How To Stay Trim for Life A three-step guide

Stay Fit (And Hot) For... Joseph Covino Jr. Best Price: $8.00 Buy New $24.19 (as of 11:55 UTC - Details)

I have never been on a diet, but that is about to change – thanks to an argument with the waistband of my favourite shorts and new research suggesting that middle-aged spread increases the risk of frailty in old age – along with myriad other degenerative complaints.

At just over 14st (89kg) and 6ft 3in (1.9m) I don’t have a serious weight issue – more an unsightly spare tyre – but that is not why I have never dieted. My main objection is that more than 20 years in the job have taught me that diets do not work. They may briefly help you to squeeze into your shorts or bikini, but you are almost certain to return to, or even exceed, your pre-diet weight.

The Fat Flush Foods : ... Ann Louise Gittleman Best Price: $0.10 Buy New $5.89 (as of 08:50 UTC - Details)

Analyse all the research in this area and you are likely to come to the same conclusion – the only weight-management programmes that work in the long term involve lifelong change to diet and lifestyle, or stomach surgery. Anything else is doomed to long-term failure, explaining why so many of my overweight patients have shelves of diet books. If they worked they would need only one.

But profound long-term change is not going to get me into my shorts in time for our trip to Menorca – and gastric banding is going a tad too far – so I am going to follow the advice I give my patients. Physician heal thyself.

Step 1 is to work out where you are going wrong. The first thing I do when advising an overweight patient is to request a seven-day diary of everything he eats or drinks. This often reveals the problem, and patients can be surprised at how much they eat when they see it totted up. If it’s not a quantity problem it’s invariably quality.They eat the wrong types of food, typically high-fat or high-sugar, full of calories. NHS dieticians can provide more expert assessment and nutritional education.

Common problems with teenagers and older children include “hidden” calories in soft drinks, including juices – orange juice contains as much sugar as cola – which can account for 20 per cent of some children’s intake.

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June 29, 2009