10 Tips from the No-Fad Diet

1. Set a personal weight-loss goal and write it down. Start with a goal of losing about 10 percent of your current body weight.
2. Keep a food diary for one week. Write down everything you eat and drink.
3. Pay attention to what you are eating now and why. Identify the sources of your personal "hidden" calories, such as eating your child's leftovers.
4. Substitute fat-free or low-fat milk for whole milk, and save about 65 calories for each eight-ounce serving.
5. Watch nutrition labels: Products labeled "low-fat" can be high in calories. For example, low-fat yogurt can be high in calories. Enjoy fat-free, no-sugar-added yogurt instead for a fraction of the calories.
6. Include high-fiber foods, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, in your diet. They take longer to digest, so they make you feel full longer. In addition, many fruits and vegetables contain water, which provides volume but not calories.
7. Cut your favorite candy bar into bite-size pieces. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and store the pieces in the freezer. When a sugar craving hits, unwrap and eat one piece. By the time the candy thaws in your mouth, your craving may be satisfied.
8. Identify the nonessential, high-calorie foods you buy out of habit. Stop buying them! If they're not in your pantry, you won't eat them.
9. Make extra amounts of your favorite low-calorie foods and freeze individual portions. It's an easy way to control portion size and have handy options available for last-minute meals and snacks.
10. When eating out, consider having two low-calorie appetizers instead of an entree. It will help you feel satisfied and full without splurging on calories.

Diet Advice. . . Straight from the Heart Association

New No-Fad Diet offers eating and activity options, shuns extremes.

THE SOUTH BEACH DIET, the grapefruit diet, The Zone, the ice-cream diet and now… the American Heart Association diet? Unlike its rivals on the bestseller list and in popular women's magazines, the new "personal plan for healthy weight loss" from the nation's leading cardiovascular health organization doesn't promise rapid weight loss or require you to abandon balanced eating habits. The book's name makes the intent clear right on the cover: No-Fad Diet (Clarkson Potter, $24.95).

"The intent on doing this was to try to get around the faddish diets," explains Robert Eckel, MD, recently elected president of the American Heart Association (AHA) and a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado. "The theme is based on behavior, nutrition and physical activity."

Bottom line, the book makes clear that weight loss is all about calories. "To lose weight you really have to eat less than you burn," says Dr. Eckel. Subtract about 500 calories a day from what you now eat and you'll lose roughly a pound a week. That's not exactly the "magic" or "instant" weight loss promised by fad diets--but it's a plan the AHA says will work and that ordinary people can sustain.

The No-Fad Diet is also refreshingly free of no-no's. Says Dr. Eckel, "There's no forbidden food…. All foods can be part of a healthy diet--it's really about what the overall diet looks like."

That flexible approach carries over into the variety of options the book presents. First you might want to try the "switch and swap approach," which is based on the idea that you can subtract calories by making small but effective changes in your daily eating patterns. Keep a food diary, this approach advises, and look for opportunities to shave calories with changes you'll barely notice. At breakfast, for example, if you substitute a tablespoon of all-fruit spread for the margarine on your toast and switch from whole milk to fat-free, you've cut 135 calories and the day's barely started.

The second strategy is dubbed "the 75 percent solution." It's as simple as it sounds: Eat three-quarters of what you do now. You can continue to eat most of the things you like--just eat less of each. This approach seems to work particularly well for busy people on the go, according to the AHA.

Finally, the book presents more than 190 recipes and shows how to use them as elements in two weeks' worth of daily menus calculated at 1,200, 1,600 and 2,000 calories. The recipes don't look like you're "dieting": They range from pork tenderloin with cranberry salsa to pumpkin praline mousse, from risotto with porcini mushrooms and chicken to soba noodles in peanut sauce. (See the sample on the next page.)

But there's more to weight loss than what you eat--which the No-Fad Diet, unlike many of its faddish counterparts, acknowledges. The book takes a triple-pronged approach to losing weight, beginning with "Think Smart" (setting goals, getting started, dealing with setbacks), followed by its "Eat Well" strategies and then advice on how to "Move More." This section walks you through a fitness self-assessment and goal-setting. Next, in keeping with the book's "one size doesn't fit all" philosophy, it again serves up three alternative strategies--you can find the one that suits you best:

• The Lifestyle Approach --Commit to performing small activities throughout your day, on top of what you normally do, to add up to an increased amount of total activity. These extra activities could range from golf to square dancing to hiking and backpacking.

• The Walking Program --A six-week plan to get from 10 minutes of walking on most days to 30 minutes a day, seven days a week.

• The Organized Activity Option --Participate in scheduled classes or play sports to add activity into your life.

The book also shows how to mix and match these active strategies to create a combination that suits your interests and schedule.

In formulating its No-Fad Diet, the heart association drew on a team of in-house experts and recipe developers, plus more than a dozen nutrition experts including Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, Gershoff professor at Tufts' Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Though the AHA has previously published heart-healthy cookbooks, this is its first self-proclaimed "diet" book. Proceeds from book sales will go to fund heart research.

Recipe Sample HAM & BROCCOLI WITH ROTINI
From the American Heart Association's No-Fad Diet, published by Clarkson Potter.

4 quarts water
6 oz. dried whole-wheat or regular rotini
1 1/2 cups small broccoli florets
1 large red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
4 slices reduced-fat American cheese
3 oz. low-fat, lower-sodium ham, thinly sliced and chopped
2 Tbsp. fat-free milk
¼ to ½ tsp. dried thyme, crumbled
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne

In a stockpot, bring the water to a boil over high heat. Boil the pasta for 7 minutes.

Stir in the broccoli and bell pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender-crisp. Drain well in a colander. Return to the pot.

Stir in the remaining ingredients. Spoon the mixture onto plates.

Yield: 4 servings, 1 1/2 cups each

Per serving: Calories: 292. Total fat: 5 grams. Saturated fat: 2.5 grams.

Polyunsaturated fat: 0.5 grams. Monounsaturated fat: 0.5 grams. Cholesterol: 19 milligrams. Sodium: 587 milligrams. Carbohydrates: 48 grams. Fiber: 3 grams. Sugar: 7 grams. Protein: 17 grams.

Source: Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, Sep2005