this’ food, instead of ‘that’ higher fat and calorie version. Eat This falls a little short of the mark (are Yoo Hoo Chocolate Drinks even represented on the Food Pyramid?)—but the concept is good. Start where you are, and make positive changes.

The cookbook Deceptively Delicious also employs positive change techniques. It suggests using pureed produce as a way to get nutrients into picky eaters. This does have the potential to backfire when carried to extremes: a child may refuse to eat whole-bean restaurant chili if he has been getting pureed-bean chili at home. Then there’s the somewhat unsavory deception concept… but it’s hard to disagree with the idea of enhancing—reviving—one’s diet.

Dietary revival is not complicated. It involves adding one body-friendly item at a time to your meal plan. Start with whole grains. Not bread, bagels or crackers made of whole grains: the actual grains themselves. Put energizing oatmeal into your morning (see my November 2007 “Oats” column) and finish the day with sweet smelling Basmati brown rice. Then grace your plates with antioxidant-rich vegetables and fruit; followed by heart-loving legumes (beans). You’ll find that your stomach will be too full to need previously desired, less healthy options, and the pounds will melt away.

As the pounds melt away, you will realize that you have gained something even better: food joy. You will revel in the fragrant grains, drool over your voluptuous veggies—and who knows where your legumes will lead you? All because you have engaged in a dietary revival.