Factweightloss

FOOD INTOLERANCE NETWORK FACTSHEET

Failsafe weight loss

Failsafe is not a weight loss diet, it is a way of reducing your exposure to harmful food chemicals. However, many people do lose weight in the long term when they go failsafe, particularly if they have previously eaten processed foods high in hidden fats and sugars.

Lessons from dogs

Added flavours and flavour enhancers make you want to eat more. Owners of obese dogs are warned to stop buying highly flavoured commercial foods for their dogs - good advice for humans, too.

Food intolerance can contribute to overweight:

Food chemicals can be addictive. They can lead to food cravings. Within the first two weeks of the elimination diet, food 'addicts' will experience withdrawal symptoms, and gradually lose their cravings.
Food chemicals can cause appetite disturbance. Children and adults who refuse to eat breakfast or other meals are often food intolerant. When they go failsafe, normal eating patterns appear. Skipping breakfast is not helpful to weight loss.
Food intolerance symptoms of bloating and stomach discomfort can make people overeat. When these symptoms improve on failsafe, the weight falls off. A woman who did the diet for her bloated stomach and related bowel problems found that salicylates and dairy foods were the cause of her problems. She now stays strictly failsafe at home and avoids processed foods when out.

'The result has been a new zest for life - new role at work, back to studying part time and lots of activities. I'm back to size 12 clothes (have bought lots of new ones). I turn 50 next week and feel like 40. I'm a bit evangelical when I tell people why I've lost so much weight … thanks again for providing the tools for me to get my life back.' - full story on the website.

The basic principles

If the weight doesn't just fall off without even trying, you will have to change your input-output, that is, consume less energy from foods than you use up.

To lose weight you can either eat less or exercise more, or both.

Which weight-loss diet?

Failsafe foods can be used in any kind of weight loss diet from high-fat, high protein, low carbohydrate ketogenic diets like the Atkins diet to low fat diets like the Pritikin diet. In the US, obesity researchers are currently fighting the so-called Diet Wars since five US studies found that people on some form of the Atkins diet (high fat, high-protein) lost twice as much weight as subjects on low calorie, low fat diets. Despite health worries concerning the Atkins diet, one study found that cholesterol levels improved similarly on both Atkins diets and low-fat, low calorie diets while triglyceride levels were considerably lower with the Atkins diet. The Atkins diet seems to be successful because it reduces calories while decreasing hunger.

You can choose between Atkins (not recommended by the majority of nutritionists), a high-fibre vegan diet of foods such as brown rice, lentils and beans, or the middle path, outlined below.

Successful losers

A study of 800 long term weight losers examined people who had lost an average of 30 kg and successfully kept off at least 13 kg for an average of five years. About half had used professional help or a formal program. Most reported an initial trigger such as medical, eg sleep apnoea, emotional 'my husband left me and my lawyer said it was because I was fat', or 'just decided to do it'.

What did they have in common? They all ate a sensible diet which was low in fat, they exercised every day, they never skipped breakfast, and they ate fewer food from fast-food restaurants (less than one per week) and meals in non-fast-food restaurants (about 2.5 per week) than the rest of the population. These successful losers prepared and ate most of their meals at home. So with failsafe you are making a good start.

You can lose weight with failsafe

After I had my babies, I lost 15 kilograms, easily, in 6 months using the no added fats and sugars Pritikin program of diet and exercise. Pritikin has the advantage of being largely additive free, although it is very high in salicylates, amines and natural glutamates. I now eat a strictly failsafe diet and aim for a sensible, balanced intake with treats depending on how much I am exercising.

In the fourteen years since my original weight loss I have twice regained and lost 6 kg. The first time, I used the easiest and most pleasant way in the world to lose weight - a month's tea-house trek in Nepal. This involves walking for about 6 hours every day in breath-taking scenery while eating the traditional local food. Unfortunately, this avenue of weight loss may be closed for a while due to the political situation. The second time I needed to lose weight was after a driving trip halfway around Australia. Often, the only failsafe meals we could find were steak, chips and icecream. You can see from the tables below why those foods are ideal for weight gain. When we arrived home, I lost my target of 6 kilos in 10 weeks using the failsafe weight loss diet and exercise program outlined below. On the same diet, my husband Howard lost 10 kilos in 10 weeks.

Hints for happy weight loss

Keep a food and exercise diary. Research shows this is the single most effective way to lose weight and you're already doing it for failsafe.
Record your weight once a week.
Reduce portion sizes.
Serve food in smaller plates and bowls.
Keep it simple. Research shows that variety - even different varieties of pasta - will encourage people to eat more.
Avoid flavour enhancers like MSG (621) and added flavours which make food taste irresistible.
Save sugar for treats. Sugar makes you eat about 10 per cent more than the same meal without sugar.
Eat and drink only while seated at a table.
Limit TV. Your body goes into a state of semi-hibernation and burns fewer calories.
Avoid TV advertisements about food. Ads are effective. Why else would corporations spend billions on advertising? Watch videos or tape your favourite programs and fast forward the ads.
Eat at home. Prepare your own meals. Processed food is higher in fat.
Exercise every day. A short, slow walk is better than none. You can build up gradually.
Read slimming magazines instead of indulgence columns.
Limit alcohol. Drink after rather than before meals to maintain control.
Limit fats and fatty or fried foods.
Don't buy unsuitable foods. Your home should be a failsafe low-fat haven from the temptations of the world.
Set a target weight and ask your family and friends for support not sabotage. Your success is their success.

An inspirational weight loss story

Australian teacher Jeanne Mithieux was working in London when she saw a photo of herself in a bathing suit and decided to lose weight. To surprise her family, she secretly started to eat a sensible diet, starting with branflakes with low-fat milk and fruit for breakfast, fruit for morning break at school and soup or a jacket potato for lunch. For dinner she ate fish and vegetables followed by fruit and low-fat yoghurt.

Jeanne said she had the occasional treat like a muesli bar or a glass of wine, but she avoided butter, margarine, biscuits, cakes, cream, anything fried, nuts, dressings with oil and avocadoes. She also began five minutes of exercise a day in her living room. When she could run around her living room 800 times without stopping she started running outside. Over sixteen months, 80 kilos (176 pounds) just fell off. Weighing 57 kilos, Jeanne flew home for a visit. Her family was waiting at the airport but failed to recognise her. They thought they were being hugged by a stranger. Jeanne is delighted by her weight loss and now runs every day, no matter what the weather.

The bottom line

An average 165 cm (5'5') 45 year old woman who weighs about 65 kilos and has a sedentary job needs about 2000 calories (multiply by 4.18 for kilojoules) a day to maintain that weight. Eat less than that and you will lose weight.

Fat

Official recommended fat content for the average woman above is 30-60 grams a day but low fat diets advocate 30 grams. Take a look at the fast foods listed below. It is possible to eat more than your recommended daily intake of fat with just one fast food meal, or even just one fast food item.

These fast foods aren't failsafe Calories Fat

KFC: 3 pieces of chicken, six potato nuggets,

slice of cheesecake, large Coke 1550 81

McDonald's: McOz burger, large fries,

Apple pie, large Coke 1379 66

Pizza Hut: half a serve of garlic bread, half a

Super Supreme pan pizza, large Coke 1631 60

Burger King: one medium Old Fashioned

Milkshake 700 41

For information about calories, see Allan Borushek's Calorie and Fat Counter.

Exercise uses up calories

Slow walking (4 calories/minute) 50 minutes = 200 calories

Housecleaning is the same

Brisk walking (7 calories/minute) 50 minutes = 350 calories

Jogging (10 calories/minute) 50 minutes = 500 calories

Weightlifting is the same

A failsafe sample 1200 calorie diet and exercise plan

Breakfast

200 ½ cup rolled oats microwaved with water

40 half canned pear

30 2 tbsp yoghurt

55 with low fat milk or soymilk

325

During the day: 2 sandwiches

280 4 slices of bread (wholemeal if tolerated), no butter

110 1 egg or 100g lean chicken (or water-packed tuna if amines are permitted) or kidney and other beans

50 salad vegetables, eg lettuce, finely sliced cabbage, celery, chives, shallots, (beetroot, asparagus, carrot, corn, moderate salicylates, as permitted)

440

Afternoon tea

75 1 cup nonfat failsafe vegetable soup

Dinner

225 150g kidney beans or 150g grilled fresh white fish, or 100g lamb steak or 100 g chicken fillet.

100 ½ medium potato, ½ medium choko, 2 medium Brussels sprouts, green beans, steamed cabbage

30 2 tbsp Vaalia or soy yoghurt, or 1 tbsp pear ketchup, or Robin’s dressing.

355

TOTAL 1200

Extras: water, decaf coffee or hot carob with low fat milk (22 calories each), raw vegetables (celery, lettuce, shredded cabbage and carrot without dressing, negligible), Saltine or Salada crackers (30 each), peeled pear (70)

Exercise bonus

Successful losers exercise every day. Walking and weightlifting are two of the activities often chosen. We built up to 80 minutes of brisk walking per day (40 minutes each morning and evening) which contributed to extra weight loss and gave us a 560 calorie bonus to use as we wanted - eg panfried fish with minimum oil - and after the first three weeks, most days we had creamed rice (rice, yoghurt and brown sugar, 140) or similar for dessert/supper.

During the week

We mostly stuck strictly to our diets and there were times when we felt hungry. This really makes you enjoy your food.

On the weekends we lashed out a little more and also attended a Pump class - lifting weights to music - giving us another 500 calorie bonus. To get through the Pump class we needed extra food - for me, two slices of toast, margarine, jam and a boiled egg (300 calories) which still left me ahead.

Weekend dinners

with whisky and soda or gin and tonic

Friday: pasta tossed with diced chicken, peas, beans, celery or pasta chicken topping or lowfat panfried fresh fish with vegetables.

Saturday: Steak sandwich - 100g grilled or barbecued lamb steak, lettuce, pear ketchup. Sometimes a home made pizza (p. 00.) Light dessert: 'lemon' sago, mini pavlova with rhubarb (moderate), or 1 scoop icecream with pear or microwaved whole apple (moderate)

Sunday: roast chicken dinner, no skin, no gravy, with potato and green beans, (pumpkin and parsnip - moderate salicylates when permitted), (green peas when permitted), and pear ketchup. Leftover desserts.

Plus

daily Macro M vitamin tablet - see Supplements factsheet.

daily calcium tablet. The latest research suggests that calcium supplements can assist weight loss.

The Western lifestyle has led to an obesity epidemic unprecedented in the history of the world. In the US, obesity is the second leading preventable cause of death, after smoking. Even 9 and 10 year olds are dying of obesity-related heart attacks. Other industrialised nations are not so far behind. It is up to us consumers to turn this situation around.

www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info

The information given is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with your doctor for underlying illness. Before beginning dietary investigation, consult a dietician with an interest in food intolerance. You can find a supportive dietitian through the Dietitians Association of Australia www.daa.asn.au or write for our list of supportive dietitians (confoodnet@ozemail.com.au)