OK so the Red Eye is about as intelligent as the high school paper I used to be editor on... but it's free and it gives me something to read on the bus on the way into work....

this morning's cover....
Diets are dead
Dieting rates have fallen to an all-time low, leaving room for the anti-diet

By Kyra Kyles
RedEye
Published April 4 2007

It was during her college years that Victoria Chilo, now 23, said she picked up the readed "freshman 15" and realized the pounds didn't melt away like they did during her teens.

Things only got worse, Chilo said, when she entered the workforce in 2004 and found less time to work out and more time to snack.

Now Chilo, who lives in Park Forest, said she works harder at watching what she eats, partly basing her meal choices on pointers from the Weight Watchers' food points plan.

"I call myself a careful calorie counter," Chilo told RedEye during a recent lunch break at the Saks Fifth Avenue food court where she polished off an apple and a diet soda.

But there is one thing Chilo doesn't call herself: a dieter.

"I am not into diets or fad diets or whatever you call them," Chilo said. "People are much more health conscious nowadays, and those diets make less and less sense. You can't lose weight by just starving or cutting out food groups."

Dieting, as we know it, is dead.

Dieting rates have fallen to an all-time low since 1988, said Harry Balzer, vice president of the NPD Group, which has surveyed consumer attitudes about dieting since 1988. NPD statistics show that 26 percent of women and 19 percent of men reported they were on some kind of diet in 2006. That's down approximately 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively, from 1990 figures, Balzer said, though more Americans are overweight than ever before.

"Portion size, not dieting, is the new way to attack health," Balzer said. "The most popular diet in America right now is 'My Diet.' Basically, that means people are making up their own diets as they go along because it's too hard for them to follow conventional plans. Instead, they are trying to count calories and eat less than they normally would."

Call the new trend anti-dieting.

Of the eating plans that have survived, Weight Watchers continues to be popular, Balzer said, since it is considered more a lifestyle than a diet. Another emerging eating plan is Volumetrics, which touts itself as an "eating strategy." Though the first Volumetrics book, written by nutrition researcher Dr. Barbara Rolls, was published in 2000, the follow up, "The Volumetrics Eating Plan" (2005) has spiked in popularity, a spokeswoman for publisher Harper Collins said, and the paperback version is due out in May.

Rolls, a nutrition researcher at Pennsylvania State University, said Volumetrics allows people to eat just as much or a little more than they normally would by focusing on foods that contain more water to make them feel fuller while eating fewer calories.

"The book is full of recipes and alternatives," Rolls said. "We allow for lots of customization."

Customization is key for Logan Square's Machelle Toman, a former dieter who said she got tired of the monotony of carb-cutting Atkins.

After being on Atkins on and off over the past five or six years, 48-year-old Toman recently devised her own weight-loss plan that combines healthy eating and exercise.

She is, in fact, so done with diets that she put several of her books—some of which she never even finished reading—up for sale on Craigslist.

"Some of this stuff is so technical or it requires you to do a lot of cooking," Toman said of the books that included two editions of The Zone and one South Beach diet book.

Toman sometimes reverts to Atkins' low-carb principles to get a "head start" on weight loss but said her current method is easier to follow.

"I've been doing this seriously for about three weeks," Toman said. "I can see results already in my face."

But not everyone is ditching diets.

Evanston resident Donna Wang swears by the carb-reducing South Beach diet, which she first tried in 2003 to lose weight for a friend's wedding.

"I tried at first to work out more, but I was still eating junk food," Wang, 25, said. "Then, I tried acupuncture, which helped control my cravings, but when I ate, I was still eating fatty foods. South Beach really helped me get where I needed to be."

Wang lost 25 pounds eating South Beach-style. She has since regained 10 of those pounds but is back on the plan with a vengeance.

She's got another wedding to prepare for, but this time, she's the bride.

"I just need to get rid of those last stubborn 10 pounds," Wang said, adding that her fiance is eating low-carb as well. "I don't really consider this a diet anymore because I can incorporate it into my life, and it's easy to follow. A lot of my friends are on it."

NPD's Balzer, however, said South Beach is well past its growth spurt. South Beach and Atkins, which peaked in 2006 and 2004 respectively, are on the decline.

That's no surprise to Rolls, who said that with the obesity epidemic looming, people have figured out one truth about diets:

"We humans, as a species, just haven't shown the willpower or the fortitude to cut out the things we crave, at least not for long periods of time," Rolls said. "Food is supposed to be enjoyable and with diets, that's taken away. No wonder we can't sustain them."

Though in the Red Eye's infinite wisdom, they talk bout how diets are dead yet go on for another article explaining a new trendy diet

The 'Undiet' gaining steam
Volumetrics measures food by density instead of calories

By Kyra Kyles
RedEye

Published April 4 2007

Ever heard of eating more to lose weight?

No? Then you aren't familiar with Volumetrics, an "eating strategy" that came out of research at Pennsylvania State University.

You're not alone.

Volumetrics has been a best-kept weight-loss secret for almost a decade, said Dr. Barbara Rolls, one of the plan's creators and author of "The Volumetrics Eating Plan" and "The Volumetrics Weight Control Plan."

Rolls said the system only recently has begun to step out of the shadows of the Atkins and South Beach diets, as it gains support nationwide from doctors, dietitians and organizations such as the American Dietetic Association, which included "The Volumetrics Eating Plan" on its Good Nutrition Reading List.

Volumetrics, which measures food by density instead of focusing on number of calories, carbohydrates or grams of fat, encourages followers to get full while losing weight.

The secret is in the water, Rolls said.

"We are basically encouraging more consumption of fruits and vegetables, which really help people to feel full because they contain water," Rolls said. "We tell you to have more fruit and vegetables, leaner protein sources, low fat dairy, fish, whole grains and fewer processed foods, but nothing is banned. You can have chocolate, but just not very much."

That's what makes Volumetrics easier to follow than diets that restrict portion size or eliminate food groups, Rolls said. When she first studied diets in the '80s, she discovered that people struggled with diets when it appeared that their plates were less full. By giving them the same amount or more food with fewer calories, they were less likely to feel deprived.

"Because people get so focused on weight loss, they forget all the other important reasons for eating healthy," Roll said. "It's not just about size—it's bone health, brain health and emotional health. When you suddenly change portion size or cut out whole groups, it doesn't make sense. You are cutting calories and increasing nutritional risk."

Here's how to follow the Volumetrics system

• Divide the calories in one serving of food by its weight in grams in order to get the energy density
• Make up the largest portion of your diet with foods that have lower-energy density, such as baked potatoes and fruit sorbet instead of their higher-energy counterparts of French fries and ice cream
• Eat a lower energy-density food as a first course, such as chicken broth or salad with low-fat dressing, as it will encourage you to eat less for the rest of the meal.

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Personally, I'd agree that diets are dead - at least I hope they are - I took me a while to realize that diets were not a lifestyle change and couldn't be sustained for the rest of my life - over the past 11 months- I've been on the ME plan - which - so far - seems to be working...

I walk into Borders or Barnes and Noble and there are 100s upon 100s of books each claiming to be the best and last diet a person will ever need - ummm - if it's the last diet a person will need - why are there so many of them?

I am new here and I just wanted to say that I love reading your words on all the threads. You are so positive and have such a nice sense of humor. I guess I just wanted to tell you that.

I always found perscriptive 'diets' too restricting. Also if I had tried to live off of nothing but juice or cabbage soup for days on end, my family or boyfriend would have flipped, thank goodness

This is definately what I feel too... I certainly dont have the time or a relaxed enough lifestyle to allow me to stick to a diet-plan word for word, especially ones where you have to measure out things you're eating etc. Plus I am too fussy with what I will and wont eat so I probably wouldn't stick to any of them for long...! Sensible eating and sensible portions, combined with excercise, will always do the trick I think.

I hear this a lot about how people can "eat what they want" in their teens, or lose weight easily. I am only just out of my teens and even during them I never found this to be the case, it's a struggle for me to keep my weight steady. This does worry me a bit because if it gets harder with age what will the situation be for me by the time I hit 40?!

The big difference for some people between teens and older is teens (wellin my day anyhow - life before comptuers, video games, etc) were more active - and actually moved more - 20s you're focused on work and you behind is usually planted in a chair 9 hours a day... plus happy hour packs on the calories pretty easily too... but all people are different...

I know I will get smited by the gods of weight loss for this - but Im over 40 now and it's been easier now than when i was in my 30s - primary reason is mindset - as long as you've got the right mindset to make the necessary changes - then age really doesn't matter.

Ditto. It was the same for me. I changed to healthier foods and drinks, cutting back on booze, and to exercising for fitness. I don't even like calorie counting - when I tried it, it started to take over my life. As for 'dieting' - I don't like it when people ask me 'how long have you dieted?'. I don't diet, I live.

I, too, am finding it easiest this time around and its the mindset it took me 43 years to cultivate.

Interesting read...I too am on the "me diet" lol...I just try to eat healthy and low cal...but I dont count cal for cal and I dont follow a strictly guided diet plan....eh' its working for me so far

the "me diet", I like that. That perfectly describes what I'm doing.

For me cheating and fast food appear to be facts of my life that won't go away. On a traditional diet I'd give up, but as I am now there is always today and this meal and making a good choice right now. Eventually all the little choices will add up to something I can actually do forever.

This is just a random post so that I don't have to see the thread entitled 'fat lesbians' every time I sign on. Sorry.

^^^LOL Kaitie!

I wonder what Kaitie has against fat lesbians?

I agree; anything that makes you give up a whole food group (and in this case, I'm also including treats as its own food group ) like breads (carbs), whatever is not sustainable and is a quick fix that leaves most people disappointed. None of them teach people how to eat healthy.

The old diet is dead.
Long live the new diet.

Seriously, it's pretty much just a continous loop from one diet to another.

I think the only thing that changes is us & our readiness & commintment to lose the weight.

I think that when we are ready we will find a method that works for us & stick to it.
Until then it is a neverending struggle.

I don't remember if the article said it or not but the whole diet thing is what fails people - diet assumes short term fix and once you're done -what do you do? what does work - in my opinion - is a change to your lifestyle -have whatever you want to have -just make it fit within your day.