Basic HTML Version
30
see that your youngster eats only at
regular intervals.
Your child may not initially Jike
his new manner of eating. But you
can overcome this problem if you
make the food as appealing as pos–
sible. There are many low-calorie
cookbooks that will assist you.
VI. Avoid Fad Diets
-
Especially With Children
By
all means, do not place your
youngster on any fad or crash diet.
These diets not only fail to instill
lasting diet habits, but they can do
irreparable damage in children. Such
diets are nutritionally unbalanced.
Sorne skimp on vital protein -
others on carbohydrates or fats. But
all three
elements in proper amounts
are essential for sound health in
growing children. Children need
more protein than adults, so don't
apply adult diets to children without
professional guidance.
VIl . Encouragement
Next, you must seek to make your
child more active. But how can you
encourage him to get more exercise?
Constant nagging - such as "Why
do you sit and watch television all
day?" - won't do the job.
It
will
only succeed in creating more
frustration.
Instead, make exercise a family en–
deavor. Include your overweight
child in family hikes or bicycle trips.
Encourage him to cultivate an active
interest in sports by teaching him to
play tennis, volleyball, or to
participate in a number of other
activities. He may feel self-conscious
and awkward at first. But with real
patience, praise, and encouragement
on your part, your child will gradu–
ally gain more self-assurance and
will even begin to join in with other
boys and girls in their physical
activities.
In fact,
encouragement
should be
the key word in any reducing
program for obese children. Such
youngsters have received enough em–
barrassment about their size - they
don't need more. Genuine concern
and !ove - but not "smother love"
- combined with a sound regimen
of diet and exercise will produce re–
sults in most cases.
Your child will then be on the
road to a healthier and happier
life.
The
PLAIN TRUTH
(Continued from page 28)
( sugars, starches, and fats), while
maintaining an otherwise well-balanced
and adequate diet.
Srtch a diet does not
involve actual/y going hungry."
"lt
should be, as far as possible,
a
diet one /ikes and is willing to us.e in–
definitely" (Ntttrition and Physical Fit–
ness,
p.
461).
There is the vital key most dieters
ignore!
Your diet has to be a
way of life.
You must live with these foods (and
exercises) the rest of your life. You
must undertake a program to
re–
program your taste buds.
It's widely understood that a weight
loser cannot allow himself the luxuries
of rich desserts, pastries, or most pack–
aged and prepared "goodies." But the
key is not stoic self-denial. The key
is educating yourself to
enjoy
a bal–
anced diet for the rest of your life. It
involves a new attitude toward food.
What Type of Diet is Best ?
"Diets" won't work - for most
people. Nobody's life is so regimented
that they can eat the same foods at the
same hour day in and day out. Sucl1
dull dieting is not necessary. Calorie
counting is also a bothersome chore
that most dieters abandon, with good
reason.
However, there are a number of ef–
fective weight reducing
programs
(not
"diets") today which offer wholesome,
balanced, nutritionally sound plans for
consistent, safe, and
deliciotJS
continued
weight Joss.
Dramatic results do not occur over–
night. But encoucaging and noticeable
results take place within weeks. And the
99%
of overweight people who
DON'T
have medical problems
WILL
reach their
ideal weight "legally" within a few
short months. Ten pounds loss per
month is normal -
IF
the program is
honestly followed .
And the weight
stays
off, because
proper eating habits are firmly estab–
lished by months of diligent usage. As
you lose weight, your body consumes
slightly
fewer
calories per day, and your
weight will automatically leve! off at
where it should be.
Proper weight reduction programs,
such as
Weight Watchers,
are based on
November 1971
taking in fewer calories, even though
the members do not officially "count"
calories. The program prescribes "un·
limited" low-caloried foods, and speci–
fically Jimited, although generous, por–
tions of medium-calorie food .
The highly successful
Weight W atch–
ers lntemational,
and its many imitative
competitors,
require
you to eat every–
thing listed, because each course of food
contains vital nutrients. Sometimes the
required food
is
much more quantity
than the dieter is used to.
We highly recommend food pro–
grams like
Weight Watcher's,
which
are based on most of the proper
principies of weight reduction. They
prescribe good food, plenty of it, de–
licious new recipes, and an environment
of people who share similar goals.
But there are sorne cautions: don't
join unless you're really serious about
losing weight. Don't kid yourself, or
"cheat," because you'll only be cheating
yourself. Also,
if
you are confident in
your own willpower, you may want to
follow a proper eating progcam on your
own without joining a club.
If
so,
obtain the proper program of eating,
and follow it alone. But remember, ex–
perience shows that most people need
help -:- from their family or overweight
friends in a club.
A third point to remember is that
proper eating habits are not enough.
Proper food is the most important point
by far. But proper exercise is also im–
portant and belpful toward weight loss,
despite what any "food-only" program
may tell you.
The Role of Exercise
You can lose weight without exercise,
BUT
you can lose a pound
more
per
week
with
exercise. More importantly,
you will feel better and your weight
will be muscle and tissue, not fat.
The people in our "have" nations
and Western democracies are not the
vigorous, out-of-doors, physically active
people they once were. We don't
get as much daily physical activity
as our grandmothers and grandfathers
did.
The average worker, though, would
rather ride than walk, use elevators
rather than climb stairs, and use push–
button machines rather than elbow