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Diet & Weight Loss Articles: Let's Stop Being Polite, and Start Being Supportive.

Contents for this issue:

Article: "Let's Stop Being Polite, and Start Being Supportive."

Recipe of the Week: Iraqi Baked Dinner

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Let's Stop Being Polite, and Start Being Supportive.

"You don't need to diet - you look great!"

I don't know how many times I said that to friends who told me they were starting a diet. I couldn't understand why they thought I was being unsupportive - until I started my own diet and heard it many times myself.

It's one of our most common responses to another person's determination to lose weight. We're trying to be nice, but it doesn't help.

Even though obesity is one of the top ten causes of preventable disease and death in the world, we still assume that our friends want to diet because they don't like the way they look. Sure, appearance is important - but so is our health.

But we're not the only ones being "nice" instead of supportive.

A recent article in our local paper listed the top 10 things that doctors wished they could say to their patients, but didn't.

Near the top of the list - "You're too fat. It's killing you, and you have to lose weight."

If you consider the number of health problems associated with excess weight, you would think that doctors would feel obligated to discuss this with their patients. I was shocked to find out that many doctors admitted that they don't.

Why? Because they believe their patients "don't want to hear it."

Many doctors are just too "polite" to tell their patients the truth.

Does it matter? You better believe it! If doctors would be a little less polite, and a little more truthful, it would help many people face up to the real health risks they face and give them the needed motivation to start eating a healthy diet.

Consider this: When I was reading through medical journals during a course on addictions counseling, I ran across a simple study that was done in England. The researchers wanted to know if alcoholic patients would change their ways if their doctors told them about the health risks associated with their excess drinking.

The researchers asked participating doctors to speak to their patients with a simple statement during their medical exam, saying something like "Joe, I see that your liver is really showing the effects of your drinking. If you don't stop drinking, it's going to kill you."

The result of this "impolite" remark? An amazing number of heavy drinkers, many of whom had been nagged by their spouses for years, stopped drinking, and it saved their lives!

Whether you're a doctor, or just an ordinary person like me, we all need to ask ourselves these questions: Does our automatic "polite" response really help? Are we really giving our friends the kind of support we would want to recieve when we make a commitment to a diet?

Perhaps instead of "you don't need to diet - you look great!" we should rehearse something like the following: "Oh good - you'll feel so much better!"

Or: "That's great - I've been wanting to do that too, but it's so hard to do it alone. Let's do it together!"

Let's stop being polite - and start being supportive.

Do you have a simple supportive statement that you would like to share with us? Send them to me, and I'll put them up on my website.

jonni@stress-free-weight-loss.com

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Even the most successful people can have trouble staying committed to their diet. To get help, read my new book How to Think Thin. Learn why instincts cause your cravings, and how you can rise above them and stay committed to your weight loss goals. To read more, go to http://www.HowtoThinkThin.com

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This week's great low-cal recipe:
Iraqi Baked Dinner

From Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook

With Iraq dominating the news lately, I thought it would be interesting to include this casserole in this week's newsletter. It includes ground beef, which should be very lean - or you might want to experiment with ground turkey, which is lower in fat. Be sure to tell the kids where this recipe comes from. It will help them get interested in their dinner, and might start some meaningful conversations around the table.

Cut in 1/2-inch slices
1 medium eggplant

Cut slices in half and spread on waxed paper or cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt and set aside.

Cook in saucepan 6 minutes:
3 medium potatoes, peeled, cut in 12 1/2-inch slices

Meanwhile, mix:
1 lb. lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/4 t. allspice

Shape into 12 2-inch patties.
Prepare:
3 medium tomatoes, cut in 12 thick slices
2 onions, cut in 12 thin slices

Rinse eggplant. In deep 3-4 qt. casserole arrange eggplant, potatoes (drained), tomatoes, meat patties, and onions alternately in rows, standing on end.

Mix:
12-oz. can tomato puree or tomato sauce
1/2 can water
3/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

Pour over casserole. Bake in 350° F (180° C) oven 1 hour, or until potatoes and eggplant are cooked through. Serve with warm, freshly baked bread.

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This recipe was was contributed to the book Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook by Uum Zaki of Busrah, Iraq and Hilda Staal of Hudsonville, Michigan. This cookbook is a collection of recipes from missionaries, Peace Corp workers, and citizens from around the world. I especially enjoy the little snippets of information and peaceful quotes that decorate the bottom of the pages. On page 192, where this recipe was found, is this:

"North Americans tend to label as food anything remotely edible, regardless of its nutritional content. In contrast, people in the East African country of Uganda use the word food only in reference to their staple food, not for snacks."

Until next week, yours in good health,
Jonni Good

Be sure to come read all the informative articles on my website, at http://www.stress-free-weight-loss.com

© 2002 Jonni Good. All rights reserved