Part 3 In A Series-Which One Will Work For You??
Today, I had the typical dieters dilemma. What I thought turned out to be a healthy menu choice whilst eating lunch with the hubby turned out not to be. I was hungry for a portabella mushroom sandwich, because, seriously, I love the things. When typically prepared, they’re like 6 WW points (with low carbo bun). I was proud of myself for skipping the fries and got a side salad, I even had the waitress hold the mayo. So what’s the problem, dieter? But once my sammie arrived, the mushroom, to my disappointment, was FRIED. No where on the menu did it say “deep fat fried” and yes, I should have asked.
Which brings me to an interesting point—and something I’ll explore in next weeks blog—What do you do? Send it back? Eat it anyway? Scrape off the fried part? I’ll get into the ins and outs of sticking to your diet whilst eating out…and no, I don’t want you to ALWAYS have to order the grilled chicken salad.
Today, Part 3 of dieting types—the fixed menu, exchange type and alas, the QUESTIONABLE diet (I’ve been on a lot of these so I thought I’d throw it in). Have you chosen one yet?
Fixed-menu diet.
A fixed-menu diet provides you with a list of all the foods you can and will eat. This kind of diet can be easy to follow because the foods are already selected for you. The only problem is that a fixed diet doesn’t offer many food choices which may cause a dieter to get bored eating the same ol’ same ol. Fixed menu diets are also difficult when you’re away from home or eating out!
The Exchange Diet.
Another successful dieting type, the exchange diet is a meal plan with a set number of servings from each of several food groups. Within each group, foods are usually equal in calories and can be interchanged as you wish. For example, a serving from the “starch” category could include one slice of bread or 1/2 cup of oatmeal. Each one is about equal in calories. If your meal plan calls for two starches for breakfast, you could eat two slices of bread, or one slice of bread and 1/2 cup of oatmeal. With the exchange diet plans you have day-to-day variety and can easily follow the diet away from home or when eating out. The most important advantage is that exchange-type diet plans teach the food selection skills you need to keep your weight off.
The Questionable Diet.
Beware of any diet that suggests you only eat a certain nutrient, food, or combination of foods to promote easy weight loss (think Cabbage Soup!). These diets may work in the short term because they are low in calories and usually change a dieters eating habits for the short term. Be careful—many are often unbalanced and may cause nutrient deficiencies. In addition, they do not teach good eating habits that are important for long-term weight management.
See You On Monday!