Six week plan to a healthier you

A Harvard Medical School Special Health Report

The Harvard Medical School

6-Week Plan
for Healthy Eating
In this report:
Week-by-week
action plan
Setting goals
for success
Easy ﬁxes for
healthier eating
Smart supermarket
choices
Weight control tips
14 delicious recipes

Price: $29

This Harvard Health Publication was prepared exclusively for Judith Coulson - Geissmann - Purchased at http://www.health.harvard.edu/

Copyright Notice
This report is copyrighted by Harvard University and is protected by
U.S. and international copyright. All rights reserved.

Here’s what you CAN do

Here’s what you CAN’T do
(without prior permission)
-

-

-

-

-

to others.

explain what is legal and what is not.

For more information
Copyright Clearance Center (CCC)

Permissions Requests

Licensing, Bulk, and Corporate Sales

Harvard Health Publications

Harvard Health Publications | Harvard Medical School | 10 Shattuck Street, Second Floor | Boston, MA 02115


THE HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
6-WEEK PLAN FOR HEALTHY EATING
SPECIAL HEALTH REPORT

Faculty Editor
Teresa Fung, Sc.D., R.D., L.D.N.
Adjunct Professor, Harvard School of Public
Health; Professor of Nutrition, Simmons College

Nutrition Editor

Kathy McManus, M.S., R.D., L.D.N.
Director, Department of Nutrition, Brigham
and Women’s Hospital
Writer
Courtney Humphries
Editor
Christine Junge
Copyeditor
Jana Sweeney
Creative Director
Judi Crouse
Production Manager
Lori Wendin
Illustrators
Alex Gonzalez, Jesse Tarantino
Photography
Michael Carroll, Heather Derocher
Published by Harvard Medical School
Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D., Editor in Chief
Edward Coburn, Publishing Director
In association with
Belvoir Media Group, LLC, 800 Connecticut Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06854-1631. Robert Englander, Chairman and
CEO; Timothy H. Cole, Executive Vice President, Editorial
Director; Philip L. Penny, Chief Operating Officer; Greg
King, Executive Vice President, Marketing Director; Ron Goldberg,
Chief Financial Officer; Tom Canfield, Vice President, Circulation.
Copyright ©2013 by Harvard University. Written permission is
required to reproduce, in any manner, in whole or in part, the
material contained herein. Submit reprint requests in writing to:

10 Shattuck St., 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02115
617-432-1485 Fax: 617-432-4719

Web Site

For the latest information and most up-to-date publication
list, visit us online at www.health.harvard.edu.

Customer Service

For all subscription questions or problems (rates, subscribing, address changes, billing problems) call 877-649-9457,
send an email to HarvardProd@StrategicFulfillment.com,
or write to Harvard Health Publications, P.O. Box 9308,
Big Sandy, TX 75755-9308.

Ordering Special Health Reports

Harvard Medical School publishes Special Health Reports
on a wide range of topics. To order copies of this or other
reports, please see the instructions at the back of this
report, or go to our website: www.health.harvard.edu.
For bulk rates, corporate sales and licensing:
Belvoir Media Group, Attn: Harvard Health Publications
P.O. Box 5656, Norwalk, CT 06856-5656
email: licensing@belvoir.com

Contents
What makes a diet “healthful”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Practical steps for a healthful diet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Dietary Guidelines for Americans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Beyond food: Weight control
for health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
How much to eat? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Getting started on the six-week plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Creating your food diary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Shopping smarts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Becoming label-savvy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Make a clean start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Begin by setting goals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Boost your health at breakfast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The healthy breakfast plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Setting goals for breakfast success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Fresh starts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Make a morning exercise appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Curb coffee-drink calories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

A healthy break for lunch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The healthy lunch plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Setting goals for lunch success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
What’s for lunch? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Lunchtime strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

A dinner makeover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The healthy dinner plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Setting goals for dinner success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Sneaky ways to get in more fruits and vegetables . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Upgrade your prepared entrées . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Outwit your appetite at home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Outwit your appetite at restaurants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Outwit your appetite at parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Sensible snacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Setting goals for snacking success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Smarter snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Keep it going . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The big picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Keep up the good work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Cooking kickoff: Recipes for success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

ISBN 978-1-61401-043-2

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

The goal of materials provided by Harvard Health Publications is to interpret medical information for the general
reader. This report is not intended as a substitute for
personal medical advice, which should be obtained directly
from a physician.

Glosssary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49


Dear Reader,
Every day, you make dozens of decisions about what to eat. Will you cook at home or eat out?
Will you grab a pastry to satisfy a craving? Will you take a second helping or pass? In the moment, each decision seems small, but together they add up to a lifestyle. Research shows that the
choices you make—including the foods you eat—profoundly influence your health and longevity.
Putting smart choices into practice day in and day out is really the backbone of nutrition.
Our environment shapes our decisions, often without our conscious awareness. Foods that aren’t
healthful beckon us from restaurants, grocery stores, vending machines, coffee shops, and food
stands. Often the foods that are least healthful are the most accessible, affordable, and easy. With
our environment working against us, it takes active planning and effort to make healthful choices.
The proportion of money spent on food eaten outside of the home rose from 26% in 1970 to
41% in 2010. That’s not a good thing, because if you don’t prepare your own food, you don’t control what you eat. Eating out typically means eating more calories, saturated fat, alcohol, added
sugars, and sodium, and fewer fruits and vegetables. After all, the primary interest of food manufacturers is selling food, not keeping you healthy.
However, here’s the good news: making healthful choices is getting easier because research is
providing better information about what constitutes a healthful diet.
This report translates the latest nutrition science into practical steps. It will help you analyze your
diet and establish goals for healthful meals and snacks. You’ll also create a week-by-week plan
that incorporates practical changes to help you make your goals a reality. In addition to these
tools, we’ll equip you with healthful recipes to have in your arsenal. Overall, you’ll learn that it
doesn’t take a lot of work to assemble healthful meals and snacks. It does take a little planning—
and that can go a long way on the road to healthier eating.
The goal is to counteract the unhealthy food environment and to make it easier for you to create
a new eating pattern that will lower your risk of life-threatening diseases such as heart disease,
stroke, diabetes, and some forms of cancer.
Enjoy the journey!

Teresa Fung, Sc.D., R.D., L.D.N.
Faculty Editor

Kathy McManus, M.S., R.D., L.D.N.
Nutrition Editor

Harvard Health Publications | Harvard Medical School | 10 Shattuck Street, Second Floor | Boston, MA 02115

What makes a diet “healthful”?

J

udging by news headlines, you’d think that views
on good nutrition were changing all the time and
are hotly contested. In reality, though, while superfoods
and fad diets grab our attention, decades of research
on nutrition have created a fairly consistent picture.
A good diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole
grains, paired with healthy sources of protein and fats.
It emphasizes plant-based foods with protein from fish,
skinless poultry, nuts, legumes, and small amounts of
lean meats. Look for nonfat dairy products. Certain
foods, like lean, fresh red meat, should be eaten sparingly, and processed or cured meats like ham, hot dogs,
and corned beef are not on the healthy eating menu. Fat
can be eaten in moderation, so long as it is mainly from
vegetable oils.
Food manufacturers love to boast on their packaging that their foods are fortified with vitamins, but
nutrition experts agree that foods that aren’t processed
and packaged are best for health. That’s because other
nutrients and fiber are removed during processing.
Foods reformulated in factories can’t begin to replicate the complex nutrient content of natural foods.
Processed foods also come with unwelcome extras:
added salt, sugar, and fat. Ideally, most of your foods
should be in forms that are as close as possible to the
way they came from nature. Whole plant foods have
their natural fiber and nutrients intact. Eating a whole
apple is much better than drinking apple juice or eating processed fruit snacks made with apples. Wholegrain bread trumps white bread, which is made from
flour that is stripped of the nutrient- and fiber-rich
outer casing of the wheat berry.
Another part of a healthful diet is how much you
eat. Watching your portion sizes and exercising regularly
to avoid unhealthy weight gain keeps you strong and
healthy. Good nutrition, physical activity, and weight
control are three of the most powerful things you can
do to reduce your overall risk of major diseases, from
cancer and diabetes to heart disease and osteoporosis.
2

Practical steps for a healthful diet

Healthy eating boils down to this: eat more plantbased foods, fewer animal-based foods, and only as
much food as your body needs. Here are some ways
to do this:
Eat more unprocessed or minimally processed foods.

By doing so, you’ll naturally consume foods
that have the amounts and combinations of
fiber and nutrients that nature intended.
Many factory-made foods, in contrast, are
stripped of natural fiber and nutrients and
filled with ingredients made to stimulate appetite and
keep you eating more. Processed meats, in particular,
are linked with heart disease and cancer. Unprocessed
foods have no added sugar, fat, or salt. Most also have
more fiber.
Go for novelty.

You may feel as if good nutrition is boring because you only think of a few kinds
of healthful foods. To get a broader range
of disease-fighting nutrients, try new grains, vegetables,
and fruits. Bulgur and quinoa are good grain alternatives. Novel kinds of beans, fruits, and vegetables
abound. You can experiment with new recipes (see
“Cooking kickoff: Recipes for success,” page 42) that
rely less on meat and make use of different ingredients
and herbs and spices for flavor sources.
Cover all your bases.

Every day, strive to eat three servings of
fruit, three to four servings of vegetables,
some lean protein, some whole grains, healthy oils,
some nonfat or low-fat dairy, and a serving of nuts or
legumes. At each meal, look at your plate: about onehalf should be fruits and vegetables, one-quarter lean
proteins (fish, poultry, beans, or tofu), and one-quarter
whole grains.

The Harvard Medical School 6-Week Plan for Healthy Eating

w w w.h ealt h .ha r va r d.e du


Stay hydrated.

Because many foods contain water, most people
get sufficient liquid each day without making a
special effort. That said, it can be helpful
throughout the day to drink water or another no-calorie liquid as an alternative to snacking or to wash down
meals. Plus, as you increase your fiber content with
whole-grain foods, water helps ferry it smoothly
through your digestive tract and protects you from constipation. Drinking 4 to 6 cups of water a day—or water
in combination with other low-calorie liquids—is a reasonable and healthful goal.
Keep protein portions small.

For proteins like meat and chicken, 3 ounces
for lunch and slightly more for dinner is a
good goal. Keep in mind that 4 ounces of meat is about
the size of a deck of cards. For beans, the serving size is
about ¼ cup of cooked beans, which looks like the size of
a golf ball. (For more on lunch and dinner, see “Week 3:
A healthy break for lunch,” page 22, and “Week 4: A dinner makeover,” page 27).
Aim for at least two servings of ﬁsh each week.

Fish—especially salmon, bluefish,
and mackerel—are good sources of
omega-3 fats, which are good for your heart. You’ll
want to skip the large, predatory deep ocean fish (such
as swordfish, shark, king mackerel, and bluefin tuna)
because of their higher mercury content.
Avoid impulse eating.

If you snack, plan ahead for healthy snacks.
Avoid sugary drinks and their empty calories.
See “Week 5: Sensible snacking. page 34.”

Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate
Twenty years ago, the USDA created its Food Guide
Pyramid, a symbol that became widely used in
schools, health settings, and the media. It was meant
to convey in a simple illustration everything that was
needed to build a healthful diet. However, its proportions were not always based on up-to-date scientific
evidence, so faculty members at the Harvard School
ww w. h ealt h . h ar v ar d . e du

of Public Health created the Healthy Eating Pyramid
as a healthier alternative based on a wealth of nutrition research. In 2005, the USDA created a new pyramid, called MyPyramid, which received widespread
criticism for being vague and confusing. As a result,
in 2011 the USDA introduced a totally new icon called
MyPlate. The plate image is more intuitive (the pyramid was easy to misinterpret; some people thought
the top foods were most important, rather than the
other way around). It emphasizes fruits and vegetables, which is great, but it’s simplistic and falls short in
providing information about healthful food choices.
Here in Figure 1, page 4, we offer a better alternative from Harvard experts: the Healthy Eating Plate. It
fixes some of the major problems of the USDA plate
by providing more detailed advice with recommendations based on science.
You can use the plate in two ways. Like the
Healthy Eating Pyramid, it helps you understand
how to make healthful food choices. You can also
use it as a blueprint for a given meal, a guide to
apportioning foods on your own plate. As we look
at revamping individual meals in this report, you’ll
see examples of how to do this. Of course, not every
meal will look like the Healthy Eating Plate (most of
us don’t eat vegetables at breakfast), but your meals
over the course of the day can add up to this. Here’s
what’s on the plate:
• Fully half of the plate contains fruits and vegetables.
Most Americans don’t get enough vegetables, so the
more you can add the better, and aim for a variety
of colors and types. Potatoes and french fries don’t
count as vegetables.
• A quarter of the plate is whole grains—not just any
grain, as in the USDA version. Choosing whole grains
over refined grains can help curb appetite, lower risk
of diabetes, and lower bad cholesterol levels.
• The final quarter is healthful sources of protein like
fish, beans, nuts, seeds, poultry, and eggs. High-fat
meats and processed meats don’t appear here.
• The bottle on the left side is a reminder to use healthy
oils, like olive and canola, in cooking, on salads, and
at the table. Limit butter, and avoid unhealthy trans
fatty acid.
• The glass on the right side is a reminder to drink


3


low- or no-calorie liquids like water, coffee, and tea;
limit milk and juice; and avoid sugary drinks.
• At the bottom is a reminder to stay active for health
and to maintain a normal weight.
People who eat according to these guidelines
(whether you prefer to follow the Healthy Eating Pyramid or Plate) reduce their risk of several diseases that
can shorten life and diminish quality of life. Research
following the diets of more than 100,000 health professionals found, for example, that men whose diets
most closely followed these guidelines lowered their
overall risk of major diseases by 20% over 8 to 12
years, compared with men whose diets scored lowest
on the healthy eating recommendations. Women in
the study who followed the Healthy Eating guidelines
lowered their overall risk by 11% compared with those
who scored lowest. The big wins came with cardiovascular disease. Both men and women who most closely
followed the recommendations cut their risk of heart
disease by one-third or more, and even people who
were taking medications for high cholesterol or high
blood pressure benefitted.

As nutrition researchers turn up more information over time, the Healthy Eating Pyramid and Plate
will change to reflect important new evidence. That’s
not to say that these are the only science-based guides.
Healthy eating pyramids adapted to Mediterranean,
Latin American, Asian, and vegetarian diets are available from the respected nutrition think tank Oldways,
at www.oldwayspt.org.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans
The U.S. government provides nutrition guidance for
Americans, which are updated every five years. The
most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans were
created in 2010 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They were created by a committee of scientists
who analyzed reams of nutritional research, debated
important questions, and ultimately made recommendations to the government. As such, they are more
research-based than the USDA food guide. They distill the latest nutritional research into practical advice.

Figure 1 Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate

HEALTHY EATING PLATE
WATER

Use healthy oils (like
olive and canola oil)
for cooking, on salad, HEALTHY
and at the table. Limit
OILS
butter. Avoid trans fat.
The more veggies—
and the greater the
variety—the better.
Potatoes and french fries
don't count.
Eat plenty of fruits of
all colors.

VEGETABLES

FRUITS

STAY ACTIVE!

WHOLE
GRAINS

HEALTHY
PROTEIN

Drink water, tea, or coffee
(with little or no sugar).
Limit milk/dairy
(1-2 servings/day) and
juice (1 small glass/day).
Avoid sugary drinks.
Eat whole grains (like brown
rice, whole-wheat bread,
and whole-grain pasta).
Limit refined grains (like
white rice and white bread).

Choose fish, poultry, beans,
and nuts; limit red meat;
avoid bacon, cold cuts, and
other processed meats.

© Harvard University

Harvard School of Public Health
The Nutrition Source
www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource

4


Harvard Medical School
www.health.harvard.edu



The guidelines can be boiled down to two main
messages: maintain a healthy weight and eat mainly
foods that naturally contain lots of vitamins and minerals. We all know that staying slim and avoiding junk
food is good, but following that advice is harder than
it might sound. As you read, remember that “solid
fats” refers mainly to animal fat and trans fat. “Added
sugars” means foods with lots of sugar added to them,
like sodas, sugary cereals, candy, and other sweets.
Here are some of the important take-home messages
from the guidelines, separated into logical categories.

Balancing calories to manage weight
• Prevent or reduce the number of people who are
overweight or obese by eating fewer calories, and
healthier foods, and increasing physical activity.
• For people at a healthy weight, control total calorie
intake to maintain body weight. For people who are
already overweight or obese, this means consuming
fewer calories from foods and beverages.
• Increase physical activity and reduce time spent in
sedentary behaviors.
• Adjust how many calories you take in as you go
through different stages of life—childhood, adolescence, adulthood, pregnancy and breastfeeding, and
older age.
Foods and food components to reduce
• There’s a growing realization that excess sodium
can harm health. Reduce daily sodium intake to
less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) or even further to
1,500 mg among people who are age 51 and older
and those of any age who are African American or
have hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes,
or chronic kidney disease. The 1,500 mg recommendation applies to about half of the U.S. population,
including children and the majority of adults.
• Consume less than 10% of calories from saturated
fatty acids (mainly from animal fat) by replacing
them with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated
fatty acids (mainly from vegetable oils).
• Consume less than 300 mg per day of dietary cholesterol (mainly found in animal-based foods).
• Keep trans fat consumption as low as possible by


limiting foods that contain synthetic sources of trans
fats, such as partially hydrogenated oils, and by limiting other solid fats.
• Reduce the intake of calories from solid fats (mainly
animal fat) and added sugars.
• Limit the consumption of foods that contain refined
grains (such as white flour and white rice), especially
refined-grain foods that contain solid fats, added
sugars, and sodium.
• If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation—up to
one drink per day for women and two drinks per
day for men. No one under the legal drinking age
should drink alcohol.

Foods and nutrients to increase
Try to meet the following recommendations as part
of a healthy eating pattern while staying within your
calorie needs.
• Increase vegetable and fruit intake.
• Eat a variety of vegetables, especially dark green, red,
and orange vegetables, and beans and peas.
• Consume at least half of all grains as whole grains.
Increase whole-grain intake by replacing refined
grains with whole grains.
• Increase intake of fat-free or low-fat milk and milk
products, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, or fortified
soy beverages.
• Choose a variety of protein foods, including seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and peas,
soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds.
• Increase the amount and variety of seafood by
choosing seafood in place of some meat and poultry.
• Use oils to replace solid fats where possible.
• Choose foods that provide more potassium, dietary
fiber, and calcium, which are nutrients Americans
may not get enough of. These foods include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and milk and milk products.
Building healthy eating patterns
• Select an eating pattern that meets nutrient needs
over time and allows you to consume an appropriate
level of calories.
• Account for all foods and beverages consumed and
assess how they fit within a total healthy eating pattern.


5


Beyond food: Weight control
for health
Although many people are interested in weight loss to
look better, weight control is an intrinsic part of good
health. The obesity epidemic in the United States has
hit full stride, and with it comes significant health
risks. There’s no such thing as a “healthful food” if it
causes you to gain weight. Certain healthful foods,
such as most fresh vegetables and fruits, can be eaten
without much concern for weight gain. Other healthful foods, like nuts, lean meats, low-fat cheese, wholegrain bread, pasta, or rice, and a few vegetables like
avocados and coconuts, have enough calories to pose
a risk of weight gain if eaten without restraint.
With that in mind, here are some tools to help you
incorporate weight control into your plan.

Size up your waist.
How much belly fat is too much? A waist circumference of 35 inches (for women) or 40 inches (for men)
or larger is generally considered a sign of excess visceral fat (fat that collects in the abdomen around

your organs, which raises your risk of chronic disease), but that may not apply if your overall body
size is large. Rather than focus on a single reading or
absolute cut-off, keep an eye on whether your waist
is growing over time (are your pants getting snug
at the waist?). That should give you a good idea of
whether you’re gaining unhealthy visceral fat. See
Figure 2, below, for an illustration on how to meabelow
sure your waist correctly.

What’s your BMI?
Body mass index (BMI) is a widely used method of
defining a healthy weight based on height. BMI is
not a perfect measure, since it doesn’t tell you how
much of your weight is fat, but using waist size and
BMI together can help most people gauge whether
they need to work on reducing fat or not. To find your
BMI, use the table on page 7.
A BMI of 30 or more represents obesity. In general, this means your body weight is 35% to 40% more
than your ideal body weight. If you’re at a healthy
BMI now and your waist size is fine, keep close tabs
on your weight. If it starts to creep up (5 pounds is

Figure 2 Measuring the waist

Center of the armpit
Midaxillary line

Tape measure
Ilium

High point of ilium
at midaxillary line

Measure your waistline at the level of the navel—not at the
narrowest part of the torso—and always measure in the
same place. The bottom of the tape measure should be level
with the top of the right hip bone (ilium). Don’t suck in your
gut or pull the tape tight enough to compress the area.

6




a red flag), take steps to avoid gaining more weight,
or lose some weight by concentrating on eating foods
that are low in calories, such as whole-grain breads
and cereals as well as fruits and vegetables. These
foods are bulky but low in fat, so they help you feel
fuller with fewer calories. Remember that drinks are
a major source of calories that many people overlook. Research cites sugary, calorie-laden beverages,

such as non-diet sodas and juice-flavored drinks, as
a major contributor to weight gain.

Fitness for health
Combining a healthful diet with regular physical activity will help keep you resilient and healthy. For general
health and to prevent many diseases, experts recommend
at least two-and-a-half hours a week of moderate-inten-

Table 1 What’s my BMI?
Health care providers use body mass index (BMI), an approximate measure of body fat based on a person’s height and weight, to determine
whether a person’s weight falls within a healthy range. To determine your BMI, use the Web-based calculator at nhlbisupport.com/bmi or simply
look it up below.
The BMI range associated with the lowest rate of illness and death is approximately 19 to 24 in men and 18 to 24 in women, so people with
BMIs in this healthiest range are considered to be of normal weight. Higher BMIs are associated with progressively higher rates of illness and death.
People with BMIs of 25 to 29 are considered overweight, and those with BMIs of 30 or higher are considered obese. Obesity has been further
subdivided into class 1 (BMI of 30–34), class 2 (35–40), and class 3 (40 and above). Class 3 obesity is roughly equivalent to being 80 pounds
overweight if you are a woman or 100 pounds if you are a man.

HEIGHT

BODY WEIGHT IN POUNDS

4’10”

91–115

119–138

143–162

167–186

191+

4’11”

94–119

124–143

148–168

173–193

198+

5’0”

97–123

128–148

153–174

179–199

204+

5’1”

100–127

132–153

158–180

185–206

211+

5’2”

104–131

136–158

164–186

191–213

218+

5’3”

107–135

141–163

169–191

197–220

225+

5’4”

110–140

145–169

174–197

204–227

232+

5’5”

114–144

150–174

180–204

210–234

240+

5’6”

118–148

155–179

186–210

216–241

247+

5’7”

121–153

159–185

191–217

223–249

255+

5’8”

125–158

164–190

197–223

230–256

262+

5’9”

128–162

169–196

203–230

236–263

270+

5’10”

132–167

174–202

209–236

243–271

278+

5’11”

136–172

179–208

215–243

250–279

286+

6’0”

140–177

184–213

221–250

258–287

294+

6’1”

144–182

189–219

227–257

265–295

302+

6’2”

148–186

194–225

233–264

272–303

311+

6’3”

152–192

200–232

240–272

279–311

319+

6’4”

156–197

205–238

246–279

287–320

328+

BMI

19–24

25–29

30–34

35–39

40+

NORMAL

OVERWEIGHT

CLASS I OBESITY

CLASS II OBESITY

CLASS III OBESITY



7


sity activity. You can break this up into chunks as brief
as ten minutes. This might be brisk walking, yard work,
doubles tennis, or active housework. Or, if you choose to
do more intensive vigorous activity such as running, one
hour and 15 minutes per week will provide health benefits. For additional health benefits or weight loss, strive
for five hours of moderate activity or two-and-a-half
hours of vigorous activity per week. Add strength training and stretching a couple of days a week to the mix as
well. These help maintain muscle mass, bones, strength,
and flexibility. Physical activity also lowers blood sugar
levels, because muscles need the glucose in the blood for
fuel. Regular exercise can train muscles to respond better to insulin, the hormone that signals the body to take
in glucose from the blood. Maintaining healthy blood
sugar levels can reduce your risk of diabetes.
Regular exercise is also a proven treatment for
high blood pressure, and moderate-intensity training (such as walking) seems to be at least as good for
blood pressure as high-intensity exercises like running. To whittle your middle and build muscle, use
weight-bearing exercise and curb calorie consumption. At midlife, you may find that you have to eat less
and exercise more just to stay in the same shape.

8

How much to eat?

Many of us are eating too much: the USDA estimates
that Americans consume an average of 200 calories
more per day than they did in the 1970s. Consider
how much food you need to maintain your current
weight if you are not overweight, or to gradually
lose weight if you are overweight. This healthy eating plan is not intended to be a weight-loss diet, but
rather a way to break old unhealthful eating habits
and embark on a new way of eating that will optimize your health over the long term. Weight control
is part of this equation. Every individual is different,
and caloric needs differ depending on many factors,
including age, activity level, and metabolic needs.
Most women need between 1,600 and 2,000 calories per day, while most men require 2,000 to 2,400
calories per day to maintain their weight. If you are
particularly active, you may need to take in more calories. If you are inactive or want to lose weight, you
may choose to reduce the calories, but don’t go too
low. To eat enough nutritious foods to maintain your
health, women should consume at least 1,200 calories
a day and men 1,500, unless dieting under the supervision of a health professional.




P

erhaps in the past, you started with the best intentions to eat right but got derailed. Maybe you
couldn’t resist a sweet, high-calorie snack in the afternoon, or you turned to processed foods for dinner too
often because it was easy. To turn good intentions into
reality, you must anticipate these obstacles. In this first
week of your six-week healthy eating journey, we’ll
work on developing awareness of what you’re consuming, assessing the diet changes you need to make,
and setting goals for yourself.

Creating your food diary

Your first step is to create a food diary. It’s one of the
most effective tools to help you analyze your current
eating patterns and develop a more healthful eating
plan for the future.

How a food diary can help
One of the reasons change is difficult is that our habits are ingrained—we don’t even think about them. To
make change happen, we have to become aware of our
behavior. A food diary will put your eating habits in
black and white. It will help you truly see where your
calories and other nutrients are coming from—and
discover your areas of strength and weakness.
Are you getting enough fruits and vegetables? Not
enough fiber? Eating too many sugary desserts or processed foods? Downing too much soda and not enough
water? Are you eating the same meals day after day?
Find out by putting pen to paper. A food diary forces
you to write down and really think about your food
selections. It also reveals sneaky sources of unhealthy
foods and calories. After all, if you don’t write down
what you eat, it’s easy to forget that cheese-filled croissant you snacked on while shopping.
A food diary can also help you pinpoint problem
eating patterns. Are you getting most of your calories
in one sitting instead of spreading them out throughww w. h ealt h . h ar v ar d . e du

1

WEEK

Getting started on the six-week plan

out the day? Do you skip breakfast, and then ambush
the vending machine at 11 a.m.? Do your eating habits
change on weekends? Are you eating out more often
than you think? Do you mindlessly munch on junk
food when you watch TV? You may not be aware how
many unhealthful, high-calorie foods you are consuming at odd moments if you don’t track your habits with
a diary. Seeing it all in black and white can help you
take responsibility for changing your behavior.
If you’re trying to lose weight, consider this: a study
of 1,685 participants in the Weight Loss Maintenance
trial program at Kaiser Permanente in Portland, Ore.,
showed that dieters who kept a food diary more than
five days a week lost almost twice as much weight in a
six-month period as those who didn’t. A diary can also
help you become accountable in several other ways: you
can include your daily exercise in your diary and also
monitor your mealtime moods to see if emotions are
pushing you to overeat or consume the wrong foods.
Armed with information from your diary, you can
determine your own personal policies for healthy eating and weight control, rather than looking in panic to
some arbitrary “diet” every time you feel your health is
steering off course. With information comes strength.
Now if you lapse from your intentions, you can simply
return to your tried-and-true personal plan of smart
eating and exercise. (For more on food policies, see
“Week 6: Keep it going,” page 39).

Diary dos and don’ts
The sample food diary on page 10 is one way to record
a detailed breakdown of your diet. You can also find
online food sites that enable you to keep a diary, or, if
you use a mobile device, there are applications available for the same purpose (see “Quick tip: Enlist technology," page 12).
To begin, keep your food diary for two weekdays
and one weekend day. That’s all you need to get the
big picture. Before you get started, though, make sev-


9


10




Colleagues

Alone
Husband

Work

Kitchen

Kitchen

1:30–2:00 p.m.

6:00–6:10 p.m.

6:30–7:05 p.m.

Alone

Alone

Car

11:00–11:05 a.m.

Bed

Alone

Car

10:00–10:10 a.m.

9:30–9:45 p.m.

Alone

Kitchen

8:30–8:45 a.m.

WITH WHOM

(alone, or
with family,
friends,
colleagues)

PLACE

(kitchen,
living room,
bedroom,
car, desk
at work)

(record start and
end time of meal
or snack)

TIME

ACTIVITY

Watching
TV

Talking

Cooking

Talking

Driving

Driving

Watching
TV

(reading,
watching
TV, talking,
cooking)

SAMPLE FOOD DIARY

Tired

Tired

Tired

Happy

Rushed

Happy

Rushed

MOOD

(neutral,
happy, tense,
depressed,
angry, bored,
rushed, tired)

2

4

5

5

2

3

4

HUNGER

(rate from
0–5,
0=no hunger,
5=starving)

Shredded
wheat cereal

FOOD

Sugar

1 medium
2 teaspoons

Granola bar

1 large

Baked chicken

Iced tea

1 cup
2 glasses

TOTAL :

Frozen yogurt

Broccoli

1 cup

1 cup

Brown rice

6 oz

Low-fat
string cheese

Chocolate
chip cookie

2 large
slices

2 pieces

Cheese pizza

1

Apple

Banana

1 cup

1 medium

Skim milk

1.5 cups

AMOUNT

Here’s an example
of how to
ﬁll out a food
diary

3

1

1

1

(number of
servings)

FRUITS
OR VEGETABLES

3

2

1

3

2

2

2

FULLNESS

(after eating:
1=still hungry
2=quite satisﬁed
3=uncomfortable)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

(X=yes)

FILLED OUT
JUST BEFORE
OR AFTER
EATING?



11


(record start and
end time of meal
or snack)

TIME

PLACE

(kitchen,
living room,
bedroom,
car, desk
at work)

WITH WHOM

(alone, or
with family,
friends,
colleagues)

YOUR FOOD DIARY
ACTIVITY

(reading,
watching
TV, talking,
cooking)

MOOD

(neutral,
happy, tense,
depressed,
angry, bored,
rushed, tired)

HUNGER

(rate from
0–5,
0=no hunger,
5=starving)

AMOUNT

Print 3 copies of this page and track your eating patterns for three days.

TOTAL :

FOOD
(number of
servings)

FRUITS
OR VEGETABLES

FULLNESS

(after eating:
1=still hungry
2=quite satisﬁed
3=uncomfortable)

(X=yes)

FILLED OUT
JUST BEFORE
OR AFTER
EATING?

Date: __________

eral copies of the blank food diary (see page 11) or print
out copies from health.harvard.edu/Diary. In the weeks
health.harvard.edu/Diary
to come, you’ll be asked to record what you eat again.
There’s nothing like a before-and-after food diary to
help you see how far you’ve come on your sojourn to
eating more healthfully and changing habits.
Here are some tips for record-keeping success.
■ Don’t wait to write. To get the most accurate
impression of what and how much you consume, jot
down what you’ve eaten as soon as you eat it. If you wait
until the end of the day, it’s likely you’ll forget some of
the things you ate earlier. If you don’t have your journal
page with you when you’re eating, make notes on your
cell phone, tablet computer, pocket calendar, or memo
pad and record them in your food diary later. Strive
to write down every mouthful of food—even tastes,
snacks, and sips—within 15 minutes of consuming it.
■ Do get the details. Record relevant important
details, including the time of your meal or snack,
where you ate, whether you were doing something
else while you were eating, and the type of food you
consumed—whether, for example, it was a meal from
scratch or fast food you picked up on the go. These
added data will help reveal patterns.
■ Do record portion sizes. Record the specific
amounts of each food you eat—for example, 1 cup of
orange juice or 3 ounces of chicken. (For help in determining portion sizes, see Table 2, “What’s a serving?”
page 14) Measure portion sizes with standard measuring utensils and a kitchen scale. This not only helps
you track your food consumption but will give you
familiarity with standard serving sizes. You’ll probably
be surprised by what a 3-ounce serving size of chicken
or a half-cup of pasta looks like on your plate. Over
time, you can begin to “eyeball” servings more accurately and skip the actual measuring.
■ Don’t sweat your mistakes. Did you overeat after
a difficult work day? You may be tempted to forget
about it and not record it, but do it anyway—food
records can help you regain a sense of control. A “bad”
day can actually give you important information to
help you understand why you did or didn’t achieve
your goals. Think long-term. One day is not going to
make or break anything.
■ Don’t count calories (yet). Right now we’re focus12

Quick tip
technology.
➠and-paper forEnlist food diary or Some people prefer pentheir
to track their exercise
routine, but technology can help keep you organized
and on track, too. Saving your food diary as a file on a
Web-based note-taking program like Evernote allows you
to access it from any computer or smartphone, making it
easier to keep information handy and updated. Food diary
and exercise tracking Web sites—such as MyFitnessPal.com
and www.supertracker.usda.gov—will do the same. You
www.supertracker.usda.gov
can explore the multitude of health apps that are freely
available for smartphones and tablet computers, such as
calorie counters, cooking guides, and shopping guides
(a few we like are Fooducate, MyFitnessPal.com Blood Sugar
Tracker, and Runkeeper). Keep in mind that not all apps will
Tracker
be useful, and they can’t always be customized to meet your
needs as well as your own notebook can. Pedometers and
fitness monitors are other great tools for gaining awareness
of your activity level and setting specific exercise goals.

ing on food choices, not calories. Is the pasta white
or whole wheat? Is the meat lean or fatty? Is it butter,
margarine, or olive oil on your bread? These are the
things that make a difference to your heart, brain, and
overall health.
■ Keep it private. Your food diary is for your own
self-discovery. No one else has to see it or judge it. The
more honest and accurate you are about your diet and
exercise habits, the more enlightened you will become
in the next several weeks and beyond.
■ Keep track of exercise, too. A food diary is even
more helpful if you also track your exercise and physical activity. You can use a simple chart like the one
below, or one of the apps listed in “Quick tip: Enlist
technology,” above. Give yourself credit for everyday
activities such as taking the stairs at work and walking the dog. You’ll begin to see how exercise and diet

Your exercise diary


Date

Time

Exercise
type

Duration

Intensity

Notes



are linked, which is helpful especially
if you’re trying to lose weight.

Shopping smarts

There's a list of healthful foods on page
16, so you know what to look for in the
market, but here are some other tips for
helping ensure you fill your cart with
them:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 cup (228g)
Servings Per Container 2
Amount Per Serving

Calories 250

Calories from Fat 110
% Daily Value

Total Fat 12g

18%

Saturated Fat 0g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0g

0%

Sodium 250mg

20%

Total Carbohydrate 31g
Dietary Fiber 5g

10%

reading labels. You probably won’t find
the perfect food, but you will surely make
better decisions by comparing labels. If
you’re trying to lose weight, pay particular attention to calories and the serving
size listed. Ignore the calories from total
fat, though. A calorie is a calorie. (But do
try to avoid foods whose fat comes mostly
from trans fats or saturated fat.)

Sugars 5g
Protein 5g
Vitamin A

Vitamin C
Start at the perimeter
Calcium
of the grocery store
Iron
That’s where you’ll find the most healthful, freshest, least-processed options.
Try to shop the produce, fish, lean meat,
low-fat dairy, and bread sections of the
store as much as possible to avoid the
temptations lurking in the aisles containing snack cakes, chips, sodas, and other packaged
and processed foods. Concentrate on filling your basket
with healthful fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat
dairy, and lean protein. After you’ve shopped the outer
boundary of the store, use your list to navigate the rest of
the aisles. Look above and below the center shelves for
the most healthful selections.

4%
2%
20%

Becoming label-savvy

Most of the truly healthful foods like
fruits and vegetables don’t have nutrition labels on them. Packaged foods,
on the other hand, do, and reading the
label is your best guide to choosing the
most healthful options. How can you tell
whether one breakfast cereal, for example, is better than another? Compare them by checking the Nutrition Facts panel. Here’s a step-by-step
approach to interpreting its lingo.
■ Step 1: Check the serving size and servings per
container. Serving size is always the first item on the
label. All other information is based on that serving
size. In the example above, you can see that the serving
size is 1 cup. The 250 calories listed on the label refer to
each 1-cup serving, not the entire package. The servings per container tell you how many portions are in
the whole box, package, or can. In this example, there
are two servings per container, or 2 cups total. When
comparing products, make sure they have the same
serving size for an accurate comparison. Most of the
time a package will have more than one serving in it.
If you choose to eat more than the serving size listed,
you’ll be taking in more calories, carbohydrates, and
other nutrients. Multiply all of the data by the servings
per container to get the total amounts for the container.
■ Step 2: Check the saturated fat and trans fat content of the food. For a general healthful diet, keep
saturated fat and cholesterol low and avoid trans fat.
Look for foods that have 0 grams (g) of trans fat and
are lowest in saturated fat and cholesterol. Avoid foods
that have the words “partially hydrogenated vegetable
oil” in the ingredients list.
4%

*Percent Daily Values aer based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on
your calorie needs.
Calories

Total Fat
Sat Fat
Cholesterol
Sodium
Total Carbohydrate
Dietary Fiber

Less than
Less than
Less than
Less than

Don’t shop on an empty stomach
We all know what happens when you go to the grocery
store when your stomach is rumbling! Everything looks
good, especially those quick, easy-to-eat snacks. If you’re
hungry, have a healthful snack or meal before shopping.
You’ll be less tempted to fill your cart with impulse items.
Get organized
Make a list of foods you need. Do your menu planning
for a week at a time, and do your grocery shopping on
the same day of each week. A simple routine eliminates the need for midweek trips to the store, which
may tempt you to buy food that’s not on your list.
Become a comparison shopper
Decide what’s most important to you when selecting foods, whether it’s sodium, fiber, sugar, calories,
or healthful fat, and then home in on that nutrient by

2,000

2,500

65g
20g
300mg
2,400mg
300g
25g

80g
25g
300mg
2,400mg
376g
30g


13


■ Step 3: Compare

the sodium content to the calories per serving. You’ll want to keep sodium as low as
possible. A rule of thumb: choose items in which the
sodium content is less than or equal to the calories per
serving. For a food with 250 calories per serving, look
for a sodium content of no more than 250 mg. Also
look for low-sodium, low-salt, or unsalted versions.
■ Step 4: Look at the fiber content of the food
you’re choosing. Any food with more than 5 g of fiber
per serving is a good choice for fiber. Aim for 25 to 35
g of fiber per day in total.
■ Step 5: Look at the sugar content of the food you’re

considering. Steer clear of foods that have sugar, honey,
molasses, corn syrup, corn sugar, fructose, or high-fructose corn syrup among the first three ingredients. Other
sugar aliases to watch for include agave nectar, brown
sugar, cane sugar, corn sweetener, dextrose, maltose,
fruit juice concentrate, and glucose.
■ Step 6: Decipher the percent daily value. Located
on the Nutrition Facts label, the percent daily value is
based on someone who eats exactly 2,000 calories a
day. It’s a useful tool to compare the nutritional value
of two items quickly (assuming the serving size is the
same). As a general rule, when the percent daily value

Table 2 What’s a serving?
Portion sizes in restaurant meals, take-out foods, cookbooks, and packaged snacks have increased over the years, sometimes even doubling. A
typical movie-theater soda, for example, once about 7 ounces, can now be “supersized” to 32 or 42 ounces. A typical bagel, once 2 to 3 ounces,
now weighs 4 to 7 ounces, with the caloric equivalent of five or six slices of bread. This chart will help you downsize your servings so you can
maintain a healthy weight. Look at the serving size as well as the calories to be sure you know how many servings (and calories) you’re eating.

FOOD GROUP

EXAMPLES OF ONE SERVING

SERVING SIZE EQUIVALENT

Whole grains

1 slice whole-grain bread

1 compact disc case

½ cup cooked brown rice, whole-wheat pasta,
or other whole-grain product

½ baseball

½ whole-grain English muffin

½ hockey puck

¼ whole-wheat bagel

¼ hockey puck

1 cup raw leafy greens

2 cupped hands

½ cup (cooked or raw) chopped, non-leafy vegetables

1 rounded handful

½ cup vegetable juice

1 small juice glass

1 small sweet potato

1 computer mouse

½ cup (sliced or diced) fresh or frozen fruit,
or fruit canned in its own juice

1 rounded handful

1 small apple, orange, or peach

1 baseball

1½ oz hard cheese

4 dice

2 oz processed cheese

6 dice

¾ cup low-fat milk

container of yogurt (6 oz)

4 oz fish

1 checkbook

4 oz meat or poultry

1 deck of cards

¼ cup cooked dried beans

1 golf ball

½ oz nuts or seeds

1 walnut in shell

1 tablespoon peanut butter

½ walnut in shell

1 teaspoon butter or margarine

tip of thumb

1 tablespoon oil

about ½ shot glass

Vegetables

Fruits

Dairy

Meats, fish, and beans

Fats and
oils

14




of a particular nutrient is around 20% or more, that’s
considered high in that nutrient. That can be a good
thing if it’s fiber we’re talking about, but not so good if
it’s sodium or saturated fat.

Make a clean start

How can you stick to your new healthy eating plan
when your cupboards are full of chips, cookies, or
candy? While you’re stocking up on healthful foods,
get rid of stuff that’s not so healthy. Your environment
can influence what you eat, and the mere sight of food
can stimulate your appetite.
Toss out these unhealthy foods:
• bacon and high-fat
• full-fat cheese
cold cuts
• granola bars with
• candy
chocolate or other
• jam-filled cereal bars
added sugars
• chicken nuggets
• ice cream
• chips
• muffins
• cookies
• popsicles
• crackers (other than
• snack cakes
whole-wheat, low-salt) • soda
• doughnuts
• toaster tarts
• french fries
• white bread
• fruit roll-ups or fruit
• whole milk
snacks

Begin by setting goals

In this first week, it’s important to have a clear idea
of your goals for the coming weeks. Your task at the
moment is to use your food diary to determine which
aspects of your diet need improvement. Whether
you’re aiming to cook at home more, eat fewer processed foods, or consume less sodium, setting personal
goals is an important part of your healthful-eating
plan. They give you something meaningful to strive
for, and a standard by which you can judge your success. Only you can identify your own goals, but here
are some starting points:
■ Fruits and vegetables. Let’s face it: eating enough
fruits and vegetables is a challenge for most of us. About
three days into your food diary (two weekdays and one
weekend day would be helpful), take stock of which

Quick tip
or mineral content is less
➠important as The vitaminbuying a product unless
a basis for
everything else adds up to a healthy choice. Calcium, iron,
vitamin C, and vitamin A amounts are always on food
labels. They’re nice to know, but these small amounts are
minor compared with other nutrients on the label.

fruits and vegetables you consumed and how many you
ate in relation to your goal. Ideally, in three days, you
should have about nine servings of fruit and about 12
servings of vegetables. How did you do? Where do you
need to improve? Write your answers here:

from scratch. There is no better way to
get control of your intake of sodium, calories, fats, and
other nutrients than to prepare your meals at home
using whole, unprocessed ingredients. According to
your food diary, how often did you eat out? How many
processed foods did you consume? In those three days,
how many times did you cook from scratch? Write
your answers here:
■ Cooking

habits. Most of us could benefit from
slowing down and devoting our attention to eating.
When we multitask with food or eat quickly, we can
consume more food (and therefore calories) without
realizing it and sacrifice a feeling of satisfaction. How
many times did you eat while also doing something
else? How much time did you spend eating at each
meal? Write your answers here:
■ Eating

Take a look at your answers and establish general
goals based on your current habits. To set goals successfully, keep the following guidelines in mind.

Start small
Aim to make just three or four small diet changes in
the weeks to follow (one or two goals per week) rather
than trying to radically overhaul your eating habits.


15


Healthy food shopping ideas
To help you make healthy eating a priority, you’ll need to be organized. Plan your menu for the week and take this general
list to the store for ideas on what to buy. Having it with you will help you make healthier choices, stock your pantry with
the right foods, and prevent impulse buying.
Fruit: Aim for two to three fruits each day. Buy at least two different fruits each week.
• apples
• bananas
• blueberries
• grapefruit

• grapes
• kiwi
• melons
• oranges

• peaches
• pears
• strawberries

Grains: Choose the whole-grain variety whenever possible.
• bread (whole-grain; the first ingredient should list the word

“whole”)
• cereal (choose cereals with 5 g or more of fiber and fewer

than 5 g of sugar per serving)
• flour (whole-wheat; may be white or brown in color)
• oatmeal (old-fashioned rolled oats or steel-cut oats)
• pasta or noodles (whole-wheat)
• rice (brown)
• tortillas (whole-grain)

Vegetables: Eat at least 3 to 4 cups of vegetables each day.
Variety can make food more interesting and delicious. Buy at
least two different vegetables each week.
• asparagus

• green beans

• ready-to-eat

• beets

• greens: chard,

• bok choy

collards, kale,
leeks, rabe
• lettuce: bibb, red,
romaine
• mushrooms
• onions, shallots
• peas, pea pods
• peppers: green,
red, yellow

veggie snacks:
carrots, celery,
radishes
• spinach
• squash: acorn,
butternut, yellow,
zucchini
• sweet potatoes
or yams
• tomatoes

• broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• cabbage
• carrots
• cauliflower
• celery
• cucumber
• eggplant

Nuts and seeds: Eat small amounts of unsalted nuts and
seeds as snacks or sprinkle them on top of salads or casseroles.
• almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans,

pistachios, walnuts
• peanut butter, almond butter
• pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds

Fish and poultry: Choose fish or poultry daily. Canned fish
and poultry tend to be high in sodium unless you choose lowsodium products or rinse the salt away before eating.
• canned fish (low-sodium): salmon, sardines, tuna
• chicken (skinless or remove skin)
• fresh fish: cod, haddock, halibut, salmon, scrod, tuna
• shellfish: crab, mussels, oysters, shrimp
• turkey (skinless)

16

Meat: Try to limit red meat to no more than one to two servings
per week. Avoid cured and processed meats like ham, hot dogs,
and many lunch meats, and choose lean cuts of uncured meats
instead.
• lean beef: top round, flank, rump roast
• pork: tenderloin
Dairy: Use small to moderate amounts of low-fat dairy—mostly
as a topping or in a side dish.
• cheese (low-fat, part skim,
• milk (nonfat or skim)
• yogurt (low- or nonfat, plain)
1% cottage cheese)
• eggs
Beverages: Beverages may not be as satiating as solid food
and can contribute to weight gain. In general, stick with drinks
that are lower in calories and have no added sugar. Fruit juice
has as many sugar calories as soda, so keep servings small.
• bottled water
• seltzer
• tomato or
• coffee
• tea
vegetable juice
• fruit juices
(low-sodium)
Oils
• canola oil
• olive oil

• peanut oil
• safflower oil

• sesame oil

Spices and other seasonings
• balsamic vinegar
• garlic
• basil (fresh or
• ginger
• mint leaves
dried)
• bay leaves
• oregano
• chives
• parsley (fresh or
• cinnamon
dried)
• curry powder
• pepper
• dill
• peppercorns

• poultry seasoning
• rosemary
• salsa
• salt
• soy sauce

(low-sodium)
• thyme (fresh

or dried)

Frozen foods
• egg substitutes
spinach, mixed)
• fruit, such as berries
• veggie burgers
• vegetables (no added sauces, • whole-grain
• waffles
broccoli, corn, carrots,
Canned goods
• beans (black, red, white, rinse • tomatoes, tomato paste,
to reduce sodium)
tomato sauce
• broths (low-sodium, low-fat)
• vegetables (mushrooms,
• evaporated skim milk
beets, roasted red peppers,
• spaghetti or pasta sauce
bamboo shoots, water chest(low-sodium)
nuts, rinse to reduce sodium)
Staples
• mustard
• relish


• tub margarine

• vinegar

(with no trans fats)


Get active
Fitness and diet go hand in hand. Increasing your activity level
will complement all the work you’re doing to improve your
eating habits. A 2012 study of more than 600,000 adults of all
ages found that leisure time physical activity was associated
with longer life expectancy across a range of activity levels
and BMI groups.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the perceived lack of time to exercise is among the top
excuses we use to keep from being active. That is, in part,
because our society often portrays “exercise” as something
that requires a gym membership and hours of free time, but
that’s simply not true.

• Ten minutes of vigorous activity equals approximately 20

minutes of moderate activity.
• Sessions of activity should last at least 10 minutes.
• Twice-weekly strength training sessions for all major

muscle groups are also recommended.
• Balance exercises are also recommended, particularly

for older adults at risk of falling.

To fit physical activity into your routine, schedule it on your
calendar just like you would a business meeting, even if it’s
just in 10-minute slots. Once you invest time in daily activity,
you’ll be buoyed to make diet changes by the motivating feeling of well-being that exercise yields.
How much should you do? Current U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services physical guidelines urge all adults—including people with various disabilities—to accumulate a

The gradual approach is a setup for success because
it’s not overwhelming and removes the pressure. Even
though you’re setting mini goals, you can often get
lots of mileage out of them. By eating out less often or
consuming fewer processed foods, for example, you’ll
automatically reduce the number of calories you’re
taking in, slash your intake of saturated fat, and consume less sodium.

Be realistic
Start from where you are now and try to improve. If,
according to your food diary, for example, you ate lunch
out five times in five days, a good goal to set for yourself would be to cut back to three restaurant or take-in
lunches and bring your lunch to work two days. Once
you get used to that change, you can add even more
days to your bring-lunch-from-home routine, so that
eating lunch out eventually becomes the exception.
Keep goals specific
Specific, short-term, behavioral goals are more motivating and easier to measure than general, long-term, endresult goals. Instead of “I want to lose 10 pounds by my

weekly total of 150 minutes or more of moderate aerobic
activity, or 75 minutes or more of vigorous activity, or an
equivalent mix of the two. Keep these tips in mind:

In your day-to-day life, take a broader view of exercise: any
amount of activity beats none. Even short stints of movement (five minutes of walking several times a day to help
you build endurance) are a good first step toward meeting a
bigger goal. In addition to aiming for cardiovascular health, a
separate goal is to limit the amount of time you are sedentary. Straighten up the living room while you watch TV, for
instance, instead of sitting, or stand or walk for part of your
commute instead of sitting in a train, bus, or car.

birthday,” for example, a specific, behavior-driven goal
would be “I’ll have a salad for lunch each day.” Instead
of “I’ll stop snacking,” make it your goal to set out a tangerine for your afternoon snack. Behavior-driven goals
are easier to achieve because they focus on one step
toward a result that can take months to accomplish.
Each week, when you reach your behavior-driven
goal, you earn an opportunity to celebrate a personal
achievement, which helps maintain motivation. At
the end of each week, assess your progress and reward
yourself for the small changes you made. For instance,
you might treat yourself to a movie or another activity
that gives you pleasure. Moving in the right direction
deserves some acknowledgment to encourage you to
continue positive change.
A note about wording: state your goals throughout
this six-week journey as “I will….” It’s a more powerful proclamation than “I want to…” or “I’d like to….”
Based on your food diary, what specific goals
would you like to set? List three goals for changes you
will make in your diet in the coming weeks.
_________________________________________


17


WEEK

2

Boost your health at breakfast

E

ating a small, nutritious breakfast is a great way to
jump-start the day. Yet many people skip breakfast because they are in a rush, aren’t hungry, or are
trying to cut calories. That’s a mistake because eating
a healthful breakfast has benefits. Breakfast will be
your focus for this week. We’ll tackle lunch, dinner,
and snacks in the coming weeks, but in the meantime,
keep in mind the “Practical steps for a healthful diet”
on page 2 at all meals.
Studies suggest that eating breakfast regularly can
reduce the risk of high cholesterol, decrease insulin
resistance (a condition that increases the risk of type
2 diabetes and heart disease), improve your performance on memory-related tasks, minimize impulse
snacking and overeating at other meals, and boost your
intake of essential nutrients. It may seem to defy logic,
but studies also suggest that eating breakfast regularly
can help keep your weight in check. The Harvard-led

Figure 3 Building your breakfast plate

Health Professionals Follow-up Study, which has followed the health and habits of more than 50,000 men
since 1986, has found that those who skip breakfast
gain more weight and have a higher risk of developing
type 2 diabetes.
Keep your breakfast moderate in size, though. A
study published in Nutrition Journal found that people who ate a large breakfast ended up eating more
total calories at the end of the day. In particular, bread,
eggs, sausage, cheese, yogurt, and butter were among
the items that contributed to the high calorie count.
As with other meals, focus on produce and whole
grains. Minimize the amounts of full-fat dairy products, breakfast potatoes, and meats, and prepare eggs
without a lot of extra calories (boiling or poaching is a
great alternative to frying).
So keep your breakfast calories low and you may
be like one of the 10,000 members of the National
Weight Control Registry. Of this group, a self-selected
database of Americans who’ve lost at least 30 pounds
and kept it off for at least a year, 78% report eating
breakfast every day.

The healthy breakfast plate

Fill one-third of your plate with lean protein such as a hard-boiled
egg or nonfat or low-fat yogurt, one-third with whole grain such
as whole-wheat toast, and one-third with fruit. What if you like
¹
cereal for breakfast? Have ¹⁄⁄³ cup whole-grain cereal or oatmeal
with fruit and a scoop of nonfat or low-fat yogurt on the side.

18

To create a healthy, balanced breakfast, include three
food groups: lean protein, whole-grain carbohydrates,
and fruit. Because most people are in the habit of eating vegetables later in the day, the proportions here
look different than the overall Healthy Eating Plate.
Think of a healthy breakfast in thirds: one-third protein, such as an egg, low-fat cottage cheese, plain
nonfat or low-fat yogurt (especially the Greek kind),
or nuts; one-third starch, such as whole-grain bread
or oatmeal; and one-third fruit (see Figure 3, at left).
Notice that bacon, sausage, or other cured and processed breakfast meats are nowhere in sight. That’s
because these meats are high in sodium and saturated
fat, a known artery clogger. In addition, science has




linked cured or processed meats to an increased risk
for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal cancer, and a daily serving of these kinds of meats to a
20% higher risk of death.
If you’re not a “breakfast person,” it’s fine to
keep portions small, but try to include all three food
groups, especially protein, which can create a feeling
of fullness and prevent carbohydrate cravings. Try
a tablespoon of natural peanut butter on a slice of
whole-wheat toast with a piece of fruit.

Setting goals for breakfast success

In addition to the overall goals you set for yourself
in week 1, your goal for this week is to use your food
diary to evaluate your breakfast routine, if you have
one. During the three days you kept your food diary,
what did you eat for breakfast? Did your breakfasts
follow the basic formula (one-third healthy carbohydrate, one-third lean protein, one-third fruit)? Are you
missing any food groups? Is there a general pattern to
your breakfast routine? Write your answers here:

Comparing your own habits to the healthful ones
we discussed, do you see a goal to aim for? What do
you have to do to achieve it? Do you want to switch to
a cereal with less sugar? Do you want to eat at home
instead of grabbing a high-calorie muffin at the coffee

Choosing a breakfast cereal
With the hundreds of types of cereal on the market, bran
cereal, bran flakes, and steel-cut oatmeal are typically
the healthiest bets. To choose the healthiest breakfast
cereal, read the label and look for
• 5 g or more of fiber per serving
• less than 300 mg of sodium per serving
• less than 5 g of sugar per serving
• whole grain as the first item on the ingredient list.

Serving sizes for cereal can vary widely, though 1 cup
is common. If you’re watching calories, make sure to
choose nonfat milk.


Quick tip
in the
➠microwave inYou can prepare ordinary oatmealoatmeal
two minutes. Just mix ¹∕ cup of

³
with ¹∕³ cup of skim milk and heat on high for two
minutes. Skip the individual oatmeal packets, which
can be loaded with sugar. Slice a small banana or other
fruit on top and sprinkle with cinnamon.

shop? Do you want to cut back on bacon and sausage
and strive to eat more fruit?
Be as specific and as realistic as possible when
setting your goal and planning how to accomplish it.
And be sure to troubleshoot. If your goal, for example,
is to eat breakfast before leaving for work in the morning, think about the practical changes you would need
to make for it to succeed. Will the extra time it takes to
eat at home make you late for work? If so, can you get
up 15 minutes earlier or shave the time from another
part of your routine?
In any case, make sure to have quick, healthful
foods on hand that don’t require much preparation,
such as low-fat cottage cheese, nonfat plain yogurt,
whole-grain bread or cereal, fresh fruit, and nuts.
For my breakfast goal this week, I will…
Example: This week, I will get up 15 minutes earlier so I have time
to eat before I leave for work.

Fresh starts

Morning routines are hard to break. If your idea of
breakfast is grabbing a coffee and a doughnut on your
way to work, finding time to eat healthfully in the morning may seem daunting. With a little planning, however, it’s easier than you think. Here are some healthful
breakfast suggestions, which follow the basic formula of
equal parts whole grains + lean protein + fruit:
• whole-grain cereal (at least 5 g of fiber and less than
5 g sugar) + milk (skim or 1% milk or soymilk) + a
small banana or ½ cup berries
• ½ cup cooked oatmeal with cinnamon + 2 tablespoons nuts + ½ cup berries
• a slice of 100% whole-grain bread + 1 tablespoon
natural peanut butter + a small banana

19


Your healthy breakfast shopping list

Pizza for breakfast?

A list of healthful foods can help keep you on track
while food shopping. Use this list to give yourself a
morning advantage. Stocking your kitchen with healthful
options will help you avoid making unhealthful choices.
• bananas

• nuts (unsalted)

• berries (fresh or frozen)

• oatmeal

• cinnamon

• pineapple

• eggs

If you’re not wowed by traditional breakfast foods like
whole-grain cereal or eggs, there’s no rule against having leftover pizza from last night’s dinner if it’s made with
healthful ingredients. Here’s how to make your own quickfix breakfast pizza.

• whole-grain oatmeal

• English muffins (100%

whole-wheat)

Start with a whole-grain pita or English muffin and add a
dose of low-sodium tomato sauce and low-fat cheese. Even
better, dice up some green and red peppers to sprinkle on
top. Put it in the toaster oven or regular oven set at 350º for
about ten minutes, or until cheese is melted and the bread's
edges are crispy.

bread
• whole-grain wheat bread

• grapes

• whole-grain cereal

• low-fat cheese

• whole-grain crackers

• low-sodium vegetable

• whole-grain mini bagels

juice

Have a small glass of 100% juice to complete the meal, or
have a piece of fruit on the side. Keep the general breakfast
formula in mind: whole grains, lean protein, and a fruit, so
you’ll have a balanced meal.

• whole-wheat tortillas

• melons

• whole-grain waffles

• milk (skim, 1%, or soy)

• yogurt (plain low-fat or

• natural peanut butter

nonfat)

• breakfast sandwich: 100% whole-wheat English
muffin or whole-grain mini bagel + an egg or a slice
of low-fat cheese + an orange
• breakfast burrito: 1 small whole-wheat tortilla + a
scrambled egg or a slice of low-fat cheese and salsa +
sliced mango.
• 2 slices of whole-grain toast or 1 whole-grain English muffin + ⅓ cup low-fat cottage cheese + ¾ cup
pineapple
• whole-grain French toast + milk + ½ cup berries

For a lighter breakfast, try these suggestions:
• 1 serving whole-grain crackers + 1 ounce low-fat
cheese + ¾ cup grapes
• ¼ cup nuts + fruit or low-sodium vegetable juice
• 1 small apple or banana + 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 1 hard-boiled egg + baby carrots + 2 tablespoons
low-fat dip

Make a morning
exercise appointment

First thing in the morning, before work or other activities, is often the best time to exercise. This way, exercise doesn’t compete with other tasks and activities
20

that can fill up the day and get in the way of a regular exercise program. Even if you’re not a morning
person, you can train yourself to become a morning
exercise person. Set your fitness clothes out the night
before. Set your alarm a half-hour earlier, and go out
the door for a brisk walk before you do anything else.
Or head to an early-morning exercise class. It’s just a
matter of getting into a habit.
What if you’d really rather push the snooze button?
Get up anyway, but give yourself the 10-minute rule.
If you’re still miserable after 10 minutes of working
out at the gym or running or walking outside, you can
skip your session for that day. Chances are, though, if
you’ve already gotten dressed and you’re there, you’re
much less likely to give up. To hold yourself accountable and give yourself credit, be sure to cross exercise
off your to-do list when you’re through. On mornings
you can’t work out, keep sneakers with you and look
for ways to get a walk or a jog in during the day. Doing
something on the days you said you would is important for maintaining momentum.

Curb coffee-drink calories

It’s easy to jam extra calories into your coffee. Many
people order large coffee drinks laden with milk and
sweeteners, which can equal the caloric content of an
entire meal. Even a modest tall (12-ounce) café latte
made with skim milk is still adding 100 calories to




your daily total. With today’s spefeine, which boosts alertness. It
BREAKFAS
cialty coffee drinks, it’s easy to load
also has been linked to a lower
GROUND R T
up on unhealthy fat, sugar, and calrisk of diabetes. And a 2012
ULES
P Eat a sm
all breakfa
ories without eating a bite of food.
study in the New England Jourst every d
ay.
P Follow
the balance
And since liquid calories may be
nal of Medicine found that coffee
d-breakfa
formula: w
st
h
lean prote ole-grain carbohyd
less filling than solid food, drinkdrinkers between 50 and 71 years
rates,
in, and fru
it.
P Keep bre
ing sweet drinks increases the
of age had a lower risk of death
akfa
300 to 40 st at around
0 calories.
chance that you will consume
from many diseases compared
P Make co
ffee drink
excess calories. Studies also
to those who abstained from cofs an
treat if yo
u drink th occasional
em at all.
show that consuming too many
fee. The catch is not to take the bad
sugary foods and beverages
with the good. Stick with black cofcan increase your risk of heart
fee or tea with only a little milk or
disease and diabetes. Moreover, research
sugar. Once you’ve had your coffee
cites sugar-sweetened beverages like coffee drinks as a
boost, switch to beverages that have no sugar. To get
major source of added sugar in the American diet and adequate hydration, anything watery counts, includa major contributor to weight gain.
ing water, coffee, soup, oranges, and watermelon.
Coffee by itself isn’t a bad thing. It contains caf- You’re drinking enough if your urine is pale or clear.



21


WEEK

3

A healthy break for lunch

D

uring a busy day, it’s easy to get sidetracked from
your healthy eating goals, but having a healthful lunch is important. Eating four hours or so after
breakfast helps maintain your blood sugar level so your
energy won’t take a midday dive. A healthful lunch will
also help you concentrate and function better at work in
the afternoon and help you avoid hunger that can lead
to overeating at dinner, a set-up for weight gain.
Lunch is an opportunity to enjoy high-nutrient,
disease-fighting foods. Use the healthy lunch plate
(see Figure 4, below) as your model—your basic formula for what to eat and how much. Vegetables should
dominate your plate. How about a whole-wheat pita
roll-up stuffed with tomatoes, carrots, green and red
peppers, and about ¼ cup hummus? Add some turkey

Figure 4 The healthy lunch plate

or chicken and you’ve got a great meal. The same formula applies to dinner, too (see Figure 5, “The healthy
dinner plate,” page 27).

The healthy lunch plate

To create a healthful, balanced lunch, include three food
groups: lean protein, whole-grain carbohydrates, and
produce. Think of a healthful lunch (and dinner too) in
halves and quarters: roughly half of your plate should
be vegetables or fruit; one-quarter should be lean protein such as fish, chicken, turkey, tofu, beans, or low-fat
cottage cheese; and one-quarter should be whole grains,
such as one slice of whole-grain bread, or half a cup of
brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, or quinoa. Feel free to
include a small amount of healthy fat, such as a tablespoon of oil-and-vinegar dressing on your salad.

Setting goals for lunch success

This week, use your food diary to focus on lunch. Take
a look now at your entries for three days. During that
time, what did you eat for lunch? Did your lunches follow the basic formula (lots of vegetables, whole grains,
and lean protein)? Are you missing any food groups?
Is there a general pattern to your lunches? Write your
answers here:

Fill half your plate with vegetables such as a mixed salad, onequarter with whole grain such as a whole-wheat pita pocket,
and one-third with lean protein such as hummus and low-fat
cheese. If you prefer a traditional sandwich, choose whole-wheat
bread with dark green lettuce and other vegetables plus some
lean protein like slices of grilled chicken or low-fat cheese. Avoid
cured lunch meats.

22

Now, looking at your lunch pattern, what goal will
you set for yourself for lunch? What do you have to
do to achieve it? Remember to be as specific and as
realistic as possible when planning to accomplish your
goal. If your objective, for example, is to eat a healthful lunch even though you’re so busy at work that
you can’t take much time to eat, you could bring your
lunch to work and keep it in the refrigerator or in an
insulated bag with an ice pack.




Also, troubleshoot by asking yourself why you
haven’t been doing this already. Is it because you tend
to be too rushed in the morning to think ahead about
lunch? If that’s the case, prepare your lunch the night
before, refrigerate it, and keep a note by the door so
you don’t forget it. Bringing lunch from home helps
you control what you’re eating. If you plan to buy
lunch that day, bring something healthful from home
with you, such as an apple, to round out the meal.
For lunches at home, try having a small plate of
healthful dinner leftovers, or make a sandwich with
whole-grain bread, lean protein, and 1 tablespoon of
mayonnaise. Fill the other half of your plate with a
salad or raw veggies to munch.
Many people grab food on the fly and fail to eat a
real lunch, perhaps eating a croissant on the way to a
meeting or other event. When that happens, acknowledge it and mentally account for those calories by saying to yourself, “This is part of lunch.” Then fill in with
an apple and a carton of nonfat plain yogurt as soon as
you get the chance. Don’t shortchange yourself on calories during the day. Research shows that people who
skip lunch or dinner expend fewer calories because they
don’t move as much. Moreover, you’ll likely feel cranky
and lethargic. And by dinnertime—look out! You’re apt
to overeat to make up for the day’s lack of fuel.
Remember to start with baby steps and to set
small, process-driven goals. If you’re eating lunch out
five days a week now, for example, aim to bring your
lunch two of those days. That’s realistic and achievable
for many of us.
For my lunch goal this week I will…
Example: I will bring my lunch two out of the ﬁve work days.

What’s for lunch?

Once you’ve set your goals and looked over the healthy
lunch plate, you’ll need to decide what to eat for lunch.
Need help getting started? Here are some lunch ideas
to rotate through:
• 1 serving whole-grain crackers, baby carrots, ½ cup
hummus, and an orange

• 1 whole-wheat tortilla, topped with ½ cup lowsodium canned black or pinto beans, 1 ounce lowfat shredded cheese, and 1 tablespoon salsa, heated
in the microwave and rolled up, with some chopped
lettuce and tomatoes
• 2 slices whole-grain bread with ½ recipe tuna salad
with curry and apples (see “Tuna salad with curry
and apples,” page 44), plus plenty of tomatoes and
romaine lettuce
• 1 serving whole-grain crackers and 2 ounces low-fat
cheese, with carrot and jicama sticks (a root vegetable), an apple, and flavored seltzer
• California turkey wrap (whole-wheat tortilla, 4 ounces
turkey, hummus, sprouts), plus a fresh fruit cup
• 1 whole-grain roll, 1 cup bean and lentil soup (see
“Bean and lentil soup,” page 45,) grape tomatoes,
and a peach
• peanut butter sandwich made with 2 tablespoons
peanut butter on whole-grain bread with a side of
carrot sticks, plus a small banana
• wasabi roast beef sandwich (whole-grain bread, 3
ounces lean roast beef, 1 tablespoon wasabi mayonnaise, and spinach) and 1 cup melon
• chicken Caesar wrap (whole-wheat tortilla, chicken,
and romaine lettuce with 1 tablespoon Caesar dressing), plus an orange
• 1 cup low-sodium soup (minestrone, chicken noodle, or lentil) with a serving of whole-wheat crackers
• 1 cup chili made with lots of vegetables and ground
turkey
• 1 cup whole-wheat pasta salad made with 4 ounces
chicken or tuna and vegetables
• pizza made with a whole-wheat English muffin
or whole-wheat pita topped with vegetables and 2
ounces of low-fat cheese, such as part-skim mozzarella or reduced-fat shredded cheeses
• stuffed peppers made with roughly ½ cup brown
rice and 4 ounces ground turkey
• 1 cup low-fat or nonfat plain Greek yogurt with berries or fresh fruit and 2 tablespoons nuts
• vegetable quesadilla made with 1 whole-wheat tortilla, 2 ounces part-skim mozzarella, and vegetables
• soy or vegetarian hot dog on a whole-wheat hot dog
bun with homemade coleslaw made with healthy
vegetable oil


23


• veggie burger with lettuce and tomato on a wholewheat bun, with a small green salad
• 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese and a cup of fresh fruit
• hard-boiled egg with a green salad and ½ pear
• whole-grain crackers or bread with ¼ cup hummus
and 2 ounces low-fat cheese and sliced vegetables
on top.

Lunchtime strategies

Lunchtime can be a minefield of temptation. From
sandwich shops exploding with high-calorie sandwiches to salad bars stocked with tempting mayonnaise-based salads, it can be difficult to get through
lunch without making some poor choices. Here are
some lunch survival strategies.

Your healthful lunch shopping list
• avocados

• mozzarella cheese

• lean roast beef

(low-fat)
• mushrooms
• peanut butter (natural) or
other nut butter
• pineapple
• plain nonfat yogurt
• plastic forks, spoons,
knives
• red peppers
• salsa
• sandwich bags
• snap peas
• tomatoes
• turkey (sliced, fresh
baked)
• whole-grain bread
• whole-grain crackers
• whole-grain English
mufﬁns
• whole-grain rolls
• whole-grain tortillas
• whole-wheat bagels

• lentil soup (low-sodium)

• whole-wheat pitas

• bananas
• beans: kidney, garbanzo,

white (cannellini)

• canned tuna (packed in

water)

• carrots
• celery
• cheeses (low-fat)
• cherry tomatoes
• chicken (baked or grilled,

not processed)

• chicken noodle soup

(low-sodium)

• cucumbers
• dark green leafy lettuce
• eggs
• feta cheese (low-fat)
• green peppers
• hummus
• insulated lunch bag

• minestrone soup

(low-sodium)

24

• veggie burgers
• yogurt (plain, nonfat)

Salad bar survival
A trip to the salad bar is a convenient way to load up
your lunch with vegetables. But while salads sound
healthful, they can quickly add hefty doses of calories and artery-clogging saturated fat. Regular salad
dressings, cheeses, mayonnaise-based salads (such as
tuna, chicken, and egg salads), and desserts (such as
rice pudding and ambrosia) drive up calorie counts.
The good news? Many salad bars have so much variety
now that it’s easy to work around these potential diet
pitfalls without feeling deprived.
Take these steps to raise your next visit to the salad
bar to a more healthful level.
■ Step 1: Build a vegetable base. Most salad bars
have two sizes of tins—large and small. Go for the large
tin at lunch and load it up with leafy greens and raw or
grilled vegetables. By getting the large-size salad, you’ll
eat more produce when the pickings are plentiful.
■ Step 2: Add some protein. To your veggie base,
add a couple spoonfuls of garbanzo and kidney beans,
or three-bean salad—typical salad bar offerings. Beans
are an excellent source of disease-fighting fiber—and
they’re filling! Add some grilled chicken, low-fat cottage cheese, or chopped eggs to complete the picture
of a fulfilling lunch. With a large, hearty salad as your
lunch, you’re less apt to get hungry in the afternoon and
become susceptible to unplanned, impulsive snacking.
■ Step 3: Add a small amount of healthy fat.
Sprinkle on the nuts and seeds. They are high in hearthealthy unsaturated fat and healthy protein, give you a
feeling of fullness, and help food stay in your stomach
longer. If you opt for nuts and seeds, though, go with
a low-calorie salad dressing to keep your calorie count
down. Or sprinkle on a small dose of oil and vinegar.
Avoid large cheese chunks or use them only sparingly. Cheese packs a calorie and saturated fat wallop.
A light sprinkle of a strongly flavored cheese like feta or
Parmesan can deliver flavor with fewer calories. Feta,
especially, is so flavorful that you can add less of it.
Creamy salad dressings have the most saturated
fat, so oil-based dressings are a better option. To limit
calories, use dressing sparingly or dilute it with a little
vinegar, or opt for a light or nonfat dressing. If you
choose a high-fat dressing, skip nuts, seeds, or cheese
on your salad.




Bypass the bacon bits. They’re high in fat, they
don’t offer much nutritionally, and they’re processed—
the worst kind of meat.
■ Step 4: Finish with whole grains and fruit. Look
for whole grains like barley or bulgur wheat to sprinkle on top. Or add a few slices of fruit.
Many salad bars also offer rice pudding, ambrosia salad, and other treats. Even though they’re available, don’t kid yourself. They’re dessert, not salads.
If you’re trying to control calories, choose fresh fruit
instead.

Make your move
Lunch is the perfect time to treat yourself to a walking
break. Instead of spending all of your lunchtime sitting
and eating, eat a quick healthy meal and go for a brisk
walk by yourself or with a friend or coworker. Assess
your speed by taking the “talk test.” If you can walk
and talk effortlessly, consider picking up the pace at
least part of the time. To gain the cardiovascular benefits, you need to walk fast enough to get your heart
rate up, enough that you need to pause your conversation to take a breath.
Take walking breaks during the rest of your day
as well, such as every hour you’re at your computer.
Wearing a pedometer is a great way to keep track of
the steps you take—you’ll be surprised how little
walking breaks add up over the day. Research shows
that it’s best to avoid sitting for long stretches. A 2012
study in Archives of Internal Medicine involving more
than 200,000 people over age 45 found that prolonged
sitting was associated with a higher risk of death
regardless of how physically active they were when
they weren’t sitting. In other words, spending hours
upon hours sitting is harmful even if you get plenty of
exercise at other times.
Deli dilemmas
Let’s face it: sub shops are everywhere, and at lunch
time they can be a convenient choice. The downside?
Many deli sandwiches are made with cured and processed meats, which have been linked to higher rates
of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and colon cancer. In
addition, deli meats, cheeses, and mayonnaise-based
salads can be loaded with unhealthy fats, calories, and

Quick tip:
meals by
you
➠bring a frozenFrozen for lunch tothe numbers. Ifofﬁce
entrée
heat up in the
microwave, look for entrées with no more than 350
calories, 4 g or less of saturated fat, 15 g or more of
protein, and 600 mg or less of sodium per serving. Add
frozen vegetables to the meal as you microwave it, or a
handful of baby carrots, celery, or fresh fruit to make it
more ﬁlling and nutritionally complete.

sodium. One example is a foot-long Tuscan chicken
melt sandwich offered at a popular sub chain. It weighs
in at 760 calories and packs 2,160 milligrams (mg) of
sodium, which is more than a day’s worth in one meal.
A national upscale sandwich chain offers an Asiago
roast beef sandwich with 710 calories and 1,310 mg of
sodium. Before succumbing to your favorite deli sandwich, check out its nutrition profile. Many national
chains offer online nutrition information that can be
enlightening.

Look for sandwiches
• with no more than 500 calories per serving
• with no more than 4 g saturated fat
• with less than 500 mg of sodium
• that have vegetables and bean fillings as well as fish,
grilled chicken, or turkey, rather than red and processed meats
• that offer plant-based sandwich fillings such as hummus, peanut butter, and other nut butters (almond,
cashew)
• that contain healthful fats as well as vitamins and
minerals.
Build a better sandwich
The benefit of making your own sandwich is that you
have full control over what’s in it. A balanced sandwich-based lunch contains lean protein, healthful carbohydrates, and a hefty serving of vegetables. Here are
three choices of basic formulas to follow for a sandwich-based lunch:
• full sandwich (2 slices of whole-grain bread)
• half sandwich (1 slice of whole-grain bread) +
a salad
• half sandwich (1 slice of whole-grain bread) + 1 cup
vegetable-based clear soup.


25


■ Step 5: Think big.
To build a balanced sandwich, follow
LUNCH
these basic steps:
Layer your sandwich to
GROUND R
■ Step 1: Start with a healthful
make a large and appetizULES
P Don’t sk
ip lunch n
foundation. You can make a sandwich
ing creation with spinach
o matter h
busy you a
ow
re.
on bread, crackers, pita, or any numand watercress, tomato, and
P Follow
the h
lots of veg ealthy-lunch formu
ber of grain-based products so long
onion. Roll bean sprouts,
la
e
whole gra tables, lean protein :
,
ins, fresh fr
as you choose a whole-grain variety.
shredded cabbage, and slices
amount o
u
f healthfu it, and a small
l fat.
Some good choices include wholeof green or red pepper into
P Plan ah
ead.
to have fo Know what you’re
wheat bread, oat-bran English muftortillas or flat bread.
go
r lu
house in th nch before leaving ing
the
e morning
fins, whole-grain tortillas, small
. This mea
either brin
ns
gin
or knowin g your lunch from
whole-wheat bagels, whole-grain
Tap into the beneﬁts of water
g what he
home
alt
you will m
ake before hy selections
crackers, whole-wheat pitas, or oatWater has no calories and few, if
restaurant
going into
a
o
lunch from r cafeteria. Try to bri
bran bread. Remember to choose
any, nutrients. Still, it’s an imporn
h
can take n ome more often so g
utritional
you
breads that list “whole” before the
tant player in your diet, and lunch
control of
important
this
meal.
grain’s name as the first ingrediis a great opportunity to partake
ent. Beware of terms like wheat
of its benefits. Among its many
flour, stone-ground, seven-grain,
duties, water aids digestion, helps
multigrain, pumpernickel, enriched, fortified, and
prevent constipation, normalizes
organic. They don’t necessarily indicate that a partic- blood pressure, and helps stabilize heartbeat. Water
ular loaf is whole-grain.
also carries nutrients and oxygen to cells, cushions
■ Step 2: Spread on a flavorful accent. Try a small
joints and protects organs and tissues, helps regulate
amount of guacamole, mustard, mayonnaise, trans- body temperature, and maintains electrolyte (sodium)
fat–free margarine (check the label), roasted red pep- balance. Most people need about 32 to 64 ounces of
pers, tomato sauce, or salsa.
fluids each day. Anything watery counts, but water
■ Step 3: Add lean protein. Try flaked tuna,
itself—because it’s naturally calorie-free—is an excelchopped chicken, turkey breast, low-fat cheese, lean lent choice.
beef, or hummus.
There is some evidence that drinking two large
■ Step 4: Accessorize with a crunch. Consider
glasses of water before eating helps people lose weight.
romaine lettuce, flat-sliced carrots or celery, sliced Drinking water between meals is also a good strategy.
apples, sliced red and green peppers, sliced cucum- If you wait until you’re thirsty to drink, it’s easy to misbers, tomato, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, pine- take thirst for hunger and end up eating food when all
apple slices, snap peas, or cherry tomatoes.
you really needed was a tall, cool drink.

26




WEEK

4

A dinner makeover

D

inner is often the biggest and most important meal
of the day; it’s also a chance to relax after work,
spend time with family, or socialize. But fewer and
fewer Americans are cooking dinners at home. There
are many reasons behind this shift, but in part, it’s
because prepared convenience foods are now cheaper
and more widely available than ever before, enabling
people to eat anywhere. To compete in this marketplace, the makers of fast foods and convenience foods
have loaded their offerings with appetite-stimulating fats, sugars, and salt. Fresh vegetables and whole
grains are hard to find. Meanwhile, portion sizes in
restaurant meals, take-out foods, and snacks have
increased, sometimes more than doubling.
By now, you probably realize that to make healthful meals is to prepare them, as much as possible,
yourself. For that, you need healthy groceries in your
kitchen. Otherwise, you’ll arrive home at the end of
day to an empty refrigerator and quickly turn to fast

Figure 5 The healthy dinner plate

food, frozen entrées, or takeout. Even if you try to
make more healthful choices from a restaurant menu,
it’s easy to consume lots of calories with few nutrients,
almost no vegetables, and no whole grains. A little
advance planning can avert this high-calorie, lownutrient ambush.
Last-minute solutions such as eating take-out several times a week can temporarily make life easier and
give you a break. They can also derail your health if
they become a pattern. To prepare and eat healthful
dinners, it all starts with organization. If you stick to
a plan, yet build in some degree of flexibility, you’ll be
able to meet the goal of a healthful dinner more consistently. One of the easiest ways to do that is to eat
dinner at home as often can you can.

The healthy dinner plate

What’s for dinner? Use the healthy dinner plate (see
Figure 5, at left) as your basic model of what to eat
and how much. The idea, as with lunch, is to fill half
of your plate with fruits or vegetables (1 to 2 cups,
cooked or raw). Then make one-quarter of your plate
healthful carbohydrates and whole grains like brown
rice or 100% whole-grain pasta or bread. The remaining quarter of your plate should be lean protein such
as fish, chicken, beans, lentils, turkey, or tofu. Extralean beef or pork can be included about once a week.
Aim for 4 to 6 ounces of protein-rich foods for dinner,
with, ideally, fish in the protein spot at least twice a
week. Keep in mind that 4 ounces of protein is about
the size of a deck of cards.

Setting goals for dinner success
Fill half your plate with vegetables, one-quarter with lean protein,
and one-quarter with whole grains.

Your goal for this week is to use your food diary to
determine how you’re doing with dinner and what you
may need to do to improve it. Take a look now at the
food diary you kept for three days. During that time,


27


what did you eat for dinner? Did your dinner follow
the basic formula (vegetables, whole grains, lean protein)? Are you missing any food groups? Are you eating too much or too little? How often, in those three
days, did you eat dinner out? Do you tend to eat a lot
more on weekends? Is there a general pattern to your
dinners that might be working against your goal of
healthy eating? Write your answers here:
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
Now, looking at your dinner routine, what goal
will you set for yourself for dinner? What do you have
to do to achieve it? Remember to be as specific and as
realistic as possible when planning how to accomplish
your goal. And be sure to troubleshoot. If your goal,
for example, is to prepare and eat dinner at home at
least three days a week, ask yourself why you haven’t
been doing it already, and anticipate how this change
is going to affect your life. Decide how and when you
will take the time to plan healthful home dinners. If
your goal is to make better choices when you must
eat out, think about it in advance (you can even check
out menus online before dinner to plan what you’ll
order). If you tend to eat too much bread at restaurants, ask the server not to bring any. Are appetizers
your downfall? Scout the menu for offerings that are
vegetable-based, like salads, and ask the server to hold
the cheese and bring dressing on the side.
Whether you eat out or at home, you may be one
of the many people who need to reduce their dependence on meat as the main dish for every meal. To
reach this goal, plan some time to look for meatless
recipes or recipes that use very little meat, such as
Asian stir-fry meals or Mexican burritos with mostly
beans and vegetables.
For my dinner goal this week, I will…
Example: This week, I will stock up on healthy quick-ﬁx meal
options, such as frozen vegetables, precooked skinless chicken,
whole-wheat pita bread and whole-wheat pasta, and low-sodium
pasta sauce—items I can just heat up that need only a side salad
to become a balanced meal.

__________________________________________
__________________________________________
28

Quick
in
➠kitchen.tip Become a weekend warriorshop,the
Use the weekends to plan menus,
batchcook, and prep healthful meals for the work week. Preportion single or family-size servings of casseroles and
soups in freezer-proof containers and stack them in your
freezer. Make it your mission to have a strategy for dinner
before going out for the day.

Sneaky ways to get in more fruits
and vegetables

We recommend aiming for seven servings of fruits and
vegetables each day. The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, which recommends a less ambitious
five servings per day, notes that few American adults
manage to accomplish even this goal. Dinner is typically the largest meal of the day, and it’s also your last
chance to strike a healthful balance of foods for the
day. If you didn’t eat many or any fruits and vegetables
at lunch, now’s your chance; why not load up on fruits
and vegetables to meet your produce quota? Dinner is
the time to make up for any lack of nutrients earlier in
the day. Plus, piling on the produce means there’s less
room in your dinner for unhealthful options. Here are
some sneaky ways to work more produce into dinner.
• Roast vegetables along with whatever entrée is in
the oven. Roasting is a great way to let the deep, rich
flavors of vegetables shine through because their
starches start to convert to sugar at around 375°
F, releasing a deep, nutty sweetness. To roast, just
bake cut-up vegetables at 375° F for 20 to 25 minutes or until they’re lightly browned. Any vegetable
is a roasting candidate—from mushrooms, onions,
eggplant, and zucchini to tomatoes, broccoli, and
carrots—so don’t limit yourself. Enjoy roasted veggies as a side dish or toss them into pasta dishes and
other recipes.
• Poach veggies in low-sodium chicken broth and
white wine. Add garlic, basil, or tarragon for a flavor bonus. To poach, boil enough liquid to cover
the vegetables. When it boils, add the vegetables.
Turn down the heat to just below boiling and cook
the vegetables for about five to seven minutes, until




•

•

•

•

they’re brightly colored and tender-crisp. To retain
nutrients, keep a watchful eye on the pot, or set a
timer so you don’t overcook.
Smuggle fresh cut vegetables into main dishes. Try
adding mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, onions, or
carrots into pasta sauce, casseroles, soup, stews,
scrambled eggs, and chili.
Add pureed vegetables into recipes. A Penn State
study found that covertly adding pureed vegetables
into classic foods like a casserole, macaroni and
cheese, or carrot bread reduced calorie intake and
boosted veggie consumption. Pureed cooked vegetables can easily be used as sauces, soups, spreads,
and toppings.
Make it your goal to have a salad with dinner most
days. Stock your salad with dark green leafy lettuce
and toss in petite peas, tomatoes, onions, celery, carrots, and peppers. Bonus: in addition to the nutrient
bonanza you’ll get, studies show that starting meals
with a low-calorie salad can help you consume fewer
calories at the meal, as long as the salad is no more
than 100 calories. A healthful salad consists of about
3 cups of dark green lettuce, ½ cup carrots, a tomato,
¼ cucumber, and 1½ tablespoons of low-calorie
dressing.
Choose fruit—fresh or frozen, stewed or baked—
for dessert. It all counts toward your daily produce
quota. Dried fruits are healthy but high in calories,
so eat them sparingly.

Upgrade your prepared entrées

Supermarkets are full of quick-fix dinner options,
from frozen entrees to prepared foods in the deli. But
like restaurant fare, these dishes are typically high in
sodium and saturated fat and scant on vegetables.
For example, one serving of an entrée called “grilled
chicken Florentine complete dinner for two” (available
in the frozen foods section at supermarkets nationwide) packs 1,090 mg of sodium (most of us need
no more than 1,500 mg of sodium for the entire day)
and 9 g of saturated fat. To make complete meals like
these more healthful when you’re in a pinch, stretch
the two-serving package into four servings by fortifying it with your own fresh or frozen vegetables and a

Smart, easy dinners
• Spread low-fat refried beans on a whole-wheat tortilla,

add thawed shrimp or leftover chicken, sprinkle with
chopped green peppers, add a spoonful of salsa, roll
up, and bake for 15 minutes.
• Slice a tofu block into large slices (about three slices

per block) and place in a baking pan; add chopped
scallions, garlic, and a little low-sodium soy sauce.
Meanwhile, toss vegetables such as strips of red
pepper in olive oil. Roast tofu and vegetables in the
oven for 20 minutes at 375° F. Serve with brown rice or
whole-wheat couscous.
• Add ½ can of black, white, or garbanzo beans (buy

low sodium or rinse regular canned beans), or salmon
chunks to a tossed salad. Serve it with a dressing of
oil and balsamic vinegar plus a hearty chunk of wholewheat bread and olive oil.
• Whip together a two-egg omelete (two eggs plus a

teaspoon of water) and ﬁll with any leftover
vegetables you have around, such as steamed broccoli
from last night’s dinner and some chopped tomatoes.
Season with pepper. Or sprinkle on your favorite
herb combination, like Herbes de Provence or
bouquet garni.

can of rinsed and drained beans. You can certainly do
the same with almost any supermarket or restaurant
take-out dish, including the fresh prepared entrées at
the supermarket. Toss fresh vegetables in with your
ravioli. Cook up some Brussels sprouts to mix in with
tortellini.
■ BONUS: by adding your own healthful ingredients, you’ll reduce the cost of the meal, which is typically pricey, compared with, say, a quick pasta sauce
you could make yourself. In fact, why not come up
with your own fast, cheap, and delicious pasta sauce
recipes to have in your arsenal? (See"Quick tip" on
page 30 for an easy pasta sauce recipe.)

Outwit your appetite at home

Portion control is essential to limiting your calorie
intake at any meal, whether you eat out, prepare your
own meals, or occasionally grab food on the run, Your
appetite isn’t just governed by physical factors. It’s also


29


Quick tip
own
➠Sauté garlic,Make your green easy pasta1 sauce:
onions, and
peppers in teaspoon
olive oil. Add a can of low-sodium crushed tomatoes.
Eat over whole-wheat pasta.

independently influenced by the sight of food and
what the people around you are eating or ordering. If
you’re trying to lose or maintain your weight, dinner
doesn’t have to be your diet downfall. Here are some
tips for keeping dinner portions in proportion.
■ Train your eye. Standard servings are generally
much smaller than those dished out in restaurants or
even what you’re used to at home. Even though you
measured food servings at the start of your healthyeating journey for your food diary, serving sizes can
grow over time. Measure your food again now as a
refresher course on standard serving sizes (see Table 2,
page 14). Developing an eye for serving sizes is helpful at home and when you’re dining out or attending
social events, where portions may be too large or the
food unlimited.
In a Pennsylvania State University study, researchers manipulated the portions of baked ziti served as
a main course at a restaurant. They used the regular
portion on some days and one that was 50% larger on
others. The price of the meal remained the same. Diners who were served the larger portion ate 43% more
baked-ziti calories, as well as more of the accompaniments (a roll and butter and a stuffed tomato), yet
surveys showed that all the customers thought their
portions were equally appropriate.
■ Downsize your tableware. Oversized plates are
fashionable now, but they trick your eyes into thinking bigger portions are appropriate. Serving your
meals on smaller plates, on the other hand, can make
a small serving look larger. So if your dinner plates are
larger than the standard 10.5 inches, get smaller plates
or use a luncheon plate or salad plate for your main
dish. Save larger plates for festive dinners. Meanwhile,
use smaller serving utensils, such as a soup spoon,
for doling out portions. In a Cornell University study,
participants at an ice cream social given a large bowl
ate 31% more ice cream than those given a mediumsize bowl. Similarly, with beverages, replace short,
30

wide glasses with tall, slender ones. Research shows
that people pour 28% more in short, wide glasses than
they do in tall, skinny ones. Height gives the illusion
of looking like more, so we pour less.
■ Serve in the kitchen. To discourage second helpings, pre-serve your portions onto each plate in the
kitchen rather than bringing serving bowls to the dining table. Keeping the remaining food off the table
makes it less likely you’ll reach for more.
■ Shine a light on meals. Atmosphere has an impact
on how we eat. Studies show that dimmed lights at
meals can make you eat more. In restaurants with soft
lighting, for example, consumers tend to stay longer
and maybe enjoy an unplanned dessert or an extra
drink. Low lighting can also make you feel less inhibited and self-conscious; you’re more apt to eat more,
especially when you’re with others. You can’t control
conditions in a restaurant, but keep the lights bright
at home and reserve candlelight dinners for special
occasions.
■ Don’t multitask. Keep meals free of distractions:
Don’t drive, watch TV, read, or engage in another
activity while eating. Instead, find a quiet spot and just
sit down and eat. Multitasking while eating makes it
easy to consume more food without even realizing it.
Focusing on your food, often called mindful eating,
can help you enjoy meals and pay better attention to
what you eat. (That goes for snacks, too.) If you’re on
your feet, you’re not paying attention.
■ Pace yourself. Scientists have known for some
time that the fullness of your stomach is only part of
what makes you feel satisfied after a meal; the brain
must also receive a series of signals from digestive
hormones secreted by the gastrointestinal tract. It’s
standard advice to chew slowly, so that you’ll feel full
after eating less food than if you ate quickly. Eating
slowly doesn’t always work, but when it does, the reason has as much to do with the brain as with the gut.
As the stomach fills with food or water, stretch
receptors in the stomach activate and signal the brain
directly through the vagus nerve, which connects the
gut and the brainstem. Then, as partially digested food
enters the small intestine, hormonal signals are released.
One example is cholecystokinin (CCK), released by the
intestines in response to food consumed during a meal.




■ Check the restaurant’s
Another hormone, leptin, produced by
DINNER
GROUND R
fat cells, communicates with the brain
website before leaving the house.
ULES
P Plan yo
ur din
about long-range needs and satiety,
Many restaurants now show
and try to ners for the week
eat at hom
based on the body’s energy stores.
their menus online. Some even
Remembe
e
r to start fr more often.
o
are now a
nd cut back m where you
Research suggests that leptin amplilist nutrition information. You
you’re eati
gradually.
n
If
try to eat g out ﬁve nights a w
fies the CCK signals to enhance the
might be surprised by the high calat home th
ree nights eek,
.
P Take co
feeling of fullness. Other research
orie and sodium content in some
ntrol of re
staurant m
looking fo
eals
suggests that leptin also interacts
foods you thought were healthful.
r
lots of veg dishes that come w by
ith
etables, le
with the neurotransmitter dopaYou can also check menus at weban protein
only small
s,
p
like pasta, ortions of white sta and
mine in the brain to produce a
sites such as www.opentable.com.
rches
rice, and b
read. Don
eat everyth
’t
in
feeling of pleasure after eating.
In general, menus don’t tell you very
some hom g on your plate. B
ring
e.
P Practice
The theory is that, by eating too
much about an item’s nutritional
port
too, and b ion control at hom
quickly, you might not give this
value, but they can give you a general
e,
e
your plate sure to pile at least
half
with vege
intricate hormonal cross-talk
idea of the type of food served (meat
tables.
system enough time to work.
with creamy sauces or fish with vegeOf course, as anyone who
tables?). Knowing what to order ahead
has tried eating slowly to lose weight can attest,
of time can give you more control. If
it’s not quite that simple. People who are obese, for you didn't have a chance to check the menu before you
example, may suffer from leptin resistance, mean- got to the restaurant, you can always use your smarting that they’re less responsive to satiety or pleasure phone (if you have one) to do it. Also, go to restaurants
signals from this hormone. Appetite is complex, and that offer plenty of options à la carte.
■ Outsmart entrée envy. When you’re eating out
dieting is a challenge. Even so, it’s worth taking time
to savor the texture, flavor, and aroma of your food. with others, be the first to order so you’re not influTo slow yourself down, make a habit of taking one enced by what everyone else is choosing. You can be
mindful bite at the beginning of each meal, which acts enticed by other people’s food decisions. If everyone is
like an eating speed bump. Tune into the taste, tex- indulging in the prime rib and twice-baked potatoes,
ture, and smell of that bite. Put your fork down and for example, you’re less likely to order the grilled fish.
chew it slowly. These steps can help put the brakes on Conversely, if you set a healthier tone by ordering a
your eating velocity, which in turn will give your brain salad and salmon for your entrée first, others may fola chance to receive the message that your stomach is low suit.
■ Start with a salad or a broth-based soup. In genfull. When you feel full, stop eating.
eral, eating in courses isn’t the best strategy if you’re
trying to lose weight, because it can lead to consumOutwit your appetite at restaurants ing more calories. Conversely, seeing all the food
In general, restaurant food isn’t as healthful as food together gives you a better appreciation of your food
you prepare using the healthy eating guidelines. For one intake. Here’s an exception: studies show that startthing, it’s more likely to be high in unhealthy fats, salt, ing a meal with a small salad and low-calorie dressing
sugar, and refined carbohydrates. It’s not obvious, but such as vinegar and oil or a broth-based soup can help
butter is in almost everything in many restaurants— curb your appetite, causing you to eat less at the meal.
chefs like the flavor and are trained to use it liberally, Before ordering a salad as a starter, ask what type of
even on those healthy-looking fresh vegetables. The lettuce is used. If it’s iceberg rather than a dark green
same goes for salt and sugar. Plus, restaurant portions leafy lettuce such as romaine or arugula, take a pass or
are often overly large. However, if you’re smart about order the consommé instead.
■ Ask about fried foods. Frying usually adds more
what you order, you can get a healthful meal—including dessert—when eating out. Here are some guidelines. fat to a food than broiling, baking, or sautéing, so the



31


➠Quick tip Many people watch TV from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
each night. Studies show that TV viewing is associated
with increased body weight in both kids and adults.
Instead, get up and take a walk or a bike ride. Or try an
indoor activity like playing Wii or doing a yoga video.

calorie count is likely to be high. The good news is
that many restaurants are switching away from frying
foods in unhealthy oils. In fact, some cities and states
are banning the use of trans fats in restaurants. You
still want to ask your server what kind of oil is used
for frying, and beware of the high calorie count of all
fried foods.
■ Ask for extra vegetables. Many restaurant entrées
don’t come with a generous serving of vegetables. But
you can easily remedy that by ordering vegetables
from the side dish selection, substituting vegetables
or a salad for a less healthful side dish, or asking for
more vegetables. Many Chinese restaurants, for example, can easily accommodate your request to add extra
broccoli or pea pods to your entrée.
■ Avoid dishes prepared with gravy and heavy sauces.
Or ask the waiter to use half the sauce. Because gravy is
often made with fatty pan drippings from meat, it’s relatively high in saturated fat. Many sauces are made with
cream, which is also high in saturated fat.
■ Ask the waiter how large the entrées are. If they’re
bigger than the meals you usually eat, consider ordering an appetizer instead or sharing an entrée with
someone else. And keep in mind that you don’t have
to eat everything on your plate. Try eating only half the
portion and taking the rest home for tomorrow’s lunch.
■ Share desserts. If you want a sweet dessert, consider sharing it with others at your table. You’ll get the
full taste, but just a fraction of the calories, sugar, and
unhealthy fats. You can also order the fruit plate—or
skip dessert and just sip coffee or tea.

is a good choice, as are some of the items on a Middle Eastern platter like the hummus and tabbouleh.
Unfortunately, the puff-pastry hors d’oeuvres, mini
quiches, meatballs, and most fancy desserts are full
of unhealthy fats, salt, and sugar, so steer clear or just
sample one.
One good way to control consumption at a party
is to put just two items on your plate and move away
from the food table to eat. When you’re finished, avoid
the food and go get a drink of seltzer or another noncaloric beverage to space out the time between trips to
the buffet.

A drink with dinner?
Research finds that people who drink alcohol moderately have lower rates of aging-related diseases such as
heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and dementia. There’s
no need to start drinking if you don’t now, but if you
already do, the key is moderation. Excessive alcohol
consumption can raise your risk of a host of health
problems, including liver disease, some cancers, high
blood pressure, depression, and dementia. “Moderate” means no more than two drinks per day for men,
and one drink per day for women. Drinking several
drinks on one night doesn’t “average out” for the rest
of the week.
Here’s another reason to curb excess drinking. Like other beverages, alcoholic drinks can be a
caloric blind spot for many people—they add plenty
of calories but are often overlooked in daily tallies.
A 12-ounce glass of beer has about 150 calories (the

Outwit your appetite at parties

Food at parties and receptions can be decadent, so
look for the most healthful offerings. Start with the
vegetable plate. Is there a yogurt dip? Go for it. Many
parties offer a fruit plate or fruit salad. Shrimp cocktail
32


Lunch on leftovers
While you’re writing your dinner shopping list for the
week, think about making dinners that leave enough
leftovers for one or two lunches. Cook enough roasted
chicken, for example, for a Monday dinner and to have in
different guises for lunch on Tuesday and Thursday. Chop
the chicken and mix in fruit and a handful of nuts, then
layer this over a salad, stuff it into a whole-wheat pita, or
roll it into a whole-grain wrap. Or slice chicken and add
a few slices of avocado, tomato, sprouts, and pesto to
whole-grain bread for a great sandwich. Round out lunch
with a piece of fruit and grape tomatoes or some crunchy
carrot, celery, or jicama sticks.



same as a can of non-diet soda). A 5-ounce glass of
wine, a 1.5-ounce shot of distilled liquor, and a glass
of light beer each contain about 100 calories. Mixed
drinks can contain hundreds of calories per glass,
since they often contained sweetened liquids as well as
alcohol. The bottom line: when ordering a drink, keep
it simple and small, and steer clear of the sweet drinks.

Healthful dinner shopping list
At this point, you probably have plenty of healthful food in the house, so this week, it’s time to cre-


ate your own shopping list based on what you already
have on hand and a little time planning meals you
want to make at home this week. You can begin with
the “Smart, easy dinners” on page 29 or use the recipes at the end of this report. Even better, adapt recipes
you know or those you find in cookbooks to meet the
healthy eating guidelines in this report. Start your list
here or use a separate piece of paper.
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
_________________________________________


33


WEEK

5

S

Sensible snacking

nacking sneaks up on you. It’s midafternoon,
you’re starving, and you need some energy to
get you through a presentation in the afternoon, the
emails you need to send, and the half-hour commute
home. You know that nothing in the office vending
machines can be good for you, but the chocolate bar,
bag of cookies, or bag of chips would be quick, easy,
and filling.
Or, you’re at home and the big slab of gourmet
cheese left over from guests last weekend is calling from
the refrigerator, too tempting to resist even though you
ate lunch only two hours ago.
Because snacks are unplanned, they can easily
erode your healthy eating goals. But it doesn’t have to
be that way. In spite of what all the high-calorie, highsugar, or high-sodium processed food options suggest,
a snack can be a good-for-you experience. Depending
on what you choose, snacks can be a source of healthful
nutrients.
Snacking is not a necessary part of a healthy eating
program. Still, many people find it hard not to have a
snack sometime between lunch at noon and dinner at
6 p.m. A healthful snack can help sustain your energy
levels by stabilizing your blood sugar, the fuel required
by your body’s cells. When blood sugar dips, which can
happen if you don’t eat about every four hours, you may
feel tired.
Snacks can also increase your energy and endurance levels during a workout. If you eat a snack that
offers a healthful combination of carbohydrates, protein, and some fat one hour before your workout,
you’ll have more energy available during exercise
and you won’t dip into your glycogen reserves (carbohydrates stored in muscles) as quickly for energy.
The result? You’ll get a better workout as well as more
energy for activities later in the day. It’s also a good
idea to eat a snack with carbohydrates and protein
within 30 minutes after a long aerobic workout (one
that lasts 60 minutes or more). Refueling helps to
34

repair muscle and replaces muscle glycogen stores so
you won’t feel spent the next day.
It’s no secret that popular snacks often contain
exactly the kinds of foods that put you at risk of heart
disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, stroke, and other life-threatening conditions. Plus
snacking can lead to weight gain if you’re not careful.
Research suggests that the more eating opportunities
you have beyond three daily meals, the more calories
you’ll consume. A Harvard study published in Obesity
that followed over 20,000 men for more than a decade
found that the men who snacked were at increased
risk of weight gain, specifically an 11-pound gain over
the 10-year testing period. Other studies have found
that diets high in snack food are associated with an
increased waist circumference and weight gain over
time.
Unlike meals, snacks are often casual and
unplanned. It’s easy to see how sneaky snack calories
can be. For example, just one blueberry cereal bar, at 120
calories, can add up to an extra 12.5 pounds in a year if
you have one every day over and above your basic calorie needs. And that’s the problem. If you snack, you may
not compensate for those calories by eating less at the
next meal.

Setting goals for snacking success

Your goal this week is to keep a detailed snacking
diary to determine how much you are snacking and
what you can do to improve your snacking choices,
if necessary. To pinpoint your patterns, keep track of
your snacking habits for three days (two weekdays and
one weekend day) using the detailed one-day snack
diary on the next page. (You’ll need three copies.)
Note the time you’re snacking, where you’re snacking, with whom you’re eating, what else you’re doing
while snacking, how you feel, whether you’re hungry,
what you ate and how much, and how you feel after-






35


PLACE

(kitchen,
living room,
bedroom,
car, desk
at work)

TIME

(start and end
time of the
snack)

(alone, or
with family,
friends,
colleagues)

WITH WHOM
(reading,
watching
TV, talking,
cooking)

(neutral,
happy, tense,
depressed,
angry, bored,
rushed, tired)

MOOD
(0–5, with
0=no hunger,
5=starving)

HUNGER

AMOUNT

TOTAL :

SNACK FOOD

Print 3 copies of this page and track your snacking patterns for three days.

ACTIVITY

YOUR SNACKING DIARY
CALORIES
(if unknown,
leave blank)

FULLNESS
(after eating:
1=still hungry
2=quite satisﬁed
3=uncomfortable)

(X=yes)

FILLED OUT
JUST BEFORE
OR AFTER
EATING

ward. Track calories as well. Then, look at the big picture. Are you typically snacking when you’re not really
hungry? When you’re stressed? When you’re doing
something else? What are you eating? Do you tend to
reach for the same kinds of snack foods at the same
time each day? How many calories are you consuming? Is it more than you thought in relation to your
overall calorie needs? Write your answers here:

Next, take a stand on snacking. If you’re trying to
establish a pattern of healthy eating, use your snacking diary to decide if these extra foods are helping or
hindering you. Unless you have diabetes or a health
issue that requires you to eat every few hours, snacking isn’t necessary. Frequent snacking increases the
chances of making poor food choices: a bag of chips
can be had almost anywhere, unlike a piece of fresh
fruit, which can be harder to put your hands on at a
moment’s notice. If you think snacking could be holding you back from reaching your healthy eating goals,
try avoiding snacking for a day and see how you feel.
Did you miss snacking? Did avoiding snacking for a
day help you eat less or stick to more healthful foods?
Do you plan to curtail or avoid snacking in the future?
Write your answers here:

If you think you can handle an occasional snack or
feel you can’t make it from lunch to dinner without a little sustenance, take a hard look at what you’re munching on between meals. Are the snacks you’re consuming
unprocessed or minimally processed (as in fresh fruits
and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds)? Low
in sodium (less than 300 mg per serving)? Around
150 calories or fewer per snack? Are you eating them
at the right time, such as before and after your workouts? Have you gotten into bad habits such as eating an
unnecessary snack every night before bed?
What could you do to improve your snacking habits? Write your answers here:

36

Looking at your answers, what goal will you set
for yourself for snacking? What do you have to do to
achieve it? Remember to be as specific and as realistic as possible when planning how to accomplish your
goal. If your aim, for example, is to eat more fruit
for snacks, ask yourself why you haven’t been doing it
already. Maybe you need to add more fruit to your grocery list. Are leftover foods from entertaining a problem?
Consider giving them to guests as they leave the house or
simply throwing them out if you know they are not good
for you to have around. Get rid of the foods that tempt
you—no one needs that store-bought cookie dough,
including your children or grandchildren.
For my snack goal this week, I will…
Example: This week, on the weekend, I’ll plan ahead and buy 2
quarts of fresh strawberries from the farmer’s market, then wash
and bag them so I’ll have a week’s worth of grabbable snacks.

Smarter snacks

It’s easy to see that many common snack foods like
chips, cookies, doughnuts, and candy bars are not
healthful choices. But many snack foods marketed
as healthful, organic, or natural are just as unhealthful. Bran muffins masquerade as healthful even when
they are packed with butter and sugar. The same goes
for cereal bars and energy bars. Other foods such as
fruit leather, yogurt raisins, and organic candies sold in
health-food sections also hold out a deceitful hand, pretending to be healthful but are really packed with added
sugar and excess calories. Fat-free chips and sweet
snacks typically have lots of calories, salt, and sugar, and
few vitamins or minerals. And an organic chocolate
chip cookie is still a high-calorie, sugary cookie.
Eating these foods occasionally won’t hurt, but a
habit can take its toll. Glycemic load is a measure of
how much a food will cause your blood sugar to rise
and then dip. It takes into account both the quantity
of carbohydrates in the food as well as how fast they
can raise blood sugar. Foods with a high glycemic load
won’t keep you feeling full for very long and eating them
often causes you to run the risk of overeating, gain-




ing weight, and possibly developing insulin resistance
down the road. The same is true if you snack regularly
on crackers and pretzels, normally made from refined
flours. Additionally, foods with high sodium content
can raise blood pressure, and foods with unhealthy fats
contribute to heart disease and diabetes.

What should you snack on?
Try keeping a bunch of grapes or a tangerine handy.
This way, you’ll see it before reaching for the caloriedense chips or cookies. Have small containers of nonfat plain yogurt or applesauce with no added sugar
within easy reach.
Bring peeled orange wedges to work. Keep a bowl
of cut-up seasonal fruit in the fridge. Fresh fruits contain plenty of vitamins and fiber. Also, try unsalted nuts,
such as almonds, walnuts, peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts,
and filberts, or roasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower
seeds. They contain many beneficial nutrients and
other substances, including vitamin E, folic acid, protein, potassium, and fiber. Although some are high in
fat, the fat is healthy because it’s mainly unsaturated.
See Table 5, at right, for more ideas.
Mix it up
The most healthful snacks have more than one macronutrient (protein, fat, carbohydrate). With a handful
of whole-grain crackers (carbohydrate), for example,
have some low-fat cheese (protein, fat). The mix of
carbohydrates, protein, and fat is more satiating than
straight carbohydrates. If you want to eat chips, look
for brands that are unsalted or low in salt, free of trans
fat, and made with unsaturated vegetable oils such as
safflower, canola, sunflower, or peanut.
Snacking strategies
Snacks can be a source of healthful nutrients without
adding an overdose of calories, salt, fats, and sugars to
your diet if you follow these suggestions.
If snacking is more harmful than helpful, cut it out of
your diet. Once you have evaluated your snacking hab■

its (see “Setting goals for snacking success,” page 34),
structure your diet by eating three healthful meals a
day. Go in with the knowledge that three meals are the
only food your body physically needs.

If you choose to snack, limit your snack calories to
around 150 or fewer per snack. And make your snacks low
■

in sodium (less than 200 mg of sodium per serving) and
low in any added sugar (less than 3 g per serving).
■ Home in on hunger. Before you snack, ask yourself, “Am I hungry?” Many of us misidentify emotions,
such as stress and fatigue, and call them hunger. If the
answer is yes (your stomach feels hollow, your head
is achy), make sure you’re not confusing hunger with
thirst. Drink an 8-ounce glass of water; then wait 10 to
15 minutes. If you’re still hungry, go ahead and have a
healthful snack.
If the answer is no (you’re not hungry), attack cravings from a psychological level. You might be able to talk
yourself out of a snack attack. Ask yourself how you’re
feeling. Lonely? Bored? Stressed? Try to understand
what’s really going on. Then, ask yourself the bigger question: will food fix what I need? The answer is always no.
Eating pasta, for example, won’t give you more time to
get a project at work done. Then go for a walk around the
block, do a few stretching exercises, put on some music,
or distract yourself in another way.
Then, if you still want the food, fine. Ask yourself what food you really want. Then eat only a small
amount, and make it good. If you’re craving chocolate, for example, eat one small square and savor it. It’s
important that you snack on what you’re craving rather
than denying it. Eating around a craving may only
cause you to eat more because the craving isn’t satisfied.

Table 5: Snacks that satisfy
Snack

Calories

½ cup edamame (soybean in the pod)

100

1 ounce low-fat cheese with ½ cup grapes

100

½ cup vegetable sticks with 2 tablespoons of hummus

105

½ cup low-fat cottage cheese with ½ cup fruit or
vegetables

125

½ small whole-wheat tortilla with two slices of turkey,
tomato, and avocado

150

English muffin pizza: ½ whole-wheat English muffin
with 2 tablespoons tomato sauce, ½ ounce low-fat
shredded cheese and a few green pepper strips

150

4 ounces plain nonfat yogurt with ½ cup berries

140

1 ounce unsalted nuts (almonds, filberts, peanuts,
or soy nuts)

160–180


37


■

Control your portion. Rather than mindlessly

munching from a box of animal crackers, have something that’s calorie-contained by design, like a piece
of fruit or a cup of nonfat plain yogurt. To keep a
snack from turning into a meal’s worth of calories,
avoid handfuls of anything. Rather than randomly
dipping into the rice cakes at your desk or a cereal
box in front of the TV, give yourself a serving. Then
put the rest away before you start to eat. When possible, buy snacks in single-serving containers, and
divide bulk snacks into individual sandwich bags with
about 100 calories each. A study published in Obesity
in 2011 found that participants who were given four
100-calorie packages of crackers while watching TV
ate 25% less than those given one 400-calorie package, and the effect was strongest among overweight
individuals.

38

Manage unplanned snacking. The mere sight of
food you frequently cross paths with, such as the office
goodie jar or that box of crackers on your kitchen
counter, can stimulate your appetite. To thwart an
unplanned snack session, keep cereal, crackers, and
cookies hidden in a top cabinet. Also, wrap leftovers
in aluminum foil, not plastic wrap, so you won’t see
them and be tempted when opening the refrigerator.
At work, store treats (fruit is the exception) in covered containers, preferably in a distant office refrigerator, not on your desk. You’ll eat even less if it takes
effort, such as having to reach or take a walk to access
food. If the communal goodie jar is someone else’s,
offer to fill it, but with treats you don’t like. Or go out
of your way, if you have to, to avoid walking by the
goodie jar or the break room on your way to the copy
machine, for example.


■



WEEK

6

Keep it going

O

ver the past five weeks, you’ve gained an awareness of your eating habits and started making
more healthful choices and putting your knowledge
into practice by getting organized. Congratulations!
Chances are, you’re eating and enjoying more healthful meals, controlling your portions, and generally
consuming more fruits and vegetables and whole
grains. How are you doing? It’s time to take stock.

to your old record from five weeks ago. Then ask yourself: Where have I made the most progress with diet
change? What do I still need to tweak? What’s working?
What’s not? Did I make progress toward my goals?

Assess your goals
Did you discover other goals you’d like to set? Restate
your goals and note how well you’ve been doing:
Goal 1 progress:

The big picture

By now, you may have several specific goals you’re working on in relation to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacking. How well are you managing to address each one?
To find out how far you’ve come, keep another threeday food record (two weekdays and one weekend day),
using the food diary. It may feel like going back to the
drawing board, but tracking your eating again can help
you assess your progress and fine-tune your overall plan.
After doing another three-day food record, compare it

___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Goal 2 progress:

___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Goal 3 progress:

___________________________________________
___________________________________________

Figure 6 What’s available? Then and now
Staying on track isn’t easy when faced with a constant onslaught of unhealthy choices. It’s interesting to see that the availability of
sugary foods in stores, restaurants, and other places has increased by 14% since 1970. The availability of ﬂour and cereal-based foods
has increased by 45%. But the availability of vegetables has decreased slightly.
2010
1970

2010

1970

1970

2010

2010
1970

Dairy

1970

2010

Vegetables

1970

2010

Fruits

Meat, eggs, and nuts

Flour and cereal

Sugars

Source: Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010.



39


New goals:

___________________________________________
___________________________________________

Food policies for the future
Next, it’s time to move beyond goals and set your own
food policies: a personal set of rules to live by based
on your knowledge and experience about what works
for you. Take a look at your answers and formulate
some specific food behavior policies for the future.
They should reflect what you’ve learned about yourself
and your eating habits over this past month and how
you’re going to behave going forward. You can have as
many food policies in relation to healthy eating as you
want. To give you an idea, here are several examples of
food policies that might be appropriate:
• “I will plan menus and shop for food every Saturday
so I have healthful options on hand for breakfast,
lunch, and dinner for the week.”
• “I’m no longer going to snack. From now on, I’ll eat
three meals and that’s it.” Or “I will limit my snacking to two 150-calorie snacks per day.”
• “I will no longer eat while I’m driving, no matter
how hungry I am.”
• “I will always eat breakfast before leaving the house
in the morning.”
• “I will bring lunch with fruits, vegetables, and whole
grains to work three out of five days a week.”
• “I will use part of my lunch hour to walk every day.”
• “I will have fresh fruit for dessert—not ice cream,
pie, or cake.”
• “I will not eat while watching TV.”
Your food policies can be general, but typically,
being specific is more helpful, so feel free to be exact.
For example, if you eat out often for work and can’t
avoid it because it’s part of your job, you could develop
several ironclad restaurant behavior policies designed
to control calories that reflect the type of restaurant
you’re frequenting, for example: “I will always order a
vegetable, even if it means ordering an extra side dish
or asking the chef to add vegetables to the entrée.”
No matter what your food policies are, they
should be consistent and repeatable, and they should
take into account what’s most important to you. If you
really love dessert, for example, one of your food poli40

cies should reflect that. To increase the chances you’ll
remember and stick with it, review your policies from
time to time, such as before going out to eat. Take the
time to record your food policies here or on another
piece of paper. Remember, writing them down makes
them real.
My food policies:
Example: From now on, I will substitute an apple for chips at lunch.

___________________________________________
___________________________________________

Keep up the good work
Now you’re really creating a new way of eating that
you enjoy and can stick with for life. Here are steps to
help you reinforce your new habits.
• Reward yourself. In addition to your food policies, be sure to fortify your motivation by rewarding
yourself frequently. Behavior change is hard work
because habits are so ingrained. By the time you’re 40,
you’ve eaten some 40,000 meals—and probably lots
of snacks. The most successful people reward themselves for following their food policies, especially in
the first six months they’re implementing them.
• After a week of cooking at home three out of five
weeknights, for example, you could acknowledge your
progress by treating yourself to something you’ve been
wanting, like a piece of clothing or some new music.
Also, recognize other ways the changes you’re making are benefiting your life. If cooking at home more
often is saving you money, for example, once a week,
you could put the money you didn’t spend on eating
out into a clear tip jar for a vacation, and then watch
your rewards mount.
• Find a workaround. While you’re at it, try to control
your environment so old behaviors don’t tempt you.
If you’re trying to break the fast-food habit, try driving a different route that doesn’t take you through the
fast-food district. If you want to eat a healthful breakfast, put an apple on the kitchen table before you go
to bed. Find a healthy substitute for any behaviors
you’re trying to eliminate. That might be, for example, taking swigs from your water bottle instead of
opting for your usual 3 p.m. cola or sugar fix.




• Don’t give up when you slip up. Once you put your
food policies into action, realize that there will be
times when you lapse into old behaviors. You’re
human. It will happen, and when it does, don’t fall
prey to thinking, “Well, I ate out every night this
week, I might as well give up on the idea of cooking. It’s just not happening.” That’s demotivating and
counterproductive.
• Instead, use the suffering that’s associated with the
slip as a learning opportunity so you can avoid it in the
future. Ask yourself: What caused it? Was it something practical—such as having an especially busy
week? Or was it something emotional, such as feeling
stressed about work? Once you think you know what
caused the slip, let it go and forgive yourself. Then get
right back to your new routine. A slip doesn’t need

to become a fall. A lapse doesn’t need to become a
relapse. On the days you do follow through, pat yourself on the back. Just one day of making healthful
food and physical activity choices—such as not having doughnuts when someone brings them into the
office and taking a brisk walk at lunch—can boost
your enthusiasm and self-esteem.
• Finally, strengthen your resolve by seeking emotional
encouragement from a support group or a network
of friends. The help they provide can be a powerful
motivator and make you feel accountable to someone. If you have other people watching your progress, you’ll be less ready to break that commitment.
If you feel you need the support of a professional,
consider working with a registered dietitian. To find
one in your area, visit www.eatright.org.

Enlist your friends and family
Even if you’re an independent person, you’re more likely to
succeed if you are surrounded by people who encourage you.
Research finds that eating patterns are transmitted through
social relationships, particularly between spouses. Despite
your best intentions, it’s not easy to eat healthfully if you
have family or friends who prefer a steady diet of burgers
and fries. But often the people around you need a little
support themselves. The changes you’re making could
indirectly affect them, and they may not want to change
along with you.
To keep everyone on your side, you’ll need to turn any
negativity they may unwittingly toss your way into positive
support. These strategies—designed to address some of
the most important people in your life—can help you do
just that.
Your spouse and your kids. You’re a powerful role model
to your family. Begin by sharing some of the tastier healthful treats you are eating. Cut up a bowl of pineapple and
offer it around. Make some healthy tortilla roll-ups for lunch
(see “What’s for lunch?” page 23). Put out unsalted nuts and
sunflower seeds for snacks. Next, begin introducing more
healthful meals that play to their preferences. If they love
meat and potatoes, buy and prepare lower-fat cuts of meat
that you can eat too. Then balance the meal with plenty of
vegetables. Serving a salad and peas and carrots not only
gives you plenty of good stuff to fill up on, it helps educate
your family’s palate. Whether they’ll actually eat the vegetables is not the point (your kids may not gobble them up—at
least at first). All you can do is expose them to healthful
foods and hope they’ll try them eventually. If you can’t refuse


your child’s desperate cries for cheese crackers, buy 100-calorie packages, so you won’t have an open bag around. Or look
for more healthful, low-calorie versions of snacks you both
can feel good about eating.
Respect the adjustment process. In time, your family may
take to eating some of your more healthful foods. Instead of
acting as if these foods are designated as “yours,” allow your
family to embrace the change.
Meanwhile, make realistic requests. Tell your spouse or partner exactly what you want: keep the bags of chips out of the
house, for example, or ask your spouse or partner to join you
for a walk after dinner. The more realistic your requests, the
better. A couch potato isn’t likely to run a marathon with you.
Your friends. Friends can be tremendously supportive in
helping you follow your food policies. They can also unwittingly work against you. In fact, their influence is more
powerful than you might think. With weight control, for
example, if you have friends, even friends of friends, whose
weight is on the upswing, your chances of piling on the
pounds yourself increases by 57%, according to a Harvard
study published in the New England of Journal of Medicine.
We’re influenced by the behaviors of those around us, and
when more people you know gain weight or have unhealthy
diets, the behavior becomes acceptable, much like any social
norm. If you want to maintain or lose weight, be aware of
how your friends’ behavior might influence you, and seek
out people with similar goals. You can be a healthy influence
on your friends, too, by inviting them to the gym to try out a
new class or asking them over for a healthy dinner.


41


Cooking kickoff: Recipes for success

T

he simple act of preparing your own meals automatically starts you on the road to healthy eating.
Because you’re the head chef, you can incorporate
many of the principles set forth in this report, such
as eating more fruits and vegetables and whole grains
and consuming less salt and added sugar.
With a little planning, it’s surprising how little
time cooking actually takes—planning being the operative word. Ideally, you’ll want to have ideas about

what you’ll be eating for several days ahead, and then
have the ingredients on hand from which to work. As
you begin to cook more, it gets easier. You can streamline the process by batching recipes so you’ll have your
own ready supply of frozen dinners and take other
healthful shortcuts. The simple and delicious recipes
that follow can help you kick off your cooking skills
and begin to build a repertoire of healthful meals you
can turn to again and again. Bon appétit.

Appetizers
Crostini with goat cheese and fresh tomato
Crostini—thin slices of whole-wheat toasted baguette topped with cheese and vegetables—tastes complex, yet it’s simple
to make and a good use of in-season tomatoes, if they’re available.
Nutrition facts

INGREDIENTS

1 whole-wheat baguette, sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
(or 1 teaspoon dried)

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 ounces goat cheese (chèvre)

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
(or 2 teaspoons dried)

about 3 plum tomatoes,
ﬁnely chopped

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375° F. Brush baguette slices lightly with about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and
toast in the oven until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

Servings: 15
Serving size: 1 piece

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

66
4
4
<1
4
2
0
5
43

In a medium skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and sauté the garlic, rosemary, and thyme for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and transfer to a medium bowl. Add goat cheese and mix well. Spread the goat cheese mixture lightly
on the toasted baguette slices; garnish with the chopped tomatoes.

42




Tasty tzatziki (Mediterranean yogurt-cucumber dip) with pita bread
Tzatziki, a refreshing yogurt sauce, is delicious on pita bread, as a dip for fresh vegetables, or as a sauce for grilled
vegetables, fish, or chicken. In addition to being versatile, it’s low in calories and a flavorful source of calcium.
Nutrition facts

INGREDIENTS

2 medium cucumbers, peeled and seeded

2 garlic cloves, minced

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons snipped chives or dill

¼ teaspoon pepper


2 cups plain, nonfat Greek-style yogurt

1 loaf whole-wheat pita bread,
cut in wedges

DIRECTIONS

Servings: 8
Serving size: 4 tablespoons dip
and 1⁄8 pita

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

Grate the cucumber and place in a sieve over a bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Discard
any liquid that drains from the cucumber. Preheat oven to 375° F. In a small bowl, mix the
cucumbers, salt, pepper, yogurt, garlic, herbs, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.

96
6.6
9.2
1.4
3.7
.5
0
0
209

Lay the pita on a baking sheet and drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.
Serve the baked pita with the dip.

Classic caponata
Serve this Sicilian-inspired sweet-and-sour eggplant salad as an antipasto with whole-grain bread, or as a side dish, warm
or at room temperature.
INGREDIENTS

4 medium eggplants, cut into bite-sized cubes

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

pepper to taste


2 small whole-wheat baguettes
(about 8 ounces each), each
sliced into 8 pieces

1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
8 ripe red tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
¼ cup green olives, pitted
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

For topping/garnish:
¼ cup almonds, chopped or
slivered
about ¼ cup parsley, chopped

Nutrition facts
Servings: 16
Serving size: 1 baguette piece
with caponata mixture

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

129
4
22
6g
3
<1
0
0
176

DIRECTIONS

Place the eggplant in a colander; sprinkle with salt and set aside for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive
oil in a saucepan; add the onion and celery. Cook for 5 minutes until soft but not brown. Add the tomatoes and cook for 15
more minutes until pulpy. Add the capers, olives, vinegar, sugar, and pepper and cook for another 15 minutes.
Rinse and pat the eggplant dry. In a large saucepan, sauté the eggplant in the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium
heat until softened and light brown. Stir the eggplant into the sauce. Let stand for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to
develop before serving.
Assemble by dividing the mixture evenly on the baguette slices. Top with the almonds and parsley.



43


Lunch and dinner entrées
Tuna salad with curry and apples
Apples and curry sweeten and spice up this traditional sandwich ﬁller. Prepare tuna salad at the beginning of the week
and refrigerate until ready to use.
Nutrition facts
Servings: 2
Serving size: ¾ cup

INGREDIENTS

1 (5-ounce) can solid white tuna (packed in water,
low-sodium), drained

½ teaspoon curry powder

1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise

1 tablespoon onion, chopped

½ cup apple, chopped

1 teaspoon mustard
DIRECTIONS

Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix.

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

198
22
15
2
6
3
0
39
237

Multitasker’s sautéed chicken breasts with roasted garlic sauce
Made for multitaskers, this chicken can marinate during the day while you’re off doing something else.
INGREDIENTS

Nutrition facts

4 (4-ounce) boneless, skinless
chicken breasts

½ cup dry white wine


¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
plus 5 rosemary sprigs

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup low-sodium chicken stock

1 garlic clove, minced, plus 1 large garlic bulb
DIRECTIONS

Marinate chicken breasts in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, 2 tablespoons rosemary, and minced
garlic for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Servings: 4
Serving size: 1 chicken breast

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

232
24.5
3.5
0.2
10.1
1.7
0
73
283

Preheat oven to 350° F. Slice off the top of the garlic bulb and lightly sprinkle it with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Roast garlic for about 1 hour, or until soft and golden brown. Set aside to cool, about 10 minutes. (This step can also be
done ahead.) When garlic has cooled, squeeze out garlic pulp and mash with a fork; set aside.
Sauté chicken in a non-stick pan for a couple of minutes on each side. Put in baking pan and bake at 350° F for about 15
minutes. Meanwhile, heat wine, 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, mashed roasted garlic, and chicken stock. Add salt and pepper.
Leave on high heat until sauce thickens. Strain through ﬁne sieve. Place 1 chicken breast on each plate and pour sauce over
chicken. Garnish with rosemary sprigs.

44




Bean and lentil soup
Make this soup on the weekends for the week ahead or the same day. Though it’s quick to prepare, it tastes like you spent
hours.
INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup onion, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

1 teaspoon dried thyme

15 ounces cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 teaspoon crumbled bay leaf

1 cup green lentils

2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 cup fresh carrots, peeled and chopped

black pepper to taste

1 cup celery, chopped
DIRECTIONS

Nutrition facts
Servings: 6
Serving size: 1 cup

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

194
11
36
9
1.4
0.1
0
0
200

In a 5- or 6-quart Dutch oven, heat the oil. Cook onion in hot oil over medium heat until tender,
stirring occasionally.
Add broth, beans, lentils, carrots, and celery. Bring to boiling. Add oregano, basil, thyme, and bay leaf. Reduce heat.
Simmer, covered, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in tomatoes. Remove from heat. Season with black pepper.

Healthy turkey meatloaf
Ground turkey is a delicious alternative to ground beef, with less fat and fewer calories. Feel free to use ground turkey breast
rather than regular ground turkey in this recipe to save even more fat and calories.
INGREDIENTS

Nutrition facts

1 medium red onion, diced fine

¾ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

4 ribs celery, washed and diced fine

2½ teaspoons poultry seasoning

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 whole eggs

2 medium Granny Smith apples,
cored and diced fine with skin left on

¼ cup skim milk

3 slices of whole-wheat bread, broken into crumbs
DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350° F and grease a 9-inch loaf pan.

1 pound ground turkey

Servings: 8
Serving size: 1⁄8 loaf

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

238
18.8
12.3
2.1
13.7
5.1
0.2
126
319

In a pan, sauté the onion and celery in the canola oil until slightly soft, and add the apple pieces; cook on low heat for 6
minutes, then let this mixture cool.
In a large bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, cheese, poultry seasoning, eggs, milk, cooled apple mixture, and turkey for
no more than 2 minutes to keep it from getting tough. Place into greased pan and cook in the center of the oven for 45
minutes or until the center is cooked through.



45


Sides and salads
Carrot and squash sauté
Pear-shaped with smooth or prickly light green skin, chayote squash is native to Mexico. Feel free to substitute butternut or
acorn squash if chayote isn’t available at your local supermarket or farmer’s market.
INGREDIENTS

3 fresh carrots, peeled
¼ cup green onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1½ pounds fresh chayote squash,
peeled and cut into julienne strips
2 large garlic cloves, minced

Nutrition facts

1 tablespoon fresh thyme
(or ¼ teaspoon dried crushed
thyme)
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Blanch carrots in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and refresh under running cold water.
Cut carrots into thin julienne strips.

Servings: 6

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

82
1.5
9.6
3
4.8
0.7
0
0
129

In a large pan, sauté green onion in olive oil until soft. Add carrots, squash, garlic, and thyme. Cook, stirring frequently, until
vegetables are crisp-tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Tabbouleh salad
If you’ve never tried bulgur (whole-grain wheat kernels), this refreshing salad offers a nice introduction.
INGREDIENTS

Nutrition facts

1 cup bulgur wheat, rinsed and drained

¹⁄³ cup mint leaves, chopped

Servings: 4

1½ cups cold water

3 stalks celery, ﬁnely diced

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups Italian (ﬂat leaf) parsley, chopped

6 tablespoons lemon juice

4 ripe tomatoes, chopped

¼ teaspoon pepper

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

1 bunch scallions (about 6), minced
DIRECTIONS

278
6.9
40.6
9.6
11.7
1.6
0
0
210

Combine the bulgur and water in a small saucepan and season with salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and
remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes. Uncover and allow to cool.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a large serving bowl and toss well. Add bulgur and toss.

46




Greek couscous salad with walnuts
This great-for-you salad can be made ahead and doled out daily. Whole-wheat couscous is a versatile food that’s a snap to
prepare.
Nutrition facts

INGREDIENTS

1 cup whole-wheat couscous

½ cup walnuts, chopped

½ cup red peppers, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

¹
¹⁄⁄³ cup scallions or chives, chopped
¹⁄³ cup red onion, chopped

1½ ounces feta cheese

¼ cup black olives, diced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried oregano

DIRECTIONS

In a large saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add couscous and simmer for 8 minutes. Drain
and cool. Add remaining ingredients. Toss and serve.

Servings: 8
Serving size: ½ cup

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

157
5
20
2
6.3
1
0
3
91

Chickpea salad
Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, are a nutrient powerhouse. They’re loaded with protein, folate, and ﬁber as well
as vitamin B6, phosphorus, and iron.
INGREDIENTS

Nutrition facts

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 ripe tomatoes, halved, seeded, and chopped
1 celery stalk, diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
4 basil leaves, julienned

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon capers
pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Combine the ingredients in a large bowl, toss, and serve.

Servings: 2
Serving size: 2⁄3 cup

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

322
12
41.7
10.6
13.4
1.3
0
0
546

Lemon spinach
It’s amazing how a little lemon and garlic can zest up vegetables. We use baby spinach here, but
feel free to substitute broccoli rabe or another favorite leafy green.

Nutrition facts

INGREDIENTS

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic

6 ounces baby spinach
(about 3 large handfuls)

juice of 1 lemon
¼ teaspoon salt

pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Put olive oil in a wok or 10-inch sauté pan. Add minced garlic. Cook on medium-high heat for 20
seconds. Add baby spinach to garlic and oil. Cook 2 to 3 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice over the
spinach while cooking. Add salt and pepper.


Servings: 4
Serving size: ½ cup


94
1
6
2
7
1
0
0
213

47


Desserts
Simple fruit smoothie
If you’ve got fruit around that needs to be eaten, by all means, whip up a smoothie for a nutritious
dessert or snack.
INGREDIENTS

1 cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt

½ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

¼ cup orange juice

½ cup ice

½ banana, cut into pieces
DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass
and serve.

Nutrition facts
Servings: 1
Serving size: 12 ounces

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

310
21.7
56.5
3.4
0.6
0.1
0
0
87

Pumpkin muffins
These are much more healthful than the muffins you'll find at a cafe or even at the grocery store. Still, note that they are
under the dessert section, not the breakfast section.
Nutrition facts

INGREDIENTS

3 small ripe bananas
(or 2 medium-large bananas)

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée

1¾ cups oat bran

2 egg whites

1½ teaspoons baking soda

1 whole egg

²⁄³ cup raisins (3 ounces)
olive oil cooking spray

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup nonfat dry milk
DIRECTIONS

Servings: 12
Serving size: 1 muffin

Calories
Protein (g)
Carbohydrate (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated fat (g)
Trans fat (g)
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)

160
7.7
35
5.6
1.8
0.4
0
18.4
209

Preheat oven to 350° F. Purée bananas and pumpkin in blender or food processor. Add egg whites, whole egg, and
applesauce, and purée until smooth. Add dry milk and pulse until blended. Add pumpkin pie spice to mixture and blend.
In separate bowl, combine flour, oat bran, baking soda, and raisins. Mix to combine. Add banana-pumpkin mixture to flour
mixture and mix well.
Spray muffin pan with cooking spray and spoon mixture into cups, distributing batter evenly. Bake for 30 minutes or until
toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean.

48




Resources
Organizations
American Dietetic Association
120 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60606
800-877-1600
www.eatright.org

This book teams Mollie Katzen, author of the landmark Moosewood Cookbook, with Dr. Walter Willett, head of the Harvard
School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition. Together
they’ve created a weight-loss plan that’s easy to implement and
filled with delicious foods and more than 100 fabulous recipes.

This large organization of food and nutrition professionals provides information and advice to the general public through its
Web site, outreach efforts, and publications.

Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School
Guide to Healthy Eating
Walter C. Willett, M.D., with P.J. Skerrett
(Simon & Schuster, 2005)

The Nutrition Source—Knowledge for Healthy Eating
Harvard School of Public Health
Department of Nutrition
www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource
This Web site provides free public access to the latest information
on nutrition and health.

Books and publications
Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less: A Flexible and Delicious Way
to Shrink Your Waist Without Going Hungry
Mollie Katzen and Walter C. Willett, M.D.
(Hyperion, 2007)

This book provides practical advice on eating for health based
on proven scientific links between diet and health. An extensive
selection of recipes helps readers put the latest nutrition findings
into practice.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010
U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services
www.dietaryguidelines.gov
This 95-page report from two federal agencies sets out practical
guidelines for healthy eating based on the latest nutritional science. It is available online and in print.

Glosssary
body mass index (BMI): An estimate of the body’s fat content, calculated from measurements of height and weight.

monounsaturated fats: Beneficial fats found primarily in vegetable oils such as olive oil and canola oil.

cholecystokinin (CCK): A hormone that aids digestion,
released by the intestines in response to food consumed during a meal.

omega-3 fatty acids: Beneficial fats also known as n-3 fatty
acids. These are polyunsaturated fats in which the last double
bond between carbon atoms is located three carbons from the
end of the chain.

dietary fiber: The edible, nondigestible component of carbohydrates naturally found in plant food.
glycemic load: A measure of how much blood sugar rises
in response to a serving of a specific food. Foods with a high
glycemic load are thought to increase the risk of insulin resistance and other health problems. The glycemic load takes into
account both the quantity of carbohydrates in the food as well
as how fast they can raise blood sugar.

polyunsaturated fats: Beneficial fats found primarily in vegetable oils such as corn oil and soybean oil.
saturated fats: Unhealthy fats found primarily in animal products such as meat, butter, and dairy. Also found in palm and
coconut oil.

julienne: To cut food into thin, matchstick strips.

trans fatty acids (trans fats): Unhealthy fats that occur naturally in meat but come mainly from processed foods made
with hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenated oils are polyunsaturated fats that have been chemically altered to be made more
like saturated fats.

leptin: A hormone produced by fat cells that acts on the brain
to suppress appetite and burn stored fat.

visceral fat: Belly fat that lies beneath the abdominal wall, in
the spaces surrounding the liver, intestines, and other organs.

hypertension: High blood pressure, a condition that raises risk
for heart attack and stroke, among other health problems.



49


Receive HEALTHbeat, Harvard Health
Publications’ free email newsletter
Go to: www.health.harvard.edu to subscribe to HEALTHbeat.
This free weekly email newsletter brings you health tips, advice,
and information on a wide range of topics.
You can also join in discussion with experts from Harvard Health
Publications and folks like you on a variety of health topics,
medical news, and views by reading the Harvard Health Blog
(www.health.harvard.edu/blog).

Order this report and other publications
from Harvard Medical School
online | www.health.harvard.edu
phone | 877-649-9457 (toll free)
mail | Belvoir Media Group
Attn: Harvard Health Publications
P.O. Box 5656
Norwalk, CT 06856-5656

Other publications from Harvard Medical School
Special Health Reports Harvard Medical School publishes in-depth reports on a
wide range of health topics, including:
Addiction
Alcohol
Allergies
Alzheimer’s Disease
Anxiety & Phobias
Arthritis
Back Pain
Balance
Caregivers
Change Made Easy
Cholesterol
Core Workout
Depression
Diabetes
Diabetes & Diet
Energy/Fatigue
Erectile Dysfunction
Exercise
Exercise Your Joints

Eye Disease
Foot Care
Grief & Loss
Hair Loss (women’s)
Hands
Headache
Hearing Loss
Heart Disease
Heart Disease & Diet
High Blood Pressure
Immune System
Incontinence
Knees & Hips
Living Longer
Living Wills
Memory
Neck & Shoulder Pain
Nutrition
Osteoporosis

Pain Relief
Positive Psychology
Prostate Disease
Reducing Sugar & Salt
Sensitive Gut
Sexuality
Six-Week Eating Plan
Skin Care
Sleep
Strength Training
Stress Management
Stroke
Thyroid Disease
Virus
Vitamins & Minerals
Weight Loss
Women’s Health
Workout Workbook

bulk rate | licensing@belvoir.com
Periodicals Monthly Newsletters and annual publications including:

www.health.harvard.edu
877-649-9457 (toll free)

ISBN 978-1-61401-043-2
SW00150

Harvard Health Letter
Harvard Women’s Health Watch

Harvard Heart Letter
Harvard Men’s Health Watch

Prostate Disease Annual

SWP13


Six week plan to a healthier you

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to Six week plan to a healthier you

More from Judith Coulson

Recently uploaded

Six week plan to a healthier you