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
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
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
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
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
© Sue Dengate update March 2005
