Part 4

On a reducing diet many people find themselves eating more vegetables, raw fruits, and salads than they did before. Most of them benefit from the change. However, anyone who has previously had signs of ulcers, colitis, or other digestive disturbances should tell his physician. A person susceptible to such conditions may need to use raw fruits and vegetables sparingly, substituting fruits stewed without sugar, or perhaps using pureed vegetables.

Constipation sometimes occurs when eating habits are changed suddenly. It can often be corrected by drinking more water and by using green, leafy vegetables more generously. The substitution of stewed, dried fruits for some fresh fruits may also help. The amount must be watched, because dried fruits are richer in calories than fresh fruits. They are often eaten in greater quantity and cooked with sugar.

People who are on a diet and who eat in restaurants a great deal have a problem. Unless their budget runs to a daily steak diet, a good cafeteria is often a better choice than other types of restaurants. The foods are usually plainly cooked, without much fat, and can be chosen individually. The chief problem is to develop the habit of passing by all the display of foods which must not be eaten. The temptation to add something extra is sometimes greater than it is at home.

If lunch is the only meal which must be eaten out, and there is no suitable eating place available, the problem may be solved by taking lunch from home. Some suggestions for a day’s menus, including low-calorie lunches which can be carried to work or school, are given on the opposite page.

PACKED LUNCH for 1200 Calorie Diet BREAKFAST

½ cup fruit 1 egg 1 slice toast 1 teaspoon butter 1 glass milk Clear coffee or tea

LUNCH

Sandwich: 1 slice bread 1 teaspoon butter 1 ounce lean meat 1 hard cooked egg wedge of raw cabbage whole raw carrot fresh fruit 1 glass milk

LUNCH

Sandwich: 2 thin slices bread 1 ounce lean meat 1 hard cooked egg 1 teaspoon mayonnaise lettuce 2 stalks celery 1 small cucumber fresh fruit 1 glass milk

LUNCH

Sandwich: 2 thin slices bread 2 ounces chicken or meat chopped and mixed with 1 tablespoon mayonnaise 1 tablespoon chopped celery and a little chopped onion large fresh tomato ½ green pepper fruit 1 glass skim milk

DINNER

3 ounces meat, fish, or poultry ½ cup vegetables from Group I and Group II 1 glass skim milk ½ cup fruit—fresh, or cooked or canned without sugar

UNDERWEIGHT AND ITS DANGERS

Anyone 20 percent or more below his best weight is considered underweight. Definite underweight is not desirable in young people who are still growing. It may be a symptom of disease. The glandular disorders so often erroneously blamed for overweight are much more likely to show themselves in loss of weight or inability to gain. Even when there is nothing wrong, people whose weight is too far below normal are more likely to suffer from fatigue and poor physical endurance. Resistance to infection is often lowered. Tuberculosis strikes more often among adolescents and young people who are underweight than it does among those whose weight is closer to what it should be.

What Causes Underweight?

Certain diseases and glandular disorders can cause underweight. In healthy people, however, underweight comes from eating too little, from poor eating habits, from over-activity or too little rest, and from worry or prolonged tension.

Many people eat too little for much the same reasons which make others eat too much. Habit frequently plays a part. Meals are irregular in some families, sometimes poorly prepared, and eating is considered the least important of the day’s activities. It is not surprising if the children from such families grow up with an indifferent attitude toward food.

Emotions may also play a part. The feeling of being unloved, dissatisfaction with personal relationships, discontent over job, money, or social restrictions, and other reasons of this kind cause some people to react with indifference to eating just as they cause others to overeat. Keen rivalry, a wish to take part in everything, or too great an absorption in school or social activities sometimes cause over-activity and underweight among adolescents.

How to Gain Weight

As in overweight, the first step is to see a physician and have a thorough physical examination. It is important to find and correct anything which may be wrong. Efforts to gain may be useless unless this is done.

The same principles apply to gaining weight as to losing it, but in reverse. Underweight people must take in more calories than they use, so that there will be some left over to store as fat.

Will power can be as great a factor in gaining weight successfully as it is in losing, particularly for people who do not like many of the essential foods. They must learn to say “yes” to enough of the right foods, regardless of their wishes, just as firmly as their fat friends need to say “no” to forbidden extras.

As in overweight, it is important first to include the essential foods in the day’s meals. These foods are necessary for maximum health, whether a person’s weight is too high, too low, or just right. Some underweight individuals whose food choices have been poor may find that they are able to gain merely by making sure that they include these foods in their diet. Others need to study ways to add extra calories.

Adding Extra Calories

The simplest way is to eat more at each meal—extra bread and butter, and second helpings of everything.

Often, however, underweight people seem to have a small stomach capacity. Therefore, additions of high-calorie foods which add little or no bulk are probably easier to take at first than trying to eat larger quantities. Such additions as cream on cereals and in beverages; extra eggs in puddings, salad dressings, and drinks; and butter or other fat used generously in salad dressings, cooking and seasoning should add enough calories to enable most people to gain weight. Also, provided they are added to regular meals and not used to replace them, the high-calorie foods listed on page 14 should be used freely by anyone trying to gain weight. If they do not interfere with eating enough at regular meals, between-meal snacks also help. So do extra milk and something to eat before going to bed.