You may have seen article titles such as "Have More Food and Lose Weight," or Eat More and Weigh Less" and thought, "Yeah, sure." I've thought that because I never thought I could eat more and lose weight. But that's because I always thought in terms of calories rather than in terms of volume of food.



A diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables along with whole grains, lean protein (think seafood, poultry, beef, and pork that is not processed), and low fat dairy will allow you eat much larger amounts of food the calories than a diet that's primarily fast food or processed foods. For example, a super sized fast food meal can easily take up nearly your entire daily allotment of calories. I'm not trying to pick on McDonalds, but my favorite meal there is a Big Mac, large French fries, and a large Coke. That meal is over 1,400 calories. Most people who are dieting and trying to lose weight don't eat more than 1,500 to 1,800 calories a day so that meal at McDonalds would mean some pretty skimpy eating for the rest of the day if a person wanted to not go over their calorie limit for the day.

On the other hand, a person could have a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and reduced calorie yogurt for breakfast; an apple for a mid-morning snack; a lunch of salad greens with vinaigrette and a non cream based soup; some air-popped popcorn for a mid-afternoon snack; a supper of broiled fish; steamed veggies, and a small baked potato; and still have an evening snack of frozen yogurt without going over 1,500-1,800 calories. And if you are hungry at any time during the day, crunchy raw veggies are filling without being fattening.

I'm not trying to oversimplify things; but the idea of eating more and weighing less is to eat more naturally low calorie foods and to eat much less of the high calorie foods. And I'm putting the emphasis on naturally low calorie foods because processed diet foods that are low in calories aren't necessarily nutritious or filling. Incorporating lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet is not only helpful for weight loss efforts but also healthy and good for a person's body.