Weight-loss Programs That Are Non-calorie Counting

For the 72.9 percent of Americans that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds are living at an excess weight, engaging in a healthier way of eating is essential. Solving obesity requires eating fewer calories than you expend each day but continuously counting calories, like any other form of deprivation dieting, is unlikely to be sustainable. For lifelong weight management, healthy eating habits must become instinctive and correct portions have to be automatically recognizable.

Low-Carbohydrate Diets

In 1972, cardiologist Robert Atkins, M.D., released The Atkins Diet Revolution. This very low-carbohydrate diet excludes most all forms of fruits and all starches in the earliest phase so that the body starts to burn its own fat as fuel. Later, low-carbohydrate fruits are added in very small portions and once a healthy weight is achieved, a maintenance diet is used to maintain the weight loss with carbohydrates staying at 15g to 30g each day. Atkins appears to be an excellent way to take off weight initially but is less effective when a period of weight loss of longer than three months is required. These findings were affirmed by the work of Gary D. Foster, Ph.D., and his colleagues, published in the May 22, 2003 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Eco-Atkins Diet Lowers LDL-Cholesterol

A modification of the Atkins diet called Eco-Atkins replaces the high-fat meats with plant sources of protein supplemented by eggs, milk and tofu. David Jenkins, M.D., and a research team from Canada assigned 47 overweight men and women to either the eco-Atkins diet or a calorie-restricted diet for one month. In the June 2009 issue of the annuals of Medicine, they reported that both diets produced weight loss but the eco-Atkins plan alone helped lower the participants' low-density lipoprotein or LDL cholesterol. This is important because obesity is often a factor in the development of cardiovascular disease or diabetes, and improving LDL can lower the risks associated with both conditions.

DASH Diet to Manage High Blood Pressure

The National Institutes of Health or NIH gathered a collection of dietary approaches aimed at stopping hypertension or D.A.S.H. to help people lose a modest amount of weight and lower their blood pressure without medication. Rather than counting calories, those on the DASH plan aim to eat five fruits and five vegetable servings each day. Skim milk, nuts, fish and whole grains complete this diet. The NIH says the primary goal of lowering blood pressure is best reached when a DASH participant loses 10 percent of her body weight.

Visual Approaches

Eating has strong visual components that can be used to make weight reduction easier and more sustainable. Rather than counting the calories of food on the plate, if the plate is artistically designed and garnished, you can get greater satisfaction in smaller portions. This is a technique borrowed from the chefs at fine restaurants. They do it to make tiny portions of very expensive food look more generous. It can also be used to trick the appetite. Filling half of a small plate with vegetables and a small side plate with salad is a great start to meal planning. Adding a small piece of fish or a handful of nuts to the left lower quarter of the plate and a 1/3 cup serving of a starchy vegetable or whole grain in the right lower quarter paints a meal that is beautiful and naturally calorie controlled. This can be complemented by garnishes of cilantro, parsley or curled endive along with radish roses, grape tomatoes or julienned slivers of carrot, cucumber and jicima, all healthy vegetables.