Three simple weight-loss principles

Weight loss can be tricky, ambiguous, and subject to peculiar and deceptive ideology. From the unhealthy cleanse, to the meat-only diet, there are books, articles and zealots out there making it all very confusing.

What if just a few simple principles were the key to a gradual, consistent

maintenance of healthy weight?

Obesity has reached endemic proportions in the United States - plus all the varying conditions that come along with it: Diabetes, heart disease, orthopedic issues, etc. What is the driver? The most basic answer is that food is abundant, it's cheap, and it's delicious. This leads to excess and uncontrolled impulse.

The following three principles expose and take on areas of trouble:

• Don't eat three hours before bed. This one is very simple. It will cut hundreds of calories out of many people's diets. Snacking late at night often involves sweets, alcohol, or salty crunchy bits that are loaded with calories. Late-night eating may be resulting in pronounced hunger because eating before bed appears to adjust hunger hormones the next day. It also produces restless sleep as one study concluded: "We conclude that food intake during the nocturnal period is correlated with negative effects on the sleep quality of healthy individuals. Indeed, food intake near the sleeping period (dinner and late night snack) was negatively associated with sleep quality variables

• No drinks containing sugar (yes, wine has sugar). These aren't doing very much in terms of nutrition and are basically only contributing to weight gain. As the Harvard department of public health points out: Fluids don't provide the same feeling of fullness or satisfaction as solid foods, as the body doesn't "register" liquid calories as it does calories from solid food. This may prompt a person to keep eating even after an intake of a high-calorie drink. Now, under some circumstances, such as athletes training, or an aerobic effort lasting longer than an hour, the sugar sports drinks can be beneficial. But we're talking day-to-day - not performance sports nutrition.

• Replace all snacks with a fruit or vegetable. Spanish researchers found that people who identified themselves as usual snackers were most likely to gain significant weight during the study's four-and-a-half-year follow-up period. Plus, they were nearly 70 percent more likely to become obese. Snacking didn't use to be prevalent; food packaging, preservation, and clever flavoring made snacks available everywhere, and insanely desirable. This, coupled with marketing and the societal notion that being hungry is a condition that should be banished, led to America's obesity

problems.

"Oftentimes hunger is less about legitimate hunger and more about decisions based on psychological influences like stress, boredom, impulse, happiness and fatigue," says nutritionist Keri Glassman.

Skipping a snack attack and walking, changing tasks or doing a few stretches will save hundreds of calories.

These principles, when applied, will result in a gradual weight loss which is sustainable without burnout, or giving up. They are lifestyle choices that can be applied easily. Adhering to these principles is not extreme and it won't sell books at the airport. But it will work - and you can still eat most of the foods you enjoy.