Neal D. Barnard - A Physicians Slimming Guide: For Permanent Weight Control

Neal D. Barnard, M.D.

President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

1992 Neal D. Barnard, M.D.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any
means whatsoever, except for brief quotations in reviews, without written
permission from the publisher.

Published in the United States by
Book Publishing Company
PO Box 99
Summertown, TN 38483

(888) 260-8458
www.bookpubco.com

Cover and interior design by Barbara McNew

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barnard, Neal, D., 1953
A physicians slimming guide: for permanent weight control/

Neal D. Barnard.

p. cm.

Includes biographical references.

ISBN 0-913990-91-4

1. Reducing. I. Title.

RM222.2B382 1992

613.25--dc20 92-9631

CIP

Printed in the Canada

ISBN13 978-0-913990-91-9

10 9 8 7 6

This book offers a new approach to weight control. If your goal is a slimmer body and more energy than you have had in years, this program is more powerful than any diet you have ever tried. It is not a diet. It is a comprehensive program that brings about better weight control than old-fashioned diets ever could.

In this program, we will not compromise. We will use all the factors that are known to promote permanent healthful weight control. You will boost your metabolic rate through food selection, shift your menu from calorie-dense fatty foods to foods with a much better nutrient makeup, and bring in other ways to burn calories more effectively.

This book was written because most diets have not been very successful. Many are simply too weak to get results. Others use an artificial formula approach that no one could live with permanently. They may cause a phenomenal weight loss for a few weeks, followed by a huge weight gain back to and beyond the starting point. These frustrating results are caused by the poor design of the diets.

There is a much better way. For years, researchers have used many different kinds of diets to improve health: diets to help people lose weight, lower their cholesterol levels, or deal with various health problems. From these studies, it is clear that there are certain factors which are critical to success in longterm weight control.

For example:

Certain foods add easily to fat stores while others do not.

Certain foods will alter your metabolism so that calories are burned more effectively.

Weight loss should be gradual, not sudden.

And, most importantly, a menu that is very low in fat, high in fiber and carbohydrate, and modest in protein, is extraordinarily powerful for weight control.

We will examine these and many other factors in detail.

Old diets focused mainly on quantity. In the new approach used in this program, the type of food that makes up the menu is considerably more important than the quantity of food. In other words, you can eat until you are full and still lose weight. No more skimpy portions. If you find that difficult to believe, consider the research. Many clinical studies have examined diets that are based on very small portions and other diets that change the type of food but not the quantity. It turns out that the type of food you eat is much more important for permanent weight control than the portion size. In fact, skimpy portion diets can actually impair your ability to burn off calories. Research also shows that thin people actually eat more food, not less, compared to most overweight people. In this program, we will shift the diet toward foods that boost the metabolism and which do not easily add to body fat.

There are also specific factors that make the process of change easier. A diet that brings about long-term success is much more rewarding than one that yields only modest or short-term results. So this program is designed to be as effective as possible.

We will also have opportunities to try new kinds of foods. This is not only fun, it is the critical step in building a new body. Tasting food is when theories about weight control turn into practice. You will learn about specific new foods to try, including menus, recipes, and shopping lists. In addition, we will look at ways to bring in family and friends. They are our allies in lifes changes. We will see how to help them help us.

When you put this program to work for you, you can have the slimmest body nature ever intended for you.

This program is divided into three parts:

Get all you can out of this program. No corners were cut in bringing this information to you; do not cut any corners in putting it into action.

You can succeed. So be patient, and dont rush. It took time for you to gain weight, and it will take time for it to come off again. Overly rapid weight loss can lead to a rebound of weight gain, so let the pounds come off gradually. I think you will be happy with the new you.

This book is not intended to take the place of medical advice.

If you have any medical condition or are on medication, you should consult your doctor before making any substantial change in your diet. Dietary changes can sometimes change your need for medication or have other important effects.

You should also see your doctor before any substantial increase in your physical activity if you are over forty or have any medical condition.

If you are preganant or nursing, of if you follow this program strictly for more than three years, then take 3 micrograms supplemental vitamin B12 each day.

We need to think differently about the approach to losing weight. Forget old-fashioned diets. There are very good reasons why they do not work well. Your body was not designed recently. The human body took shape millions of years ago, long before diets were invented. At that time, the lack of food meant only one thing, starvation; and if the body could not cope with the lack of food, the result was life-threatening. So we have built-in mechanisms to preserve ourselves in the face of low food intake. These defenses are automatically put to work. When you go on a low-calorie diet, you know that you are doing so to lose weight. But your body does not know that. As far as your body is concerned you are starving, and it will trigger a number of biological mechanisms to try and stop you.