That's Fit

New Diet Book Says It's OK To Cheat

Ronnie Koenig — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST

Do you crack under the pressure of trying to stick to your diet plan? Maybe a little wiggle room to indulge is just what you need to hit your weight loss goals. "The Cheater's Diet," by nutritionist Marissa Lippert, hits stores today and advocates "cheating" on your diet (having the occasional dessert, glass of wine and other items that you might ban). Lippert stresses that this is the only way to actually stick with a weight-loss program, and claims you can drop up to 20 pounds in eight weeks and still eat what you love. We sat down with Lippert to get the scoop on what it really means to "cheat" on your diet. That's Fit: Why did you write this book? Marissa Lippert: My goal is to try and bring people back into the kitchen to make good quality, fresh food. I want people to start thinking about eating seasonal things and try to get to the farmer's market when they can. It's about losing a little excess weight and doing it happily and healthily. TF: What does it mean to be a "cheater?" ML: To be able to indulge throughout the week at strategic times. You have to love what you're eating. When you're eating good quality, fresh food with good ingredients, you can't go wrong. A lot of people have an all-or-nothing mentality when they diet. As in, I'm not having dessert, or I'm not having any alcohol. And I think they would be scared of the concept that you can cheat. TF: What would you say to these people? ML: Think about all those diets that you've tried that are all-or-nothing. You drop them after two or three weeks or two months or whatever it is. Diets don't work. Granted, the name of the book is "The Cheater's Diet," but it's not a "diet." I think that once people give it a chance they will understand, and they'll see the results on the scale. They'll learn how to love what they're eating, eat a bit more mindfully and keep the weight off. If you want this to work, you're not doing the cheeseburger five nights a week. But you can definitely do it once a week. In the book I cover eating out. When out with a group of people, many of us look toward our friends to see what they're ordering. TF: How can we change this behavior? ML: Listen to what your body is telling you. Our bodies are typically always right. So if you're craving red meat, choose a red meat. Ideally it's a leaner cut of steak or it's a beef stew, something with a lot of vegetables. Or you have a salad with it, so you're always bringing balance into the meal. Don't necessarily look toward other people. You know what works best for your body. If you're someone who eats out five nights a week, try to be a bit more conscious of what you're ordering, or order two appetizers. It's a great trick, because the servings are automatically smaller. TF: It seems like the book is about making small changes. Are there a few simple things you can suggest that anyone can do? ML: Try to get a good amount of water during the course of the day -- between one and a half and two liters. Often we'll think we're hungry, but it's actually thirst. Eat fruits and vegetables at every meal. I don't care if it's just stacking lettuce and tomato on a sandwich, adding fruit to your breakfast or mixing vegetables in at dinner. Try to make fruits and veggies the focus of your meal. The calories will automatically come down. And just having good quality food. Typically, the fewer the ingredients, the better. So less processed, less packaged. I always tell people, try to shop seasonally. When you get a tomato shipped in from South America in January they're typically awful because they're just not in season. And then portion sizes. Cut back, but not in a drastic way. Take baby steps. It's doable and you'll actually see some shift on the scale. TF: What suggestions do you have for women who are also cooking for a hungry husband or boyfriend? ML: You need different portions. So make the meal, but plan what you'll be taking for yourself and what he'll be taking. If he's a meat and potatoes guy, roast up some baby potatoes with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Do a roast chicken or a lean flank steak and then have a nice big salad and some grilled asparagus or sautéed broccoli. He is by no means going to scoff at that meal! And if you reduce the amount of pasta and sneak more vegetables in, he probably isn't going to even notice that. TF: What's the biggest issue women come to you with? ML: I see so many people who come in, they've got all the sugar-free stuff, diet sodas up the wazoo, just more packaged and processed diet foods. They think they're doing something good for themselves but they're unhappy. Or they have massive cravings for sweet things. So I say, let's ditch the artificial sweeteners, get more fresh fruit in your diet. Have a piece of dark chocolate every day. You can do that. You'll be that much more happy and satisfied because you're having something real versus something that's not. Are you one of those dieter's whose plan consists of diet sodas and sugar-free foods? Read on to find out why expert Jonny Bowden thinks low-fat caused the obesity epidemic.

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