Top 15 Diet Hacks

Helen Says:

April 28th, 2007, 6:36 am

I agree with 14 out of your 15, but totally disagree with your hack #11. Replacing natural food with chemically processed “food products” is a step in the wrong direction. The “food products” get heavily promoted for a time and then some years later it always turns out that the real thing is better for us after all, because the processed thing has unexpected side effects. You try to remove Bad Thing A, but in the process you also lose Good Things B and C, and add Bad Thing D.

Our bodies are made for eating natural products. It’s what we’ve been doing for millions of years. Some of them are better for us than others, but I have yet to hear of a chemically engineered product that beats any of them as food. (Medicines are a different thing.)

If you are worried about the fat content of butter or mayonnaise, eat less of it - don’t replace it with chemical junk.

Have a look at this NY Times essay as well:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?ex=1327640400&en=7c85a1c254546157&ei=5088

Jess Robinson Says:

April 28th, 2007, 7:16 am

How did you know I had a secret drawer at work? /me looks around in surprise.. ;)

Actually, it’s gotten empty recently somehow, and I started eating apples at morning snack time instead of chocchip muffins. Yay!

Jess

Zung! Says:

April 28th, 2007, 9:07 am

Great stuff! I’ve recently posted my own diet hacks on my blog.
These helped me loose about 4kg (~8 pounds) lately, and I’m still on it. I guess #1 on your list does the real magic.
Cheers,
ZB

Deb Says:

April 28th, 2007, 10:07 am

great post and lists many of the things I have been implementing recently. I use flax a lot as it has beneficial ingredients for pre-menopausal women - not that you need to worry about that Leo! Also, eating 8 - 10 almonds before a meal helps you to feel full sooner therefore not eating as much. Just some facts I have learned over the past few months - the latter from “You on a Diet” by Dr. M. Roizen

Emma Says:

April 28th, 2007, 10:40 am

A few caveats:

On juice: If it works for you, you don’t have to quite drinking it cold turkey. Just mix it with water or club soda, so you still get the flavor, but cut the sugar. Work your way up to water with a splash of juice. Also, remember that if you make your own juice (say squeeze an orange) it will be much healthier (unless of course you also add sugar). Finally, not all juices are created equal–grapefruit juice for example, has much fewer calories than most other juices.

On vegetarian food: Just make sure you don’t make the mistake vegetarian food=healthy food. This may or may not be the case. Many vegetarian meals, particularly at restaurants, are loaded with dairy fats, saturated fats. Something like vegetarian pizza is pizza with veggies. Certainly better than the same pizza topped with sausage, but still not the healthiest item, and in fact a lean cut of meat would have fewer calories. Similarly, look at beans. Most beans are excellent sources of protein, but baked beans (especially the vegetarian kind) are an excellent source of protein, loaded with sugar. I’m not trying to discourage anyone from eating vegetarian (I personally love eating vegetarian), and I know Leo’s not trying to encourage eating fattening vegetarian foods, I just feel like this is a common mistake people make if they don’t know a lot about nutrition, or are just starting to learn.

On eggs: The whites are a fantastic source of protein with no fat or cholesterol (it’s all in the yolk) and few calories. Boil some, and toss it in a salad, or have it for breakfast. Many people don’t like hard-boiled yokes anyway. You can also make many egg dishes out of just the whites. If you feel bad wasting the yolks, mix them with oil or yogurt to use as conditioner for your hair–you won’t absorb the calories, I promise!

Thomas Soerensen Says:

April 28th, 2007, 10:58 am

Hi
This is a great list.
The most important, I believe, are the 2 top ones.
If you don’t overdo it but think about the healthy option all the time and gradually adopt it, you are on the right path.
my new blog http://slimmingblog.blogspot.com is about exactly those 2 tips.

Melinda Says:

April 28th, 2007, 12:34 pm

I agree that diets don’t work, but I have to disagree with you when you say that Atkins (I take that to mean the low-carb way of eating) is not sustainable. I am celebrating four years sugar-free and starch-free which has enabled me to lose 87 pounds. I would say that my particular “Atkins Hack” is sustainable for me. I think each person has to find what works for them.

In keeping with your tip number 2, I would suggest choosing your “evil.” Don’t try to cut back on fat, sugar, meat, eggs, all at once. My diet works because I eat as much as I want of fatty foods — protein, dairy products, eggs, oils, butter, and nuts — plus non-starchy vegetables, and that keeps me satisfied. Even though all those foods are not considered “healthy” in the popular sense, I am much healthier as a leaner person.

I think satisfaction is the key. I don’t feel like I’m “dieting,” so I don’t ever binge, I don’t gain the weight back, and I continue to lose weight slowly. As you suggest, I have chosen a way of eating that I believe I can feel comfortable doing forever. After 40 years of “dieting,” and losing and gaining literally hundreds of pounds, I feel like I found an amazing secret — what works for me.

Mike Says:

April 28th, 2007, 12:44 pm

Consumer Reports rated all these diets a year or so ago. One of their top picks was the “Slim Fast” diet. Soon after, I found out I had high cholesterol and remembered the article. I started replacing one meal a day with a Slim Fast shake and began eating MUCH healthier for my evening meal (vegetables, lots more fish, hardly any beef), made my snack food fruits and healthy stuff. Bottom line: I lost 15 pounds in three months and my cholesterol, which was VERY high, is now normal and I feel 1000% better. I have stuck with the shakes for lunch, the healthy meals and regular exercise. I’ve never felt better!

Leo, as an aside, you are doing a great job with Zen Habits. I am extremely impressed with the work you put into this on a daily basis. Best of luck!

Tina Says:

April 28th, 2007, 12:47 pm

Great post, but I’m going to stick my doctor-approved diet for now. And I’m really on my way to going vegetarian (and keeping it on the healthy side). A few notes:
- Veganaise is AWESOME! I loved mayo, but made the switch because Veganaise tasted just the same to me.
- Nuts are great, but stay away from Macadamia nuts. They taste so good because they are SO fatty!

Shannon Says:

April 28th, 2007, 14:15 pm

All of these are great tips, realistic and easy to implement. I am going to quibble with you on eggs, though. Unlike the other items in your high-fat list, eggs also pack in a lot of protein into one neat little package, and they are relatively low in calories. The studies on the high cholesterol of eggs being bad for you are now mostly being debunked, and most nutritionists say that one egg a day is just fine. I love hard-boiled eggs because they’re portable and one egg for breakfast will keep me satisfied until lunchtime, leading me to eat less. I can’t say the same for cereal.

Here are some links about eggs and cholesterol:
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060506/food.asp
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T041100.asp

Leo Says:

April 28th, 2007, 15:16 pm

Some excellent comments here. There’s too much for me to respond to right now, but let me respond to a couple points:

1. Melinda … I’m glad Atkins has worked for you! I didn’t mean to imply that it’s impossible to stick to Atkins for a long period of time — it isn’t, but very few can do it. The vast majority of people who go on Atkins will fall off it within a year — a higher percentage than with most diets. I don’t have the references or exact statistics, but I can post it when I find them. I’ve known dozens of people who’ve tried Atkins, and they all failed. The worst part: you usually gain more weight back when you fall off it. And though you will definitely lose weight while on it, in most cases it’s not very healthy.

2. What Emma says about vegetarian food is true … it can be just as fatty as non-vegetarian food if you’re not careful. That’s why I also avoid dairy and eggs and try to be vegan as much as possible. It’s also possible to have fatty vegan food, but it’s pretty hard.

3. I still think there’s no need for juice … just drink water, and eat fruit!

But having said those things, these hacks are supposed to be a pick-your-favorites list … not all of them will work for everyone, and everyone is different. If Atkins or Slim Fast works for you, go for it! I’m just relaying my experiences and other info I’ve found out as I’ve gone along. Other diets I’ve tried: South Beach, Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, the Abs Diet, and Mediterranean. The best eating pattern for me has been vegan food — you feel healthier and it’s sustainable. But again, find what works for you.

stayfly Says:

April 28th, 2007, 18:11 pm

wow, I always though juicing fruits and vegetables was extremely healthy and I almost bought a juicer yesterday :s

Eric Says:

April 28th, 2007, 18:13 pm

Lots of good info in your post, Leo. However I have a few places where I disagree…

Eggs– these are great for you. You seem to be basing your disapproval of eggs off of the old conventional wisdom about eggs and cholesterol, which has been shot down in the last decade. More info here:

http://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt_60/66_eating_well.html

Tea– I agree with you to eliminate tea IF you are talking about that grocery store crap that comes in plastic bottles and is riddled with high fructose corn syrup (Lipton). But drinking real, loose-leaf, green tea is like drinking water except with antioxidants adding in, so it makes no sense to consciously eliminate tea from your regimen unless you just don’t like it.

Juice– also good advice. Juice is basically the same thing as soda, as far as your body is concerned. However, if people aren’t willing to give up juice, the next best thing is to get juice that is full of pulp/fiber, or get juice that is packed with antioxidants (pomegranate juice, blueberry juice, etc).

Eric Says:

April 28th, 2007, 18:17 pm

Also just wanted to emphasize Leo’s point about how nobody should go on “diets.” Lifestyle changes are 10x better than diets will ever be. For instance– one lifestyle change might be to stay clear of anything blatently corn-derived, like corn-fed beef (eat grass-fed instead, doesn’t cause heart disease), soda, and fast food. Diets feel like punishment and take away the joy of eating. It is inevitable that you will relapse under these conditions.

Eric Says:

April 28th, 2007, 18:20 pm

One more thing– lots of studies have proven that margarine is no better for you than butter, and may in fact be worse. Moral of the story– using butter is okay in moderation, and substitute with olive oil when possible.

Habben Says:

April 28th, 2007, 18:36 pm

I cut out meat and dairy two months ago - not to lose weight, but I lost 5 pounds. I’m trying to gain back at least 3 pounds because I didn’t need to lose weight to begin with.

I also cut out caffeine at the same time. I don’t know if that had anything to do with the weight loss.

Your blog has helped me stay on track. Keep up the good work!

I haven’t tried vegannaise. I’ll try to find some this week. Thanks, Deb, for the flax seed idea - same issue here :-)

Can anyone recommend a good vegan cookbook that doesn’t rely too heavily on soy based products?

Leo Says:

April 28th, 2007, 19:25 pm

@Eric … eggs are a touchy subject with me. They’re not healthy at all. I’ve read the AskMen article you linked to, and if you read its explanation of cholesterol and fat, it begins well, but then just stops without getting into a full explanation. The truth is that the high cholesterol found in eggs, coupled with the high saturated fat, results in a higher risk of heart disease if too many eggs are eaten. What the article also doesn’t point out is that most studies that tell you that eggs can be eaten as part of a healthy diet only recommend that you eat only *one* per day. The article says you can eat two per day, if you’re on a low-fat diet. That means you *shouldn’t* eat two per day if the rest of your diet is not already low in fat (especially saturated fat) and the reason is that the high dietary cholesterol in eggs will translate to a raising of your blood cholesterol when coupled with normal amounts of saturated fat (including that in eggs). Most people eat at least two eggs when they do eat eggs, and sometimes more. This is unhealthy, especially if the rest of their diet is not low in fat.

Here’s the main problem with that article: it cites only one study, done by the University of Arizona, that came up with this finding: “The study revealed that people who consume two eggs each day with low-fat diets do not show signs of increased blood cholesterol levels.” And yet, the article jumps to this conclusion: “.. even though [eating eggs] doesn’t raise blood cholesterol levels, …” The study doesn’t say that at all.

The benefits of eggs can be found in plant foods, and so it’s not necessary to eat them. Also, the treatment of egg-laying hens (and the hormones used on them) make eating eggs an ethically questionable idea, and possibly a cancer risk.

Leo Says:

April 28th, 2007, 19:28 pm

Sorry for that rant! :)

Another thing: regular margarine isn’t good for you, as it is made from unhealthy vegetable oil (and high in hydrogenated fat) but canola margarine isn’t bad. Just make sure it contains good fats, and not saturated or hydrogenated fats.

Kirsty Says:

April 28th, 2007, 19:38 pm

Work out what your trigger foods are and avoid them like the plague. I’ve discovered that I can’t have nice cheese in the fridge - no one else in the house really eats it and I can’t resist it. Chocolate is the same - I have no will power so I try not to have it around. I’m also not getting cold meats any more because I’m trying to cut down on my meat intake and if I have chorizo or ham in the house I will snack on it.

I’m not vegetarian but I try to up my intake of vegetables by eating a veggie lunch most days.

If you can afford it, get an organic fruit and veg box delivered - I’ve found that’s it’s really upped both the quantity and variety of vegetables that we’re eating. Plus it means you’re usually eating seasonally, which is also better for you.

Have a variety of food on your plate in different colours, make it look exciting and you’ll be less likely to think it’s boring and want something else.

Cut yourself some slack, sometimes you’re going to really want cheese, chocolate, ice cream or whatever your particular craving is. Eating small amounts occasionally when you really, really want it is better than getting so fed up that you decide ‘what the hell’ and go on a massive binge.

Don’t be a diet bore - your friends don’t give a shit what you will and won’t eat. So unless it’s vital that you avoid certain foods such as gluten, don’t make a big fuss if everyone wants to go out for high calorie food now and again. A pizza once every couple of months is unlikely to kill you if the rest of your diet is healthy.

Focus on your health rather than weight loss.

Feeling constantly guilty about your weight is likely to lead to more eating not less - try not to beat up on yourself. You’re trying to make changes but you need to accept that it’s going to be a gradual process.

Reward yourself (not with food) for any positive changes you do make. If you’ve given up coffee for a month then buy yourself that book you’ve been wanting or arrange a day out with a friend you haven’t seen for a while.

Bronwyn Says:

April 29th, 2007, 2:26 am

Strategy: Learn how to cook healthy food that tastes good, so that you’ll want to eat it. This is obvious but really important, because then healthy eating is an immediate reward, not just a long-term one. It really, really helps.

Tactics:

If, like us, you enjoy meat too much to just give it up, try cutting back on the amount of meat in dishes, and filling the gap with other kinds of protein, like tofu or chickpeas. Chicken breast is $15/kg, chickpeas are maybe $2/kg.

We’ve started throwing little red lentils in with the rice when we put the rice cooker on. Since the main dishes are saucy, we don’t notice them, and they’re good for us.

Keep notes on which recipes make good leftovers. Then you can make a double batch and save some for tomorrow instead of buying prepared foods.

When you know you’re going to be busy that week, batch your food prep for several days. Marinate and cook the meat, cook the rice, make the sauces, and chop the veggies and store them with a little water. Then each night you put a portion of each in the pan and stir-fry it.

If you’ll be taking leftovers to work, and it includes veggies that reheat badly, don’t reheat them. Reserve some raw chopped veggies, and then pack them with the leftovers. They’ll cook when you nuke your lunch.

Leo Says:

April 29th, 2007, 2:39 am

Excellent tips, guys! I appreciate everyone throwing their wisdom into this collective pot. We’re all better off for it.

John Says:

April 29th, 2007, 12:52 pm

Leo, I’m a huge fan of your site, and don’t intend disrespect, but re Atkins - compliance is higher, not lower, than other diets. Loyalty is higher, not lower. Weight loss is higher, not lower. Blood lipids are better, not worse, on Atkins vis a vis Ornish, the Zone diet, and the LEARN diet

All of this was proven in the recent Stanford study, which has gotten very little play as Atkins is now “out.” But as a diet, it’s the best we got. (And the study proves it vastly better than Ornish, which most closely tracks what you advise.)

Stanford study in Journal of the American Medical Assn. (abstract):
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/297/9/969

Explanation, and elaboration by an admittedly pro-low carb physician (but contains lots of tabular data from the study):

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/?p=551

Terry Says:

April 29th, 2007, 18:00 pm

A great sweet snack for those of us who love chocolate is semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like the Ghiradelli 60% cacao myself.) A small handful is satisfying and doesn’t have too much sugar, plus choclate is good for your heart.

-T

Jonathan Says:

April 30th, 2007, 3:13 am

Go easy on the nuts - very high in calories & fat (albeit good fats). You can easily pack away 600 calories and half your day’s fat intake on what was supposed to a snack!

Cutting down/out alcohol is a surefire way to lose weight. Painful but true. All that sugar late at night just piles on pounds.

Crash dieting, especially with ‘miracle’ or ‘fad’ diets is a bad thing - but it’s not a bad thing to have some dietary principles to inform what you eat. (I’ve lost 45lbs on the GI diet in around a year, and I wouldn’t want to go back to my old eating habits now, because the GI diet makes sense as an eating plan for life).

Dario Says:

April 30th, 2007, 9:47 am

Another good advice for losing weight is complementing your eating habits with some good excersize!

Great post!

Morgan Says:

April 30th, 2007, 13:05 pm

I’d abandon your Atkins hack and replace it with something along the lines of this:

“Don’t let anyone tell you what to eat. You just have to find out what works best for you. Experiment and learn what satisfies you without negative after affects.”

It appears that human beings have considerable genetic diversity in the range of things they can eat. Genetic adaption seems to have occurred along with a cultural adaption to the foodstuffs that were available. Thus, arctic peoples everywhere have eaten an Atkins type diet for many millenia and the evidence is that they were very healthy on that diet. It also appears that other peoples have, for thousands of years, done well on a diet high in rice or wheat.

We should not assume that there is ONE healthy diet. In the past, people just ate what was available within the food culture in which they were born. Presumably most people did all right with that. Those that didn’t tended to die off and thus reinforce the physical adaption.

The trouble with globalization is that all kinds of genotypes and all kinds of foodstuffs are now brought together and we have NO rational formula for determining what a particular person should eat other than by trial and error. Very few clinical trials have been done that measures the actual physiological impact of food on particular people. Virtually all the food advice comes from three flawed sources:

1. Assumptions based on theories about what happens in human body chemistry. “You should or should not eat foods high in saturated fat because it has been shown that saturated fat has been associated with… or saturated fat impedes…” Meanwhile, Alieuts were known to eat a diet consisting almost entirely of seal meat and fat and do very well on it.

2. Assumptions based on observations of the diet habits and assumed longevity of certain populations. “Okinawans live a long time and they eat bitter melon so you should too.”

3. Assumptions that the food you like to eat is good for other people too and foods you do not like are bad for them. To make such a claim aloud is much to bald so instead people reach for some point of evidence listed above to justify their bias.

We know more about what dogs and cats should eat than human beings. Even that knowledge is skewed by the same sources that skew our notions of human nutrition — the food industry. They pay for research and then pay to tout whatever slim claims can be made for whatever they can profitably produce and sell.

Leo Says:

April 30th, 2007, 18:20 pm

@Morgan … I agree with your main point, that you can’t say one diet will work for anyone … which is why I suggested that people pick the hacks that would work for them and give them a try, instead of adopting every single one.

But I just wanted to warn people who take the diet of the Aleutians as an example to follow: they had a very extreme diet, which we don’t, and so eating high fat with our regular diets would be disastrous. Also, their lifestyle was very different from ours with more exercise and freezing conditions. Lastly, their bodies were adapted to those conditions, while ours aren’t. I would not recommend the Aleutian diet to anyone.

Leo Says:

April 30th, 2007, 18:28 pm

@John: I’ve seen that Stanford study, and I’d like to point out one thing: the study was done for a period of 12 months, and notes that long-term health concerns remain. The only conclusion drawn from this study is that the low-carb diet “may be considered a feasible alternative recommendation for weight loss” … which was already known before the study.

The truth is, many other studies have shown that the percentage of people who stay on Atkins over a long period of time (more than 2 years) is very low, and that those who fall off the diet actually gain more weight than they lost.

Another point I should make is that I’m not comparing Atkins to the Ornish diet or other diets … I don’t think diets work at all. It’s rare that people stay on any diets, regardless of the science behind them.

Instead, I recommend what I wrote in this article … that you make small modifications in your diet over time … modifications that you know you can sustain. I gradually cut meat out of my diet, for example, and have no doubts that I can sustain this. I added more fruits and vegetables and nuts and whole grains and legumes to my diet … not all at once, but over time … and I know this is something I can sustain. I don’t restrict myself from foods (except meat, but that’s for ethical reasons as well), and I enjoy the foods I eat very much. I’ve just substituted good foods for junk foods, over time, and I think that’s something everyone can live with.

Jason Kratz Says:

May 5th, 2007, 23:54 pm

Leo-

Great site. As with other people I have to disagree with you on eggs. As been pointed out eggs are not bad for you, as with anything else, in moderation. Who is eating two eggs a day?? I would suspect that anyone eating that many eggs a week is probably also downing them with a lot of other stuff that is fatty. As to your comment about the ethics involved in the production of eggs you can buy cheap, mass market eggs or you can buy (and pay more for but they’re better eggs) stuff like Organic Valley eggs. Its not an all-or-nothing proposition. (I just bought some eggs at Whole Foods yesterday that are the colors (yes colors) they’re supposed to be. No bleaching, etc. These are eggs the way Mother Nature intended them to be.

If I remember correctly the majority of cholesterol in the blood does not come from cholesterol in foods but is released into the bloodstream when the liver processes saturated fats. Certainly the cholesterol in foods will have some affect but most people’s cholesterol issues come from eating too much saturated fat. I’ve been tracking my cholesterol for years now because of family history of heart disease and I’ve found that keeping saturated fat intake to 10g/day (the “regular” limit is 20g…for people with no heart disease) helps a lot. Its hard to do this if you’re not eating healthy in general.

I’d also argue against getting rid of butter. Back in January I set a goal for myself to hit 180 pounds … no timeline. At the time I was 194. By eating less, exercising more, and not worrying about what I eat I am a pound away from that goal as of yesterday. I also had my cholesterol checked and it was normal. I haven’t given up eggs, I haven’t given up butter, etc. For the “normal” person there is no reason to give up anything if you’re eating in moderation (by anything I am not including most prepared store-bought food which is awful). Again with butter you can buy good stuff (like Organic Valley) or crap.

Unless you have a medical condition the best “diet” is eating less. Americans eat far too much food and most of that is garbage and that is why we are unhealthy. If we all followed most ;) of these tips we’d all be better off. I just wish your first hack would be ‘eat less!’. :)

StuvX Says:

May 13th, 2007, 23:50 pm

Has anybody else heard that chilli’s increase your metabolism and make you feel fuller?

Donna Says:

May 26th, 2007, 18:03 pm

I only eat when I’m physically hungry (or sometimes for social occasions).

My stomach has to be rumbling before I eat. That’s my only rule. Otherwise, I will eat compulsively out of anxiety.

I don’t adhere to any “meal times”. When I’m hungry I mostly let myself eat whatever I want (I try to make sure I get fiber). If I overindulge a bit, well - it’s just that much longer before I will be hungry again.

I’ve lost 30 pounds this way and I no longer feel crazy about food, which is far more important to me than the 30 pounds. I plan to continue eating this way forever, as going back to my old way would be like walking back into a trap that I just freed myself from.

Balfour Says:

May 28th, 2007, 9:36 am

Great post, fun comment stream.

just 2 points:
I like Nayonaise, which is soy based. But, since you only use a little, you don’t get that much soy, for those who don’t want it. As a vegetarian, soy is a mainstay for me.

About the color of eggs: the color of the egg only reflects the type of chicken that laid it.

Douwe Says:

May 29th, 2007, 5:10 am

Just discovered this site, nice work Leo, and it made me realize once again that when it comes to food and what to eat (and not to eat) few people actually have the whole truth.
I agree with a lot of the comments, but think organic egg whites are a great source of high quality protein and believe organic chocolate high in cacao (70 % or more) is actually good for you, as has been suggested in several studies.

Rick Says:

June 12th, 2007, 20:46 pm

Dieting does work, just read the recent headlines. When people don’t follow good eating guidelines after they’re done, they naturally gain more weight than before because their bodies have adjusted to a lower caloric daily intake. That’s what doesn’t work.

james Says:

August 20th, 2007, 16:45 pm

Great list

I have to disagree with something in #8. “Essential oils” are not the same thing as “essential fatty acids” like omega-3. Essential oils are herbal supplements like tea tree oil. They’re actually not essential and necessary and can even cause male breast growth (gynecomastia)

Leo Says:

August 20th, 2007, 18:32 pm

@james: you’re absolutely right. I confused the two terms somehow — I meant “essential fatty acids”. That’s what I get when I don’t google my terms. :)

Thanks for the correction … I’m going to make the change in the article now.

shima Says:

March 5th, 2008, 9:13 am

Your blog is very good.
Will you link my blog?
http://diet-method-blog.blogspot.com/

amanda[: Says:

March 25th, 2008, 20:11 pm

these are great tips!
you guys should also
try sports and roller skating
which is a fun active way to
lose weight ( :