A noted physician offers a diet which doesn't require skipping
your favorite foods just your favorite conversation topic
Eat and Stay Slim
-the
Shirley brown is not her real name, but I can
assure you she's a very real person with a very
common problem weight
"I just can't stick to a diet, doctor," she told me
sadly while plumped rather overstuff edly in. the
office chair. "I guess I have no will power."
She had picked out a "no-something" diet that
promised to slim her down in a week or so. At a
party, though, one glance at that villainous but
delectable "something" started her sighing about
"the agony of being on a diet"
Like a conspirator, the hostess whispered into her
ear. "This is a party. Breaking your diet doesn't
count After all, you've got to have fun."
Shirley got her fun and eventually the three
pounds she had lost in previous, days. Now she was
disconsolate, suffering the depression of a sincere
dieter who had cheated herself.
To many doctors, this depression seems com
pletely unnecessary. There's an easy, healthy way
to diet, one which takes away poundage without
taking away fun. Call it a "scrimp diet" "secret
diet," or "reduce-and-have-fun diet" the name
isn't important The results are, though.
Shirley Brown went on such a diet She elimi
nated more than 1,000 calories per day and in four
months had lost 30 pounds, bringing her to normal
weight There were two phases in her campaign.
First, she kept her mouth shut about it Remem
ber, while a diet may be fascinating to the dieter,
it's a bore to others. Possibly to avenge this bore
dom, well-meaning friends and relatives seem dedi
cated to sidetracking the dieter. "Just take a bite of
this"... "Oh, two spoonfuls won't hurt"
Even a strong-willed person, battling his own
appetite, weakens under the entreaties of people he
likes and respects. And once a diet is broken, it's
rarely pieced together.
Shirley went to parties and luncheons, but she
didn't inflict her dieting on friends. Consequently,
they left her free to eat what she wanted.
Didn't people notice she was cutting out some
foods? No, because Shirley did not cut out any
foods. She merely cut dotcn.
This is the second and key phase of the diet
You eat normally but less of everything. Thus, you
enjoy both food and social life and let others enjoy
them, too. An individual's modified diet of course,
will depend on what he normally eats, but here's
how Shirley Brown adjusted her calories and, in
turn, her figure:
by MILTON PLOTZ, M.D. ,
Clinical Professor of Medicine,
State University of New York
with JACK RYAN
SoM Way
Breakfast was one poached or boiled egg instead
of two fried ones, saving 125 calories. She ate dry
cereal with milk (two ounces, 40 calories) instead
of heavy cream (two ounces, 200 calories), saving
160 calories. There was no bread for breakfast on
the days she ate cereal.
At lunch she ate a salad with vinegar dressing
made with a touch of sugar. Eliminating two table
spoons of the usual mayonnaise saved 200 calories.
When she felt like having a sandwich, she used two
slices of thin bread (100 calories) and buttered
them with one teaspoon of butter (50 calories, in
stead of a tablespoon of butter at 150 calories) . She
drank a glass of skim milk (80 calories less than
whole milk) once a day and ate unsweetened apple
sauce, or a peach, pear, or melon. They substituted
for the two doughnuts she used to eat and cut down
300 calories.
At dinner she ate soup, meat (without gravy) and
vegetables, and a small portion of rice or noodles or
potatoes, too. For dessert, she enjoyed a small piece
of plain cake or a portion of plain ice cream or a
half-portion of pie; or one ounce of cheese with
three or four crackers. That brought caloric intake
down from 400 to 200. Total savings for the day:
more than 1,000 calories.
Shirley Brown increased her portions slightly
when she reached her normal weight But she never
went completely off the diet Lake many obese per
sons, she often asked, "Will I have to diet forever?"
The answer for all is "probably yes."
But dieting isn't a lifetime of grapefruit juice and
raw carrots or yogurt and steaks. It's a normal
amount of proteins and minerals without any for
bidden foods just forbidden large portions.
Any good diet must be nutritionally adequate, of
course. Each of us, at every age, needs-the basic
seven foods every day 1) green and yellow vege
tables; 2) oranges and other citrus fruits, cabbage,
and salad greens; 3) potatoes, fruit, and vegetables;
4) milk and its products; 5) meat fish, and fresh
eggs; 6) bread, other cereals; 7) butter, margarine,
other fats, oils, and carbohydrates.
This means that if you eat meat fish, or cheese
each day, the fat requirement will be met by the
natural fat in those foods, which are primarily pro
tein but contain some fat Butter, other shortenings,
gravies, and oil or mayonnaise should be taken in
light quantities. Starches, too, can be reduced but
not eliminated.
So-called "crash diets" are not harmful in them
selves; although vitamin-deficient, they could
even be valuable as "starters" or "pump-primers"
for a few days. But when a "crash diet" ends, the
dieter starts eating again. The excess weight returns
and with it the dieter's depression. Besides, alter
nately "crashing" and "gorging" can be harmful.
If you must adopt a crash diet look upon it only
as the beginning of your long-range secret diet with
its modified but well-balanced caloric intake. And
get used to the idea that you can never eat as much
as in the old days. In time, you will find you have
developed new eating habits that will be as uncon
scious a part of your daily living as any other habit
Modified dieting is based on the simple fact that
Americans don't need as much food as they eat We
have a tradition of hearty eating, and we are blessed
with a full larder. Consequently, most of us over
eat Huge meals were fine for our ancestors who
labored heavily, but we have become a sedentary
people who no longer work off what we consume.
There's another American tradition which is
making us a nation of fatties overwhelming hos
pitality. Ever since the Pilgrims, hosts have been
stuffing guests with rich foods and feeling insulted
if the plate isn't wiped clean.
An American who wants to adjust his eating to
his living habits hasn't got a chance unless he re-
mains secretive about it It's sad but true: for most
of us, even talk is fattening!
COVER:
The spirited girls in Ozzie Sweet's cover
photo make skiing look as easy as building
a snowman. Actually, it takes great skill
just as this dramatic action shot on the
slopes near Waitsfield, Vt, required all
the camera know-how at Sweet's command.
nimilv
Wlrlv January 24. I960
LEONARD S. DAVIDOW President end Publisher
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