Carole Carson

Beyond Dieting—Affirmative Eating

Dean Ornish, MD, the founder of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute, has long argued that comprehensive lifestyle changes can make a difference in preventing or reversing coronary heart disease. These changes include "stress management, moderate exercise, group support, and a low-fat, whole-foods nutrition plan. Most people experience substantial improvements in weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, vitality, and quality of life."

I am living proof of this medical theory. When I began my makeover, I was in the 90th percentile for risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and stroke. After changing what I ate and incorporating regular exercise into my routine (and losing 62 pounds in the process), my risk for those same diseases dropped to the normal range.

Another idea Dr. Ornish proposes, however, adds an additional dimension to getting fit. Perhaps like you, when I focus on losing weight, I typically review the food that I should avoid eating to keep from gaining weight--for example, chocolate cake and ice cream.

But Dr. Ornish encourages us to move beyond that mentality. Instead, he wants us to eat affirmatively--that is, eat food that nourishes our bodies:

"It's not just about what you exclude from your diet that's harmful, but also what you include that's beneficial. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and soy products are rich in substances that, in my opinion, can help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease as well as breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer."

The idea that we need to eat affirmatively for health purposes (and not just limit caloric intake) is a solid one that those of us who seek to lose weight need to incorporate into our approach to eating. Instead of grim dieting, we can adopt affirmative eating.


Photo courtesy of Rob Owen-Wahl

Exercise Is Its Own Reward

After finishing my workout at a neighborhood gym, I frequently treated myself to iced tea at a nearby coffee shop. A couple of my classmates almost always beat me there, and by the time I arrived they would be settled in with their pastries and soft drinks.

When I stopped by their table to chat one day, they told me that this was their reward for an hour of exercise. I've made this mistake as well. That is, I've allowed myself some extra treats because, as I tell myself in the moment, I exercised especially hard earlier in the day.

Exercise is wonderful for our bodies in many ways. But the truth is that even an hour of doubles' tennis doesn't burn that many calories, and if I indulge in treats, I'll sabotage my weight loss efforts.

Although it isn’t an exact science, the Mayo Clinic has fairly good estimates, and you may be surprised at how much exercise it takes to burn off even one donut. For example, given my weight and walking speed, I’d need to walk at least an hour to burn off a plain donut. A sugared-donut would be even more!

I'm sharing this fitness tip so you won't make this common mistake.

Photo courtesy of Rodrigo Roveri

Is Sugar Evil? Is Sugar Your Recreational Drug of Choice?

Demonizing particular foods and specific categories of foods, such as carbs or fats, is a peculiarly American trait. If you are over 30 years old, you watched margarine dethrone butter only to be dethroned when butter was restored to its former glory. You watched eggs disappear from refrigerators only to be welcomed back as an excellent source of protein. Remember when fat-free diets were promoted? A few years later when the Mediterranean diet was introduced, we learned that all fats were not evil. Some, in fact, were good for us.

Is sugar the latest food to be demonized? Is it addictive? Do you crave a sugar fix?

As a nation, two facts are undisputed. We are getting heavier, and we are consuming more sugar—in fact, 30 percent more than in 1970. The average American consumes 350 calories a day in the form of sugar, mostly in sugared beverages. According to researchers, even drinking one 12-ounce can of regular soda boosts the risk factors for heart disease by 25 percent.

If you’re going to locate all of the sugar you are consuming, you will need to become a very clever food detective. Sugar is hidden in processed foods, such as breakfast cereals, bread and spaghetti sauce. And it regularly is masked under different names, for example, sugar, brown sugar, fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, malted corn syrup, barley syrup and molasses. And although federal regulations require listing the main ingredient on products first, you won’t necessarily find sugar listed even when it is the key item. Listing the different kinds of sugars as separate ingredients effectively circumvents this requirement.

Even when we know we are consuming sugar, we have a hard time resisting. In The End of Overeating, author David Kessler asserts that foods that combine fat, salt and sugar (and are, incidentally, accessible on a 24/7 basis) alter brain chemistry and trigger an impulse to eat more.

The increase in sugar consumption and sugar’s possible link to the epidemic of obesity have triggered questions about the relative virtues (or vices) of corn syrup versus natural honey versus white sugar. Because results are inconclusive and in some cases conflicting, some of us have simply tuned out the argument and are switching to sugar substitutes. If life gives us lemons, we say, we can still make sugar-free lemonade.

To be fair, sugar substitutes are not without their critics, but here are the current options if you are determined to avoid the evils of sugar:

• Stevia is made from a plant leaf and is considered generally safe. Product names are Truvia, PureVia and SweetLeaf.

• Sucralose is made by chemically altering sugar molecules. It is considered the safest sugar substitute by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Product name is Splenda.

• Aspartame is used in desserts, yogurts and beverages. Recent research on rats raises questions about safety. Product names are NutraSweet and Equal.

• Saccharin was one of the first sugar substitutes. Long-term studies indicate it is safe to use. Product names are Sweet’N Low and Necta Sweet.

• Acesulfame-K is a calorie-free artificial sweetener. Some recent studies on rats suggest this product is not safe. In some people, gas and bloating have been reported. Product name is Sunett.

We can be assured that if we remove sugar entirely from our diet, we won’t be missing any essential nutrient. Except for blackstrap molasses, which contains a modest amount of calcium, iron and other nutrients, sugar lacks significant nutritional value. For this reason, calories consumed as sugar, while boosting our energy, are frequently referred to as empty calories.

At the same time, humankind is not likely to live by whole wheat unsweetened bread alone. An occasional sweet treat brightens our day. For some of us, though, occasional is a word that does not appear in our sugar vocabulary. Sugar is to us what one drink is to an alcoholic. We can’t stop with one cookie or one scoop of ice cream. Consequently, we find it easier to abstain entirely than to eat sugar in moderation.

Whatever your strategy, be prepared to pay more for sugared treats. Several giant food firms are predicting a shortage that may drive prices up. Besides paying more, you may have to adjust your perspective on sugar as new research challenges our current thinking. If history is our guide, we can be certain of only one truth: sugar fashions, just like clothing fashions, are subject to change. Until we learn otherwise, however, minimizing the sugar in our diet is highly advisable.

Love Where You Are—That’s the Critical First Step

While easy to understand, the above maxim above is difficult to execute. I’m five pounds up from my usual weight. Eating too well and too much, I’ve rationalized the extra calories by noting my vigorous lifestyle—running around with grandchildren during their summer visit and lots of tennis.

After putting on clothes that felt surprisingly tight, I couldn’t kid myself any longer. The scales were truthful—I was the one who was engaging in deception, self-deception at that. Fat, not retained water, was the culprit.

Am I happy about backsliding? Do I love where I am? Let’s just say “love” isn’t the first verb I’d pick. Quite the opposite. Instead, I berate myself for losing the ground I’ve worked hard to gain.

My first instinct is to become punitive towards myself—to go on a strict diet. Wrong! This solution comes out of the same box (the yo-yo cycle of deprivation and decadence) that created the problem in the first place. Instead, I accepted the situation I found myself in and began looking around for opportunities to make positive changes in my life.

With acceptance came a kind of excitement. For me, facing a challenge and conquering it is emotionally satisfying. I had now turned on an important mental switch. Instead of hating my situation, I was embracing the opportunity to recover lost ground and get back on track.

The first step was to return to basics.

I resumed the practice of making entries in my food diary for everything I eat, a habit I’d dropped during the busy summer months. I do so knowing that not keeping track of what I eat is as foolhardy as writing checks without recording the amount in the checkbook.

Next, I removed calorie-dense and nutrition-poor foods from the pantry and refrigerator. I also cooked more consciously—removing extra calories without compromising taste—and monitored portion size.

To prevent making regressive decisions under the influence of hunger, I prepared several low-calorie, nutritious entrees and desserts to keep handy in the freezer. I made daily personal meal plans, eliminating “empty” calories (candy, wine, etc.). To give myself perspective, I set weight loss goals (2 pounds a week) until I reach my regular weight.

Realizing I was distracted from my fitness goals by having too much to do, I finished a sewing project, organized my house and exited from an extraneous project weighing heavily on my mind.

Instead of being in a state of freefall, I’m back in charge of my regimen. By taking a few practical steps and resuming former good habits, I’m once again grounded. My body is my friend instead of betrayer. Food is back in its rightful place—enjoyable but not at the center of my universe. Exercise, especially tennis, continues as a source of healthful entertainment.

Weight maintenance, I’m discovering, is a different skill than weight loss and perhaps a harder one to master. In light of its difficulty, what’s surprising is how little attention it receives.

One remarkable exception is Weight Loss Forever, a program developed Dr. Henry Chang, a Sacramento physician. Dr. Chang doesn’t let his patients lose weight until they have learned how to maintain their weight.

Only then are they are allowed to lose 5-10 pounds. Repeatedly and intentionally, he interrupts the weight loss process so the patient can stabilize before resuming. Success stories by the dozens speak for his effectiveness in teaching the maintenance skill first.

In retrospect, my weight loss period, while demanding, was like a honeymoon—lots of drama, excitement and attention. Maintenance, on the other hand, is like marriage—great moments, for sure, but mostly regular life.

Can I be happy while I’m busy recovering lost ground? Can I transform the threat of failure into useful insight? Can I learn to love where I am, even when I am struggling?

What helps is to remember that there is no destination on the path to fitness. There is only the next step, and then the next, and then the next.

Whether you and I are fat or fit, progressing or regressing, can we love where we are? Ironically enough, admitting an unpleasant truth sets us free to make the changes we need to make.

Yesterday’s lower weight on the scale is gone and tomorrow’s numbers are out of reach. Today and now is all we have.

Only through accepting, embracing and loving our condition are we able to move forward to realize our fitness and weight loss dreams. And if you think about it, learning to love where we are is a skill we can apply, not just to weight loss, but to all areas of our lives.

Listening for a Message from the Heart

Anybody who’s tried dieting knows the best-laid plan disintegrates over time, if not immediately. Have you ever started your day committed to daily exercise and careful eating? That night, sitting in front of the television, guiltily eating a bowl of ice cream, you remember you didn’t exercise as promised.

“Oh well,” you say to yourself. “Tomorrow’s another day.” But the next day you follow the same routine.

To understand how our brains are wired to resist change, even when change is in our best interests, we turn to neuroscience. Based on current research, four common views about changing behavior don’t hold up.

The first view——that crisis is a powerful impetus for change——is disproved by research on heart patients.

According to Dr. Edward Miller, dean of the Medical School of the Johns Hopkins University hospital, few people make lifestyle changes even when faced with a life-threatening condition. “If you look at the people after coronary-artery bypass grafting two years later, 90 percent of them have not changed their lifestyle,” Miller says. “Even though they know they have a very bad disease and they know they should change their lifestyle, for whatever reason, they can’t.”

The second view——that information triggers different behavior——is dispelled by looking around. Collectively, we grow heavier and more inactive in the midst of information overload.

Our minds are capable of screening out what we don’t want to know. The mechanism of denial is so powerful that it can effectively block out both fear and lifesaving information.

The third idea——that we can’t change by the time we reach maturity because our brains are hardwired by habits——is also debunked.

Studies on brains indicate that, although the physical structure of the brain is changed by habitual behavior, brains can be rejuvenated through learning. To be able to change, though, we must exercise the “learning muscle.”

I found the fourth idea most intriguing. Conventional wisdom says small, gradual changes are easier to sustain than radical changes. Turns out the opposite is true. Because it quickly yields results, a dramatic change has a better chance of success.

In light of these findings, I discovered that I accidentally made a few right decisions.

First, I made changes because I regretted that my failure to care for my body reflected in surplus pounds and sedentary habits. I didn’t experience a medical emergency, nor did I suddenly become informed. Rather, I reacted to a positive image of myself that I moved toward.

Secondly, I was already in a learning mode. I was enrolled in a tennis clinic. At home, I was starting a second career in writing. I was also struggling to master new technologies. Over time, these new activities became habits.

Most critically, I changed everything at once. I got on the scale and it broke. The next moment, I became a fitness evangelist—first for myself and then for others.

Results came quickly, and I did not want to lose momentum. What conventional wisdom said was risky instead improved my chance of success.

Today I feel better. Instead of being heavy-hearted about my obesity and lack of fitness, I am lighthearted and optimistic.

Fortunately, the static, denial and clutter of my mind’s wrongheaded thinking didn’t keep the message of my heart from being heard.

Want to Be Happy? Or Happier? Take Five!

Marshall and Kelly Goldsmith, management consultants, completed a survey of 3,000 people to obtain insight into what makes people happy and gives meaning to their lives both at home and at work.

Those surveyed included well-educated managers, entrepreneurs and professionals, almost equally divided between men and women.

Five recommendations emerged from the study:

1. Watch less television. Television viewing may entertain,

but it doesn’t increase satisfaction or meaning.

2. Don’t waste time surfing the Web. Spending time on the

Internet robs individuals of happiness and purpose.

3. Do as few chores as you can (however you define chores).

4. Spend time exercising and socialize with people you

love.

5. Keep yourself challenged.

The first three statements are negatively proscriptive; that is, they tell us what not to do. Don’t waste time watching television, surfing the Web or performing routine chores. The last two suggestions are positively proscriptive; that is, they tell us how to spend our time. Exercise and socialize with those we love and work on challenging tasks.

The survey results may not surprise you, although you might have noticed, as I did, that there is no recommendation for spending time on spiritual growth, meditation or reflection. Setting the spiritual dimension aside, the results affirm what we know instinctively—that our days are numbered and that we need to allocate our day-to-day moments in meaningful ways.

Marshall Goldsmith is an executive coach and the author of Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It. Kelly Goldsmith is an assistant professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Scientists Versus the Obesity Epidemic: Who Will Win? Will They? Or Will We?

It’s a grim fact that only a minority of Americans―one adult in three—enjoys a normal weight.

It’s not as if the majority of us aren’t trying to slim down. We spent an estimated $40 billion on diet-related products in 2009, yet the only thing we thinned was our wallets.

So if fad diets, weight-loss products and the latest exercise craze aren’t the solution, can researchers help us find the answer?

Responding to the urgent need for a remedy, scientists are exploring the chemistry and mechanisms of weight gain. Their research begins with an effort to answer key questions. For example, since so many of us are overweight, is it possible that certain foods are addictive? Are we programmed to overeat?

The notion that certain foods, like narcotics, are addictive and that this addiction explains the compulsion to overeat is gaining traction. Recent findings based on research with rats reported in Science News (November 21, 2009) provide support for this idea.

Rats fed a diet rich in junk food (processed cakes, sausage, bacon, cheesecake, etc.) quickly adopted the habits of drug addicts. They wanted more and more junk food and needed more and more to feel satisfied; they refused to eat regular food once they were hooked on the rich, sweet food, even if rejecting normal food meant starving; they continued to eat junk food even when consuming it triggered an electric shock to their feet; and once they went back to nutritious rat chow, their bodies took a long time to recover. In fact, some never did return to normal eating habits.

Tests on the rats’ brains and intestines during and after the rats consumed junk food showed biochemical changes. Researchers concluded that the rats’ brains and digestive systems had become captive of the chemical changes resulting from eating junk food—the very definition of addiction. And like drug addiction, junk food addiction can produce changes that are difficult to unwire.

If the experiment with rats is predictive of human behavior, then the chemical changes in the rats’ bodies and the rats’ addictive habits could explain the growing problem of obesity in the United States. As we consume more and more rich, sugary food, we want more and more, and we gain more and more weight.

That brings us to the next question: If overeating is inevitable, can we somehow avoid storing the surplus calories as fat?

Breakthroughs is a publication of the UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources featuring scientific advances with far-reaching implications. The lead article in the fall 2009 issue, titled “Burn, Baby, Burn: Key Enzyme Tunes Fat Metabolism,” explains the findings of Hei Sook Sul, professor of nutritional sciences and toxicology, a scientist with a lifelong passion for understanding metabolism.

When explaining the mechanism of obesity, Dr. Sul’s research on one particular enzyme confirms what we all have observed: that some of us can eat whatever we want and stay lean while others of us eat very little and gain weight.

Dr. Sul, the principal investigator on the research team, reports, “We have discovered a new enzyme within fat cells that is a key regulator of fat metabolism and body weight, making it a promising target in the search for a treatment of human obesity.”

In their experiments, the investigators gave two groups of mice an appetizing buffet of tasty, high-fat mouse food. One group had the gene that expressed the enzyme; the other group did not. The presence of the enzyme did not affect appetite: both groups ate the same amount of food. But as the mice grew older, the group without the enzyme gained weight while the other group stayed lean.

For more on “Fat Mouse, Skinny Mouse,” go here.

If Dr. Sul and her investigators could work with drug companies to patent and market an inhibitor of this enzyme in a pill that I and others could take without side effects, we could eat whatever we wanted without fear of gaining weight.

My first question to Dr. Sul was, “How long will it be before this or an equivalent enzyme is available in prescription form?” Her answer was more prudent than I would have preferred: “We are far down the road from translating research on this enzyme in mice into an application for humans for the management of obesity. What works with mice doesn’t always work with humans.” Dr. Sul added that researchers across the nation are exploring different approaches to understanding the chemistry of obesity, and her research is only one piece of this larger effort.

My second question involved the difference between the metabolism rates of the mice that stayed lean compared to those that gained weight. Here, Dr. Sul’s insight was more hopeful: “The range is tiny.” But, she explained, the results are cumulative. Over time, even a small amount of excess calorie consumption will eventually result in excess fat. Conversely, because the range is tiny, we can underconsume a small amount each day and trigger a cumulative weight loss.

The dialogue with Dr. Sul was enlightening, even though her answers were not what I might have hoped for. Given her brilliant background as a leading researcher in metabolism, I shouldn’t be surprised that she confirmed the hard truth: there are no magic pills when it comes to fitness and weight loss—at least not yet.

I am, however, reassured that she and other researchers are exploring the mysteries of metabolism and obesity. Their efforts reminded me of a passage from T. S. Eliot that was quoted by another scientist to explain his passion for research:

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

For those of us pursuing fitness and trying to maintain a reasonable weight, the place where we started and now return to (at least for the foreseeable future) is the same: exercise regularly and eat healthfully.

Fitness Trends in 2010: Old Views Are Being Replaced with New Innovations

Losing weight and getting fit preoccupied Americans in 2009:

• Nearly one out of two American women, including high school girls, were on a diet.

• Over $60 billion was spent on branded diet plans.

• Children as young as 9 to 11 years old were sometimes or very often dieting.

Yet an epidemic of obesity continues to affect more people than ever before:

• Less than a third of adults enjoyed normal weight.

• Children were two to three times more likely to be overweight today than they were 30 years ago.

Can we begin to reverse these worrisome trends in 2010?

We can if we update our old views with new ways to look at fitness in the coming year.

Old View: It’s hopeless! Efforts to lose weight are inevitably doomed to fail. Even if a person manages to lose weight, he or she will eventually regain the weight and add back even more.

New View: You can do it! Strategies for making healthier choices involving diet, physical conditioning and improved self-care are available to you and can be learned. Championing this view is Kelly Brownell, PhD, who heads the LEARN Program for Weight Management at Yale University. And thanks to widespread access to the Internet, peer counseling in online communities is expanding. Internet support may include food and exercise diaries, weekly counseling, online weight-loss lessons and motivational phone calls.

Old View: Thin is in! Most individuals, especially women, seek to lose weight because they have internalized the media's ultrathin ideal.

New View: Healthy is in! Health is replacing vanity as the primary reason for pursuing fitness and weight loss. In 2009, researchers reported that four healthy habits could reduce or eliminate 80 percent of major medical problems: eating a healthy diet, not smoking, exercising regularly and maintaining a normal body weight. This insight, combined with rising medical costs, is triggering a focus on fitness.

Old View: If you are fat, you are a bad person. Obesity is a personal problem caused by a lack of willpower.

New View: Obesity is a disease that is treatable. The cost of providing medical care per person has skyrocketed from $356 in 1970 to $8,160 in 2009. Moreover, in 2009, the cost of treating obesity-related medical problems reached $147 billion. Given these costs, obesity has become a public health concern requiring a multifaceted community-based approach. In response, community leaders in Albert Lea, Minnesota, implemented a comprehensive lifestyle program to improve the health and longevity of the city's residents. To increase employee productivity and reduce health insurance costs and absenteeism, corporate wellness programs are proliferating.

Old View: Low-fat diets are required to lose weight. Eating fat makes a person fat. To lose weight, a dieter needs to stick with low- or no-fat foods.

New View: Total calories actually determine weight. The total calories consumed by a person, whether from carbs, fats or proteins, determines weight. Since the goal is a balanced diet, the Mediterranean diet, which includes healthy fats, is recommended by the Mayo Clinic and the American Heart Association as a nutritionally sound and healthy eating plan. Nuts, which until recently were on dieters' "do not eat" lists, are making a comeback because of their health benefits, especially almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans and macadamia nuts. Momentum is growing for mandating information on the caloric content of fast foods and food products.

Old View: Medical intervention is needed. Weight-loss drugs or bariatric surgery can solve the problem of surplus pounds for many people, and advances in medicine can address obesity-related problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer.

New View: A healthy lifestyle is the best way. Prevention, rather than treatment of obesity-related medical problems, will move to the forefront because of the rising cost of medical insurance and healthcare. While the number of bariatric surgeries will continue to skyrocket, family physicians will increasingly write exercise prescriptions in lieu of drug prescriptions.

Old View: Ignore overweight children. Children who are overweight will outgrow their chubbiness, so kids' surplus pounds can be ignored.

New View: Help overweight children now! Dr. Robert Murray, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on School Health, is alarmed that nearly half of kids and teens are overweight or obese and, as a consequence, children's life expectancies are lower than their parents'. Treating childhood obesity is a serious medical problem that if ignored will place the child at risk for heart disease, diabetes and other serious medical conditions.

Old View: Don’t ask, don’t tell. Asking employees to modify their unhealthful behavior is an invasion of privacy and violates employees' right to choose their own lifestyle.

New View: Offer help, incentives and access to experts. In 2008, medical insurance premiums reached a record $15,609 for a family of four. Employers are proactively seeking to reduce costs (medical insurance, workers' compensation claims and absenteeism) by restructuring benefit programs. In increasing numbers, employees are being offered incentives to quit smoking or lose weight. They face penalties if they refuse to change habits that drive up the cost of healthcare.

Old View: Hard-core exercise one hour daily. Going to a gym daily for a 60-minute workout on a treadmill and resistance equipment is the best way to exercise.

New View: Diversity, fun and enjoyment. Thanks to popular television programs, dancing for fitness is back, particularly Zumba, a one-hour workout that fuses Latin rhythms with calorie-burning dance movements. Exergaming, such as Wii and Dance Dance Revolution, continues to grow in popularity with young and old alike. Michelle Obama has made the Hula-Hoop popular once again. The use of technologically sophisticated feedback gadgets, from pedometers to heart monitors, will expand. To attract members to the gym during tough economic times, more fitness centers will offer cardio cinema so members can watch a movie while exercising.

Will we continue to get fatter until 2018 when, according to research by Kenneth Thorpe, PhD, of Emory University, 40 percent of us will be obese (and another 33 percent overweight)?

If we are to succeed in reversing the obesity trends and mounting medical care costs, we’ll have to find new approaches. And the more readily we learn from the past and update our understanding of the complex nature and causes of obesity, the more quickly we can successfully move into a healthy future.

Eat in Haste with No Regrets in Leisure

On vacation in Kauai, the first thing I notice is that time takes on a different dimension.

At home, time contracts. I feel pressure to move quickly and get lots done. Here, time expands. I patiently stand in line at the local market. Unloading groceries, I take the time to chat with a new neighbor who’s outside sweeping the sidewalk.

Nothing matters except the current moment. This is especially true when it comes to managing hunger and eating.

I always get ravenously hungry after being outdoors playing tennis or bobbing in the ocean waves. Before I decided to get fit, my body easily overruled my mind. Without thinking, I ate whatever was in front of me and miserably regretted the choice for the rest of the day. My haste went directly to my waist.

Now, except for an occasional foray into a Subway restaurant, I try to avoid fast-food chains, because french fries and chocolate milkshakes are my downfall. Knowing how easily I’m tempted, I keep my own “fast food” in the refrigerator to bail me out.

When I feel hungry, I decide if I want something sweet or salty, hot or cold. Do I want something filling or just a nibble to tide me over? Depending on the answer, I pick one of my “fast foods.”

1. Banana: Taking only a few seconds to peel, the

fruit is wonderfully sweet and nourishing to boot. At 90 calories, it’s a bargain.

2. Iced chocolate macadamia nut coffee with skim

milk and Splenda: There’s just enough milk in the coffee to provide some protein. The chocolate sweetness makes me think I’ve splurged.

3. Applesauce: A little cup of unsweetened

applesauce is wonderfully refreshing, especially when combined with a spoonful of nonfat cottage cheese. Between the two, I’m good for an hour, although I’ve eaten only 80 calories.

4. Popcorn: Whether popped with hot air or in the

microwave, the snack is ready in minutes. The low-calorie version produces 2-3 cups of popcorn (fiber) with only 110 calories.

5. Hard boiled egg: I eat it dipped in lemon pepper.

Adding two pieces of Melba toast still brings the total calories to a mere 100. Between the protein and the toast, I’ll be satisfied for a couple of hours.

By sharing five of my favorites, I’m encouraging you to come up with your own list. Your favorites probably won’t be the same as mine. All that matters is that they work for you. That way, when you eat in haste, you won’t regret it later.

Want to Live to 109? Join the Fitness Protection Program

Will you live long enough to become one of the growing numbers of vital, healthy centenarians? Your lifestyle may make the difference between aging gracefully to 109 or stopping at 79, the current average life expectancy.

Obviously, the length of your life is partly a function of genetics and good fortune, neither of which you can control. The life span of your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents provides clues about your genetic makeup. Another relevant factor is whether any chronic diseases, such as stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer or diabetes, occurred in family members before age 50.

Even so, experts assert that simple decisions you make each day have an enormous impact on how long and how well you will live. Based on the longevity test developed by Drs. Robert Goldman and Ronald Klatz, co-founders of the American Academy of Anti-Aging, the Fitness Protection Program considers six lifestyle factors. If you want to age gracefully and healthfully, you need to incorporate these elements into your daily routine:

1. Outlook. Optimists fare better than pessimists do when it comes to longevity. An ability to see humor in the course of life’s difficulties helps. Having a purpose and making meaningful contributions promote a sense of well-being that translates into a longer life. Being connected with others, even a pet, nourishes our spirit. A regular routine, along with vacations and stress management, promotes health.

2. Diet. Eating a variety of foods in modest amounts promotes longevity. Maintaining a reasonable body weight with a body mass index of 18 to 25 is also key to living longer. Including five or more servings of fruits and vegetables from a rainbow of colors along with high-fiber foods each day is important. Consuming meals consisting of wholesome, fresh food rather than packaged, precooked or fried foods aids longevity.

3. Physical Fitness. Moving our bodies doesn’t wear them out; instead, it preserves our ability to function. Maintaining physical fitness requires a range of exercises, including aerobic, strength, balance and flexibility. Sixty minutes a day of vigorous walking or an equivalent form of exercise is a good foundation. Lifting weights builds bone strength, while yoga and stretching improve balance and flexibility.

4. Mental Fitness. Learning new skills and challenging ourselves with puzzles and word games preserve memory, and mental acuity is associated with living longer. Daydreaming and recalling wonderful moments in our lives keep us sharp. Experiencing life on a moment-to-moment basis rather than multitasking unclutters the mind. Setting goals, keeping a journal, volunteering and engaging in a hobby also promote mental fitness.

5. Preventive Care. Access to medical care, including a hospital in case of acute trauma, improves our chances of a longer life. Obtaining comprehensive physical exams and blood tests, including a sigmoidoscopy every three years after the age of 50, is important. Women need annual mammograms after the age of 50, and they need to perform monthly self-exams. Men need a rectal or prostate exam yearly after the age of 30.

6. Environment. Living in a high-crime area reduces the odds of achieving longevity, as does smoking or inhaling secondhand smoke. The chances of developing skin cancer, which can shorten longevity, can be reduced by wearing sunscreen and avoiding excess sun exposure. Wearing a seat belt and refraining from talking on a cell phone or driving under the influence of alcohol improve our chances of avoiding injury in a car accident.

If the sheer number of these factors for improving your life span seems daunting, here’s a simple solution.

According to HEALTHbeat, an e-newsletter published by Harvard Health Publications, four small lifestyle changes added an average of 14 years to the lives of the people studied, even among individuals who were overweight. The healthy behaviors are eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day, drinking alcohol moderately, refraining from smoking and exercising daily.

To calculate the cost of your daily choices, go to www.hbhealthonline.com/longevity-test.html or enter longevity tests in the Google search engine. You’ll find tips on how to add vital, productive years to your life. Armed with information, you can join the Fitness Protection Program.