Food Is a Friend

Lifelong weight control depends on the development of lifelong healthful eating habits. One reason nutritionists criticize so many diet programs is that they do not teach clients how to live with food and make healthful food choices. Almost any form of food restriction leads to weight loss, but once the diet is over the dieter is back in the real world — facing decisions about how to prepare low-fat meals, what to eat for lunch, and how to snack at a party. Many diet programs reinforce the idea that food is a problem, rather than helping clients understand that eating can be enjoyable and that food is a friend.

Education about nutrition and health, plus help with slowly changing eating behaviors, is important for both weight loss and maintenance. Many nutritionists and weight-control programs — such as Weight Watchers and Canada's Food Guide — use the Exchange List Diet (see exchange-list-diet).

• Lifelong weight control = lifelong healthful eating habits.
• Many diet programs fail to teach how to live with food and make healthful choices.
• Any food restriction produces weight loss, but maintenance requires real-world food skills.
• Reframe food from "problem" to "friend"; eating can be enjoyable.
• Nutrition education plus slow behavior change supports both loss and maintenance.

• exchange-list-diet — a tool used by Weight Watchers and Canada's Food Guide.
• rethinking-weight-control — the broader change in mindset.
• problem-with-diets — why restriction-only diets fail.