Editor’s Note: Part of “Healthy 2010,” a series offering tips on the best ways to experience optimal health and fitness during the year.





Forget about Atkins. Ditch South Beach and The Zone. Cut out cabbage and low-carb, faux-carb, no-carb and the rest of the gimmicks many people turn to when it’s time to lose weight. There’s really only one diet plan to follow for safe, long-lasting weight loss, according to a registered dietitian, and it’s based on simple math.

To lose weight, the number of calories consumed must be less than the number of calories burned, says Marany Yates, a registered dietitian with clients throughout the Pine Belt area. Follow simple “weight loss math” and you won’t need expensive diet books or pre-packaged meals, she said.

“Low-carb diets such as Atkins or South Beach promote an initial fast weight loss in the first two weeks of the diet with a 20-gram carbohydrate limit per day,” said Yates, whose patients range from individuals to businesses to government agencies. “These and other ‘fad’ diets sound like a quick fix to weight loss, but the simple truth is dieters generally regain their weight and sometimes more as they gradually add back the ‘healthy’ unrefined carbohydrates.”

Other somewhat misleading weight loss advertisements are those that proclaim dieters can lose weight by avoiding foods that “raise the glycemic index.”

Yates said prepackaged food diets based on the glycemic index ranks food items on how quickly they elevate blood sugar or glucose levels when compared to the same quantity of a pure glucose food, such as white bread. These diets labels certain foods as “bad,” and offer alternative food to keep the glycemic index low, thus promising weight loss.

According to Yates, these claims are unfounded, explaining why most dieters don’t experience the promised results.

“The American Dietetic Association says there is insufficient research to show the long term effects of weight loss or gain with the glycemic index,” she said. “Despite the elaborate marketing plans and powerful advertisements, diets based on this premise are not appropriate lifestyle changes for long term and effective weight loss.”

This exact phrase — lifestyle change — proved to be life-changing for Melvin Scruggs of Laurel.

Three years ago, Scruggs (who isn’t one of Yates’ patients) found himself facing life with potential health problems due to body weight that had climbed to over 600 pounds. Rather than choosing weight loss surgery, he opted for a longer, harder and yet ultimately more satisfying route. Following the advice of dietitians and exercise physiologists, Scruggs, now 34, decided to lose the weight in what he calls the “normal way.”

“I decided to do something about my weight when I underwent a heart catherization and blood work during testing for weight loss surgery and was told I was in relatively good health,” said Scruggs. “My heart was fine and my cholesterol level was actually low. In spite of my weight gain, I had been given the gift of good health. I wanted to do everything possible to preserve it. That’s when I decided to lose the weight.”

Scruggs, who juggles jobs with the Jones County School District and H & R Block with full-time college classes, joined WDAM’s “Biggest Loser” challenge, where he was introduced to dietitians from Forrest General Hospital. It was there he first heard the words, “lifestyle change.” Being taught to use those words instead of “diet” made all the difference in his attitude and overall ability to lose a large amount of weight, he says.

“My dietitian told me not to think of it as a diet, because that’s usually a short-term thing,” he said. “When the desired weight is lost and the diet is over, the weight usually comes back on. I was told to commit to changing my life by eating healthy food and exercising. I even learned I could eat the not-so-healthy foods by altering them or eating them in moderation. Combined with exercise, it was a lifestyle change that worked for me.”

A healthy meal plan combined with cardiovascular and water aerobics workouts five times a week at South Central Regional Medical Center’s Wellness Center helped Scruggs lose 206 pounds since his journey began in November 2007. However, he’s determined to lose 400 more to reach his ideal weight of between 200-225 pounds. It’s a goal he feels he can reach through the sensible eating plan and regular workouts.

“I’m thankful I was introduced to a normal low-fat, low-calorie plan that included three meals a day and two snacks,” he said. “I now realize what my dietitian said is true; if you lose the weight with the idea of eventually getting off a ‘diet,’ you will soon be back to where you started. I don’t want to go back to 600 pounds and with my new eating habits, I don’t think I will.”

Done correctly, weight loss isn’t easy, Yates said, and that’s the somewhat dismal news. However, Yates has one positive piece of news for those who are already envisioning sampling that 10-pound box of Valentine’s candy next Sunday.

“You can spend your entire day's calories on nothing but chocolate and as long as you burn more calories than you eat that day, you’ll still lose a pound,” she said. “Your choice might not be considered ‘heart-healthy,’ but the math is the same.”

If you’re really serious about losing weight in 2010, Yates advises her clients to go back to the basics with a plan similar to the one utilized by Scruggs, a two-fold plan based on consuming food low in fat and calories and following a regular exercise plan.

Follow the plan, use “weight loss math,” and you can realistically shed “one to one and one-half pounds per week,” or approximately 20 pounds by Memorial Day and the start of swimsuit weather, she said.

“Evaluate the results of anyone who has like weight and kept it off and you’ll find they lose it by eating less food than they burned through regular exercise and other activities,” she said. “Losing one to two pounds per week might seem slower than the weight loss promised by some of the trendier diets, but if a person’s goal is to keep the weight off, it’s best to do it slowly and in a safe manner. This is a lifestyle change that will assure good health and well-being for a lifetime.”

Scruggs echoes Yates’ advice, and follows it up with some cautionary words from his own experience.

“It’s never too late to lose weight, but if you are still relatively young and in good health, now is really the time to lose weight before health problems do appear,” he said. “Doing everything you can to maintain your health will do so much to improve your life and extend it. I’m living proof that you can lose weight if you decide it’s something you really want — not for someone else, but for you.”