A new diet plan specifically addresses the problems of women who don't necessarily overeat but who can't keep the pounds from creeping up on them.
The diet, recently reported in Ladies' Home Journal, was created by Peter M. Miller, director of the Hilton Head Health Institute in South Carolina. Dr Miller's program is detailed iln his recent book, "The Hilton Head Over 35 Diet." If followed properly, it promises a six-to 10-pound weight loss in two weeks and a simultaneous change in the body's chemistry.
There are four major components to the regime:
1. Eat moderately but frequently. Skipping meals tends to suppress the metabolism. The new diet consists of three main meals each day plus a special feature: the Metabo-meal, a light meal designed to keep the metabolism active without overloading the body with calories. The diet prescribes one Metabo-meal on weekdays and two on weekends.
2. Eat more calories on the weekend. Adding an average of 300 calories and an extra meal on the weekend helps deters to counteract the body's natrual tendency to reach a plateau, when the metabolism slows down. The extra calories are just enought to boost metabolic rates. Also, it's nice to have extra flexibility on the weekends.
3. Eat mostly carbohydrates because the automatic conservation of calories in response to dieting is much less pronounced on a diet high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates also help preserve muscle tissue, which is often lost when losing wieght. The diet provides an optimum metabolic fuel mix: 60 percent complex carbohydrates, 15 percent protein, and 25 percent fat.
4. Exercise after meals. Although strenuous exercise after a large meal is not recommended, a reasonable amount of exercise after a small to maderate meal is not at all harmful. And, its good for the metabolism.
Researchers have found that exercising after meals burns more calories than at any other time. It also boosts the metabolism by 20 to 25 percent for the next three to four hours. The diet plan recommends two moderately paced walks a day, the first after breakfast for 40 minutes and the second after any other meal for 20 minutes.
Before beginning this diet or any other weight-loss program, always remember to consult a doctor.