Choose to Lose: Simplicity and Flexibility Make this
Diet Program a Success
All participants receive a copy of Choose to Lose, the wildly popular book on healthful nutrition.
To enroll in "Memorial Lite: Choose to Lose," please call the Memorial Regional Hospital Fitness & Rehabilitation Center at (954) 265-5800 or the Memorial Hospital West Fitness & Rehabilitation Center at (954) 844-7125.
July 2001 - Susan Block has lost 10 pounds. "The rules were easy to follow," says Block, a secretary at the Memorial Regional Hospital Fitness & Rehabilitation Center. "Even though I modified my diet to include more low-fat foods, I didn't feel deprived."
Welcome to the kinder, gentler world of "Memorial Lite: Choose to Lose," an 11-week program that teaches people to shed pounds and inches through careful nutritional management and moderate exercise. Unlike many other diet programs, this one poses few restrictions and allows people considerable freedom in meal-planning.
"We didn't have to give up any of the foods we liked to eat," says Block. "I love pizza, and I still get to eat it, but in smaller portions. It's okay because I know how to budget my fat and calorie intake."
Taught by registered dietitians, the class de-emphasizes the humiliation of daily "weigh-ins" in favor of a more positive focus on nutritional education.
Participants are encouraged to keep track of the quantity and quality of their dietary choices by writing a detailed food diary. Then they learn to improve their diet by reducing portion sizes and modifying their favorite recipes to make them lower in fat and calories.
Simplicity is the Key
"No foods are forbidden, and no foods are required," says Marilyn Gordon, Registered Dietician, an instructor who teaches the class at Memorial Regional Hospital Fitness & Rehabilitation Center. "Emphasis is placed on increasing the intake of vegetables, fruit, and whole-grain foods. Through label-reading and knowledge of their fat budget, people can always find a way to work their favorite foods into their healthy eating plan."
The exercise component is just as easy. Participants are taught that any form of aerobic exercise is acceptable, even walking. And that's something that most of us can live with. Block's classmate Tina Clark lost 14 pounds through "Choose to Lose" and found it "an excellent way to learn how to make better food choices."
Beverly McCarthy signed up for the program because she wanted to improve her family's diet.
"My son is allergic to lots of foods, so nutrition is something I think about a lot. Plus, I wanted to lose a few pounds myself," she says. "I lost some weight on an 800-calorie-a-day diet, but then I put it right back on. With 'Choose to Lose,' I lost 14 pounds and kept it off. The program works because you don't have to exhaust yourself or starve yourself."
Fitness Center member Galen Stephenson agrees. "On other diets, I ended up going hungry, so I'd binge. But I've never been hungry on this diet." As a result, he's lost 50 pounds in 4 months.
A Lifetime of Knowledge
These stories of yo-yo dieting are not unusual, according to Gordon. Many fad diets are so nutritionally unsound or difficult to follow that people end up wasting their time and even jeopardizing their health.
"'Choose to Lose' works because it focuses on reasonable lifestyle changes," she says. "It doesn't ask you to do anything that you can't do forever. The goal is to teach you, in those 11 weeks, simple things that you can do for the rest of your life."
To prepare their students for the road ahead, instructors take them to the grocery store for on-site training in reading food labels. And to cap off a successful eleven weeks in the program, participants bring a homemade dish to their last class for a low-fat potluck dinner. "The recipes were great," says McCarthy. "My husband was ecstatic over the taste."