7 Tips to Lose Weight from Dr. Sears

Seven Tips To LoseWeight : Eat vegetables; Avoid vegetable oils; Manage meal; Balance plate; Drink water; Cut sugar & Get sleep, says Dr. Sears, founder of MedWell Foods & bestselling author of the Zone diet books.

New York, NY (PRWEB) July 16, 2008 -- "Losing weight doesn't mean you have to avoid food, but it does involve being smart about what you eat," said world renowned author Dr. Barry Sears, founder of MedWell Foods and whose #1 New York Times bestseller "The Zone" and other books on the Zone Diet have sold more than five million copies

Mexico's Manuel Uribe, once the heaviest man, lost 430 pounds and continues to lose guided by Dr. Barry Sears, left. Manuel, who dropped from 1,230 to 800 pounds, holds his MedWell cookies.

Losing weight doesn't mean you have to avoid food, but it does involve being smart about what you eat

"In essence, if you are fat, it's probably not your fault," according to Dr. Sears, an international authority on the hormonal responses of food and their impact on weight gain and weight loss.

Dr. Sears offered Seven Tips to Lose Weight :

1. Eat your vegetables

2. Never use vegetable oils

3. Balance your plate

4. Manage your meal when dining out

5. Drink plenty of water

6. Cut back on sugar

7. Get a good night's sleep

"Unfortunately, radical changes in America's food supply have generated a constant battle between the hormones generated by the food we eat and our genes.Obesity is not a consequence of sloth and gluttony, but rather an adverse interaction of our current diet with our genes," said Dr. Sears.

"In the past 25 years, America has been caught in a perfect nutritional storm that increased the levels of hormones that cause us to eat more and store more of those calories as fat. It is because our hormones are out of balance, not lack of willpower, which has caused the obesity epidemic. When these hormones are back in balance, permanent weight control becomes a reality," he noted.

"Because of the hormonal impact of food, it is potentially more powerful than any drug a person might take. Eating well is not difficult, as long as you know the hormonal consequences and realize it takes a lifetime commitment," added Dr. Sears.

About his Seven Tips to Lose Weight, Dr. Sears explained:

1. Eat Your Vegetables - When Grandma would say: "Eat your vegetables," she would be giving sage advice. Mediterranean vegetables, in particular, are powerful agents to reduce insulin levels. It is excess insulin that makes you fat and keeps you fat. When cooking or garnishing with oils, chose olive oil, not vegetable oil, which can increase inflammation in fat cells and limit their ability to metabolize fat. Trans-fats from hydrogenated vegetable oil have been linked to heart disease.

2. Never Use Vegetable Oils - Vegetable oils, like corn, soy, sunflower, and safflower, are rich in omega-6 fatty acids. When they combine with high levels of insulin, the result is increased inflammation, and that is the underlying cause of obesity.

3. Balance Your Plate - To truly control your hormones, balance your plate at every meal. On one-third, put low-fat protein no bigger or thicker than the palm of your hand, which is about 3 ounces for women and 4 ounces for men. Fill the other two-thirds with color from non-starchy vegetables. Then, add a dash heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, such as olive oil or even guacamole.

4. Drink Plenty of Water - The body is 65 to 70 percent water. Cells need hydration to work effectively to convert incoming dietary calories into chemical energy to run the body. Without adequate water that process becomes inefficient, and more of the dietary calorie intake ends up as stored fat. Try to drink half your weight in ounces of water on a daily basis. Water is the cheapest nutrient, and people do not drink enough of it.

5. Cut back on sugar - Sugar is not as sweet as you think. In laboratory tests using rats, sugar has been shown to be more addictive than cocaine. There is no reason to think that is not true for humans. Take a look at the carbohydrate content of "healthy" processed foods, like bacteria-enriched yogurt, vitamin drinks and energy bars, and then think of those rats.

6. Get a good night's sleep - When you were a child, you often heard "Go to bed" when you wanted to stay up. Well, the advice was good. Insufficient sleep leads to increases in insulin that make you fat and keep you fat. If you want to lose weight, get some sleep.

7. Manage Your Meal When Dining Out - Remember these simple rules:
Italian: Pass on pasta and bread and ask for extra roasted vegetables.
Mexican: Have the fajitas without the tortillas.
American: Avoid the starches and ask for extra vegetables.
French: Ask for extra vegetables rather than eating bread and potatoes.
Chinese: Don't have rice but ask for more streamed vegetables.
For dessert: Best bet is mixed berries with a little whipped cream.

Dr. Sears said, "Even with these easy tips for improved hormonal control, weight loss will remain struggle for millions. It is easier to change one's religion than one's diet."

This is why he founded MedWell Foods, (http://www.medwell123.com/) to make a new generation of healthy comfort foods that can restore the hormonal harmony between your diet and your genes. MedWell uses its unique patented food technology to make food in a ratio of one part fat, to two parts protein and three parts carbohydrates that has been clinically validated to reduce insulin, which is the primary step for weight loss and weight maintenance, said Dr. Sears.
Using MedWell healthy comfort foods of pasta, bagels, rolls, bread, croutons, bagel chips, cookies and more can be an important aid "to make the loss of excess body fat easy, inexpensive and delicious," Dr. Sears said.

MedWell delivers a week's supply of food by UPS for customers to enjoy three meals and snacks every day, at a cost of just $10 a day.

"MedWell 1-2-3 products make it easy for people to prepare simple breakfasts, lunches and dinners that control hunger for up to six hours between meals because they fine-tune hormonal control of hunger. If you aren't hungry, then cutting back on calories is easy, especially when eating foods you love to eat," said Dr. Sears.

"If people can lose excess weight with the least change in their current eating habits, then that's the ideal foundation for long-term weight control," he added.