Half Their Size

Every January, People Magazine comes out with their “Half Their Size” edition.  In it, they feature people, regular every day people who have overcome the odds and beat their battle with obesity.  I always find it really inspiring because they all did it on their own–no fat camp, no Biggest Loser, no drugs, no surgery.  It gives really gives other people–even if they don’t have to lose half their weight–hope.  Every January, I get motivated to stick with my program because of this one magazine issue.

This years’ issue also featured some really interesting articles about weight loss:

What You Eat!–This article presented the findings from a study of 100 People readers.  Each of them kept a food log for 4 days and then the magazine broke down the eating habits of a typical reader.  Some of the interesting facts:

• 67% ate no fish during their 4-day survey
• Restaurant meals average 300 more calories than home cooked meals of the same type.
• 95% of readers don’t get enough dairy–about the same amount don’t get enough whole grains, fresh vegetables, or fresh fruits.

I’m proud to say that me and my family eat better than the average People magazine reader.  Except for last night!

Nine-Inch Diet–This article illustrates very clearly the biggest problem in America’s weight problem:  Bigger portion sizes.  Briefly, the article summarizes how the author purchased a house built in 1940 and his modern plates wouldn’t fit in to his kitchen cupboards because the average plate size in 1940 was nine inches.  Today’s average plate size in America is about 12 inches in diameter.  There is lots of information out there about the “small plate movement.”  And I’m not talking about Tapas!

Slimmed-Down Chefs’ Secrets–This article caught my eye because it features two chefs who I’m actually familiar with.  One of the chef’s, Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto has recently lost 40 pounds.  He’s got some pretty good looking recipes for veggies and a panzanella with red snapper.  Another of the chefs, Antonia Lofaso, who fared pretty well on Bravo’s Top Chef touts the blessings of blended soups because they fill you up and kids can’t pick through the vegetables in them.  Pretty good stuff.

Of course, no magazine would be complete without advertising.  The only complaint that I had from this issue was that People continued to publish their ads for Hydroxycut–a very popular weight loss drug.  And they placed it right across from a picture of a man who lost 161 pounds by changing his dinner of cheesesteaks and beers to chicken and broccoli!  It seems to me that in their one issue that deals with healthy living and people losing weight the hard way, they could have left out the diet drug ads.