Laura’s Psychology Blog

I consider myself a scientist, not a conspiracy theorist, and as compelling as the correlational data between the rise in HFCS and obesity appeared, the food industry continued to reassure everybody that HFCS was “just another sugar” and not responsible for the fattening of America.

So it was with considerable interest that I read that one of the most well-respected psychologists (Bart Hoebel of Princeton) in the area of appetite had taken on the HFCS question. If anyone is free to do his own thing without worrying about ticking off an industry, it’s Bart.

Bart Hoebel Takes on Big Food

Bart’s experiment was simple–match calories from HFCS and sucrose. Rats on HFCS not only gained 48% more weight, but they showed classic symptoms of metabolic syndrome, a pre-diabetic condition affecting many Americans. The rats had more abdominal fat and higher triglycerides.

The problem is that you can hardly avoid the stuff–we know, we’ve tried. The research often refers to HFCS in soda, which we don’t drink, but the stuff is in nearly every packaged product in the store. It’s in baby Tylenol, FiberOne bars (that are supposedly healthy), and even in Rice Krispies. Why does anyone need sweetener in Rice Krispies? Why can’t you just sweeten it yourself? 

We're Swimming in Syrup

In the meantime, the Corn Refiners Association has launched a big “Sweet Surprise” campaign supporting HFCS. On their site, they say that the studies that find any dangers associated with HFCS “lack scientific merit.”  Hmmm, don’t try telling that to Bart Hoebel! And don’t forget to read those labels!

Along the same theme as my previous blog post, our family was asked to participate in an interview with our local NBC affiliate for a segment on New Year’s Resolutions. We received a phone call from our Jenny Craig Centre director, asking us if we would be willing to do this in the next half hour, so we all piled into the car (usually we walk the one mile to the Centre). I suppose we are a good story of weight loss for the new year. Collectively, our family has lost a medium-sized NFL linebacker by using Jenny Craig.

Kristin, Karen, and I check out the "I Did It" bulletin board at Jenny Craig prior to our interview

Once there, the journalist conducting the interview asked who wanted to do most of the talking, and unfortunately, everybody pointed at me. I guess I do get paid to talk, so that’s probably fair. After we did a short interview about how Jenny Craig helps us meet our weight loss and maintenance goals, the journalist took some more video, including Mr. F’s feet as he stepped on the Centre scale. As one of our family’s favorite films is Zoolander, Karen had to ask if Dad’s feet were able to do “blue steel” or “magnum.”

We didn’t stay up until 11 p.m., when the segment was supposed to show, because we had to get up at 2 a.m. to get Karen to her very early flight out of Santa Barbara to go back to school. We’re guessing that Mr. F’s feet may have been the part that stayed in….

I usually make it a habit to choose a New Year’s Resolution. Some have worked, others have not. Last year’s, which was unsuccessful, was to get on the Stairmaster in our garage at least twice a week. I think that happened the first week of January 09, but not subsequently. Oops.

The key for me is to choose something doable, but not so easy or hard as to be pointless. I think the Stairmaster one failed because I usually walk about 4 miles a day, so my brain tells me that I’m okay in the exercise department. I thought about choosing to maintain my weight loss, but I’ve done that successfully for the last 2 1/2 years anyway, so it doesn’t seem like a fair challenge.

While I’m choosing between the many other things I need to fix, I did run across some interesting weight maintenance advice from an unlikely source–the Better Homes and Garden cookbook Mr. F and I bought new for $6.95 when we were newlyweds in 1972. In the back section of the cookbook, the authors included lots of helpful nutrition hints, among which was the following advice. According to the book, we are supposed to maintain whatever weight we are at age 22.  To identify the daily calories you need, you are supposed to multiply this ideal weight by 16 for women and 18 for men, then subtract 10 calories for each year over 22. For me, that’s a “whopping” 1746 calories per day. I’m pretty sure I eat more than that, probably about 2500, but maybe the 4 miles of walking helps. The book does acknowledge that “additional calories will be needed by those who regularly engage in strenuous activities” but also warns that “many people tend to overestimate their energy requirements.”

Our Cookbook Is the Red Plaid One--For $6.95

This advice is quite different from what we hear today. A quick search using “weight gain” and “age” results in lots of pages stating that moderate weight gain during adulthood is “normal,” because metabolism slows. My own doctor mentioned several years ago that “everybody” gains weight when you get older. What I find interesting is that people in the 1970s seemed to realize that you needed to compensate for this, while today, we seem to hear that it’s okay to go ahead and gain the weight. Coupled with today’s fashion vanity sizing for women (add 8 to today’s sizes to get the 1970s–1980s size, e.g. today’s 4 is yesterday’s 12, and to buy anything larger than a 14, today’s 6, you had to go to Lane Bryant), it’s not too surprising that so many people think big is okay.

So if you’re still looking for a resolution, maybe this is the year to think about weight the old-fashioned way.

Needless to say, the holiday season poses some special challenges to those of us who are either trying to lose weight or maintain a weight loss. Some of the most challenging choices face us when we are looking at temptations with a time frame. If you’re thinking that eating holiday foods is a “once in a lifetime” pleasure that won’t happen again or for a long time, it’s likely that you’ll be in trouble quickly. When human beings fear starvation, as most of our ancestors did, the best strategy is to eat everything in sight as a precaution. In a modern world of plenty, the self-talk needs to be “it will always be there.”

Karen's Baklava for Greek Night Is Worth Planning For

I did a quick search online for bits of advice for holiday dieters, and most of what I saw was frankly appalling. Here are some of my LEAST favorites with my own solutions:

1. Eat a small meal before going to a party. Are you kidding? People get fat in the first place because they have learned to tune out their biological signals of fullness. All this pre-eat will do is ensure that you have more calories for the day. Instead, I’m all for portion control. Instead of taking a whole serving of something at a party, take one bite of everything you want. Recent research suggests that just eating a food triggers mechanisms that make the food less appealing. The first bite is the best–you don’t need the whole thing.
2. Make healthy choices–This is not the time. Talk about unrealistic. Like you’re going to pass up that gingerbread for a slice of fruit? Instead, be mindful of your choices. Have the gingerbread (in a small quantity on a small dish), but be picky about how you use your calories. You don’t have to “holiday eat” every day–know when goodies are going to become available, and plan to enjoy them. Make up for it by being extra strict on “non-goody” days.
3. Don’t skip meals. Normally, I would agree. But the bottom line is that you can’t eat a large meal and then follow up with your normal eating and not gain weight. When we celebrate chez Freberg with one of Mr. F’s special dinners, we usually do so at lunch. Then I have a pact with myself that unless my stomach is actively growling, that’s it for the day.

Here are some pieces of advice that I thought were truly helpful:

1. Use small plates–Brian Wansink has shown that this can be a huge help. You do not feel deprived, and you are much less likely to overeat.
2. Eat slowly. Take time to enjoy your food. Focus on the conversation.
3. Avoid alcohol. Nothing puts on weight faster, and alcohol lowers your inhibitions in general, and that includes eating more food than you need. It nukes your taste buds, too, which means the food you eat won’t taste very good (hence those dreadful spicy Chex things people persist in making for New Year’s Eve, even though I’ve never met a person who actually think this tastes good.)
4. Walk, walk, walk. Yes, we live in California, which makes walking easier, but you don’t need to hit the gym either to lose weight or maintain it. Park your car at the outer edge of the parking lot. I think it’s so pathetic to see people jockey for places nearest the store. Walk around the block while you’re waiting for the turkey in the oven. Walk after you eat to admire your neighbors’ holiday yard displays.
5. Just make a pact that you will not eat anything on impulse. If it’s not planned, it’s not eaten. Once again, our friend Brian Wansink has observed that a major difference between fat and slim people is that the latter are very systematic about their intake. After awhile, it just becomes habit and you don’t have to think about it anymore.
6. Beware the evening. Apparently, our willpower is at its best in the morning. Most people do not have trouble making healthy breakfast choices, but as the day wears on, that might become harder to do. The more choices you make, the faster your willpower breaks down. Again, this is another area where a system helps. If you have a system, you make one decision–follow the system.

For me, the best strategy is to focus on people, not personal pleasure. I am delighted to be spending the holidays with all three of my daughters for the first time in three years. I plan to soak in every minute. Yes, great food is part of the fun, but it’s not the focus. Good luck and Happy Holidays to all of you!

Three years ago, my daughter Karen and I went over to our local Jenny Craig. Karen had finished her college eligibility in track and field, and wanted to shed her shot putter pounds. Little did I know that she and her dad had conspired to convince me to join, too, which of course I did. What a difference that decision has made! A month after we joined, Mr. F was so impressed with our progress (and with the fact we were eating chocolate cupcakes and losing weight) that he joined, too. Collectively, we have lost a fairly decent-sized NFL lineman.

This is Weight Loss Maintenance?

I’ve lost weight successfully before, but the difference this time is that I’ve been able to maintain the loss. It took me about ten months to shed 80 pounds, but I’ve kept my weight in a 3 lb. range in the more than 2 years since then. Maintenance is a whole different mindset than weight loss, and there is just as much of a learning curve as there is with weight loss. One of the most helpful bits of advice comes from Brian Wansink and his Mindless Eating website:  People who maintain healthy weights have a system for doing so, and are very regular in their habits. My system is not too different from other people in the National Weight Control Registry:

1. Get on the scale daily. Little gains are much easier to deal with than big gains.
2. Eat a diet that is low in protein and fats.
3. Exercise.
4. Avoid watching TV.
5. Eat breakfast.

I would also add “Don’t make excuses.” It’s not water weight, it’s not the time of the month, it’s weight, so fix it now.

Probably the biggest difference between my system and the NWCR advice is that I do not do any formal, sweaty exercise. Mr. F and I walk several miles a day, which to me is walking, not exercise. It seems to be enough, however, that we feel healthy. The other trick we’ve learned is to have the occasional treat that you truly enjoy. We do not “waste” our calories on “routine” treats, like the cardboard cookies you can buy at the store. If we’re having a treat, it’s a TREAT. Mr. F just baked me one of my favorites, lemon meringue pie, and he spares no expense or quality. I wouldn’t bother making things with artificial sweeteners–yuck. I’d rather have the real thing, just less often. This seems to make maintaining a weight loss effortless, as you’re not going without.

So why “stay on” Jenny Craig? Well, we like the convenience of using their foods, and after some very careful label reading, it is virtually impossible to duplicate the healthfulness of their products and their tastiness in the regular supermarket. This is Nestle, after all, and Nestle makes most of the food we buy in high end restaurants anyway. So we use their foods when we want to, make our own when we want to, and keep our weights where we want them. Hard to complain about that.