Step 1:  Get in the habit of ‘wasting your food’!

Medical research scientists know something about calories that not everybody knows: the more calories you consume the shorter your lifespan and the sooner you age. Add to this to the well-known fact that you simply gain weight if your caloric intake isn’t exactly balanced by caloric use (daily aerobic exercise).   Weight related health issues will soon overtake smoking-related health problems in America!

The answer is clear:  Eat less, look and feel better, live longer!

*Try this:

Put on your plate what you’d normally put on your plate, order what you’d normally order, grab the snack you typically grab, THEN…
Throw away 1/3 of everything!

That’s it!  Throw it away; don’t put it back because you know yourself—you’ll go back and get it.  Discard it in a way that you won’t retrieve it.  If you usually grab 6 cookies, throw away 2 of them. If the cookie is large, get rid of 1/3 of it. Crumble up the cookies or chips and put them into the garbage.  Give them away—whatever will keep you from going back and getting it.

Send 1/3 of your food back at the restaurant. Americans have grown accustomed to cleaning our plates, not listening to our stomachs.  Actually, the stomach was designed with a ‘full gauge’, like your car’s gas tank.  Unfortunately, we have learned to disregard the subtle stretch in our gut that tells us we’re ‘full’.  As a result, we continue eating, filling the tank to overflowing, just to empty our plate s.  Imagine if you kept. filling your gas tank after the gauge clearly said it was full.  Think about it.

Get rid of 1/3! Suddenly you’ll realize that at the end of the week–the month, 6 months–you’ve consumed 33% fewer calories!!! This along with your exercise regimen is a good way to get rid of the pounds and inches and keep them off.  And what’s more, you could live longer too.                                                                                                                                                    

*Dr. Dave’s mantra: one size does not fit all.   Keep in mind many people have specific dietary requirements.  For example, people with high blood pressure, kidney problems, or diabetes have to use more discretion about the actual food choices as a rule.  Ask your doctor if trying this calorie reduction method is right for you.

Stay tuned for the other parts in the series, Step 2: “Balance your Caloric Checkbook” and Calorie Economics 201: Good Fat  and Carb Crazy