Are You Losing Smart?

The answer is true.

People who have lost a lot of weight and kept it off tend to be breakfast eaters, and breakfast eating is associated with lower body mass index (BMI) and better blood sugar control, according to research. Why? It’s likely because eating a good breakfast fuels you for the day. Skip it and you’re sure to be ravenous by midmorning. And what’s easiest to grab then? Donuts, bagels, mini peanut butter cups — high carb, blood sugar spiking foods that are there for the quick and easy taking. If you truly can’t find the time in the morning for a hard-boiled egg, some Greek yogurt, or another protein food, stock up on some low carb protein bars you can eat on the run. If you’re one of those people who isn’t hungry in the morning, check your nighttime eating habits. Unless you’ve overconsumed calories before going to bed, the fast between evening and morning should result in a good appetite. Finally, a healthy breakfast can put you on track for better food choices the rest of the day. You’re better able to avoid spikes and lows, which can help you stay on track with a weight-loss eating plan.

The answer is false.

Although high-carb, processed snack foods can sabotage weight loss, healthy snacks between meals can control hunger and keep blood sugar and energy on an even keel. When mealtime comes, those snacks mean you won’t be as hungry, so you’ll eat less and make better food choices. A small apple, berries, and raw veggies all make great snacks; they’re high in nutrients, and packed with fiber that makes you feel full. For optimal blood sugar control and weight loss, combine a carbohydrate snack with some protein, such as a handful of nuts, cheese, sliced meat, or a piece of leftover chicken. If you’re planning to exercise and need some energy, try half a banana with a tablespoon of peanut butter. Plan your snacks, and pack them, if necessary, so you don’t end up starving and raiding the vending machines.

The answer is true.

Because low-GI foods such as fruits, vegetables, and most whole grains are high in fiber, they help make you feel full. That helps you stick to your diet without hunger pangs. That fiber also moderates the rise in blood sugar from carbohydrate-containing foods, so you don’t end up with spikes and the blood sugar-insulin rollercoaster that can result in excessive fat storage. But don’t think that low-GI is a free pass. There are plenty of unhealthy foods that rank low; for example, M&Ms, potato chips, and pound cake are all ranked as low-GI! So stick to low-GI foods that are also low in carbs and high in nutrition. Also, following a low-GI diet hasn’t been proven to help with weight loss any more than other types of diets, such as the Mediterranean diet or a low-carb diet. You may need to experiment a bit to see if the low-GI approach works for you.

The answer is false.

Nuts are indeed high in fat, but it’s good fat that satisfies your appetite and protects your heart. In fact, you could be warding off a heart attack by adding nuts to your diet. A number of studies have shown that eating nuts several times a week lowers your risk of a heart attack by up to 50 percent. Eating nuts has also been associated with better weight management. Also, eating nuts can keep you from reaching for high-carb, nutrient-empty pretzels or potato chips. You do have to watch how much you eat — especially when nuts are salted, they can be hard to put down. Fill a small ramekin or snack-size resealable bag and put the rest away. A one-ounce serving (about 20) of dry-roasted almonds has 160 calories, 6 grams of protein, 5 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, and 14 grams of fat, almost all of it monounsaturated (the kind that’s best for your heart). The best nut choices are almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, pistachios, and walnuts. (Yes, peanuts are technically legumes, but for all practical purposes they’re nuts.)

The answer is false.

It’s easy to fall for the claims on packages, and buy low-fat and sugar-free treats. If it’s low-fat or sugar-free, people figure it must be healthier and low in carbs and calories, too. That means you can eat more of it, right? Sadly, in almost every case, that’s just not so—even in foods most considered healthy. One cup of full-fat yogurt has 138 calories,7 grams of fat, and 11 grams of carbs. A cup of the nonfat version has 127 calories, 0.4 grams of fat, and 17 grams of carbs. You save hardly any calories with the nonfat version, but you do get a big bump in the carb count. Check the nutrition labels of other “healthier” versions of your favorite foods, and you’ll probably see the same thing. If the calories really are lower, chances are, the carbohydrate grams are still the same—or even higher. The reality is that the label may make you think the food is healthier and somehow has fewer calories and carbs, but modified versions of most foods are no better or are worse than their originals—which may also have misleading labels.

The answer is true.

If there’s a downside to losing weight, it’s that dieting may lead to thinner bones. In older women, for instance, losing weight may lead to an increased risk of osteoporosis (thin, brittle bones that break easily) and hip fracture. An older, overweight woman who loses weight by dieting has a hip fracture risk about twice that of an older woman whose weight stays the same, even if she’s overweight.

Fortunately, there’s a way around this problem: Combine weight-bearing exercise, such as walking or using the elliptical, with a healthy diet that has plenty of calcium and other bone-building vitamins and minerals in it. If you’re not already taking a vitamin D supplement, talk to your doctor about adding it to your daily supplements. Vitamin D is crucial for bone health, but people with diabetes tend to have lower levels.

You can lose weight while building your muscles and keeping bone loss and lean muscle loss to a minimum. The bonus is that exercise improves your strength and balance, too, making a bone-breaking fall less likely.

The answer is false.

Here’s another case in which low-fat or nonfat could mean low or no weight loss. People are often told to consume low-fat or nonfat dairy products to cut calories and get less saturated fat. That turns out to be very misleading. The calorie difference between full-fat and low-fat or nonfat dairy products usually isn’t that great, and losing the fat may actually hinder your weight loss. Full-fat dairy products contain plenty of oleic acid (the same fat in heart-healthy olive oil). They also contain a fat called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) that may actually help with weight loss. In a remarkable study of nearly 20,000 Swedish women approaching menopause, those who regularly consumed full-fat dairy gained less weight over nine years than women who ate only low-fat dairy products, or didn’t eat dairy products at all. A meta-analysis (a study of studies) that looked at 14 different studies about dairy food and weight loss found that eating dairy foods while dieting led to more weight loss than dieting and restricting dairy foods.

the answer is true.

According to research from the National Weight Control Registry, people who lose a lot of weight (30 pounds or more) and keep it off seem to do so by eating mostly the same limited number of foods. The study looked at the diets of over 2,000 participants, and found they didn’t have a lot of variety in their diets. You might not want to limit your diet too much in the long run, but while you’re working to lose weight, sticking to a relatively small number of healthy foods might speed up the process. In one study, 200 overweight adults were divided into two groups for an 18-month weight-loss study. One group was limited to adding just two favorite junk foods to their diet; the other group could choose from a wide range of junk foods. The limited group ate less junk food overall, probably because they were bored by their choices.

The answer is true.

People who need to lose weight are usually advised to diet and exercise. Turns out there’s another piece of advice they should be getting: Sleep more. In a study from 2013, 16  normal-weight people agreed to live in a research center for two weeks. For the first part of the study, half were restricted to just 5 hours of sleep a night; the others were allowed to sleep for up to 9 hours. For the second half, the participants switched their sleeping times. All the participants could eat as much as they wanted throughout the study. When they were sleep-deprived, the participants turned out to use more calories each day, mostly because they were awake longer. That would seem like a good thing for weight loss, except that the sleep-deprived participants ended up eating even more calories than they expended each day. Why? The researchers showed that being short of sleep leads to dysregulated eating behavior—in other words, less self-control around food. The sleep-deprived participants not only ate more, they made poorer food choices by selecting more low-quality carbohydrates. People who don’t get enough sleep have imbalanced hormones, including the hormones that help regulate hunger and the ability of fat cells to respond correctly to insulin. If you’re having trouble getting a good night’s sleep, talk to your doctor. Many sleep issues can be resolved without resorting to sleeping pills, but sometimes they’re very helpful.