Encouraging Health

Know all those hours you spend chatting on your cell? Turns out they might do you some good.

That is, if you use them to chat with a weight loss buddy. Supportive phone conversations help people stick to a diet better.

The iPhone Diet
In a study, overweight people who had lost about 18 pounds each as part of a weight loss program were followed to see how long they kept the weight off. And people who spent time each month talking on the phone with a supportive pal did the best job. Seems there’s nothing like a little personal contact and some positive human reinforcement to help you resist those daily temptations. Regularly logging on to a Web-based diet and exercise program can help you stay on track, too.

More Gone-for-Good Approaches
Keeping lost weight off is one of the most challenging parts of weight loss. Here are a few more tricks to make lost pounds stay gone:

Eat breakfast. Besides giving you energy, a morning meal gets your metabolism going.

Stay off the couch. People who have lost weight may need to exercise more than the average person to stay slim. But it doesn’t have to be hard.

Choose foods with healthy fats, such as avocados, nuts, olives, and fish.

Why You’re Hungry After Some Meals: Blame This Fat
That fatty bacon cheeseburger may be loaded with calories, but at least it stomps out your hunger. Right?

Not necessarily. Compared to low-fat meals with the same number of calories, meals that are basically fat fiestas do an odd thing: The saturated fats in them make your body release less leptin, a hormone designed to turn off appetite. Saturated fats are the belly-bulgers and artery-agers found in fats that come from four-legged sources: high-fat red meats, butter, full-fat cheeses, and other whole-milk products. (Trans fats are just as bad, by the way.) Sat fats are rarely found in plant foods, with two vital exceptions: palm and coconut oils.

To help your body release leptin — which is stored in fat cells (see? you knew they were good for something) — you need to eat healthful unsaturated fats. Find them in nuts (especially walnuts), seeds, olives, avocados, most vegetable oils (especially canola), many fish, and even algae (or DHA omega-3 supplements made from algae). You don’t want to avoid fat altogether: You need it to maintain your energy, absorb certain nutrients, and repair tissue. And moderate amounts of healthy fat are associated with a decreased risk of heart disease.

You also want to help leptin do its #1 job: telling you, “You’re not hungry any more.” So in addition to avoiding sat fat, adopt these waist protectors:

· Watch your alcohol intake. It inhibits leptin, even as it disinhibits dancing on the table or phoning your ex.

· Walk 30 minutes every day, and build a little muscle. Sometimes, leptin doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to, and your cells stop responding to its messages. When you trim down, your cells become more sensitive to leptin again.