A New Year, A New You
Guidelines for Evaluating Diets

• Is the diet nutritionally adequate? If an entire category of foods is excluded, say no fat or no fruit is permitted, chances are you’ll be vulnerable to intense cravings and could develop true nutritional deficiencies.
• Are there enough calories in the diet? Although everyone thinks less is better, but if you eat too few calories you are more likely to binge. A diet must provide at least as many calories as your body burns (see the November information on determining your BMR).
• How practical is the plan? Will you always be able to find something to eat regardless of where you are?
• What about cost? If you are required to lay out a sum of money for anything, be careful. Eating right should not cost you more than your average food bill. Supplements, pills and special foods are rarely necessary in a healthy weight loss plan.
• How quickly should you lose weight? You should not be promised a weight loss greater than two pounds a week. More than that means you are restricting, which means that you will ultimately binge. Initial weight loss may be greater than two pounds but it should average out to about 1-2 pounds a week.
• What about your lifestyle? College students rarely eat at the same time everyday. Is your plan flexible enough?
• Are you required to think? If you follow a diet pattern but don’t look at your eating behavior, you will ultimately get bored with the program and revert to old habits. Permanent weight loss requires behavior change. Nothing is as easy as it seems.
• Do you need to move? Weight loss without a sensible exercise program is hard, if not impossible. Start moving slowly and increase your pace as time goes on.
• Does it sound too good to be true? The bottom line is … if it does sound too good to be true, it probably is.

Learn more about Eating Well on Campus - book by Ann Litt packed with tips on eating healthy at school without depriving yourself.

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