Choosing Between A Healthy Diet And A Weight-Loss Diet

The word "diet" is the source of a lot of confusion in health stories. Sometimes it's about restricting your food intake to lose weight. Other times, it's about your regular food habits and their effect on your health. And sometimes it's about both. Not knowing the difference could lead you to an early grave.

A couple examples: a recent UCLA study concludes that dieting to lose weight leaves most people worse off than if they hadn't "dieted" at all. Meanwhile, a report in the Montreal Gazette talks about the challenges of following a "healthy diet" if you don't have a lot of money to spend on food.

And now, some quick guidelines to navigate the double meanings:

What you need to do to increase your chances of staying healthy typically starts with a daily habit of eating lots of fruits and vegetables and cutting down on saturated fat (like that found in ice cream and hamburger) combined with daily exercise--at least 30 minutes a day of brisk walking, jumping rope, swimming, dancing or other activities.

What you need to do to lose weight--and keep it off--starts with increasing your physical activity to at least 45 minutes a day most days of the week for the foreseeable future. Then you need to add more soluble fiber to your diet (real oatmeal, vegetables) so you won't feel as hungry (the fiber keeps the stomach from emptying too soon).

And yes, you might have to actually cut out certain foods, like ice cream or alcoholic beverages, to reduce your calorie count just enough to lose a pound or two a week at most. Any more than that, and you're in danger of packing the pounds right back in a matter of months because your "diet" is not sustainable.