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10 Toxic Weight Prevention Tips Every Woman Needs to Know
By Pamela Peeke, M.D., M.P.H.

    Woman with in kitchen
  1. Make sure to eat a healthy breakfast no later than 9 a.m. even if it means placing a bowl of oatmeal on your dressing table to eat while you put on your makeup.

  2. Eat a small midmorning snack approximately three hours after your breakfast. This could be a piece of fruit, a small fat-free yogurt, or one or two pieces of low-fat string cheese. The only exception is if three hours after your breakfast is lunchtime.

  3. Try not to eat lunch later than 1:30 p.m. Lunch should include a healthy balance of High/Quality/Low-Stress protein, fat, and carbohydrates (see Chapter 6 for more details).

  4. Three hours after lunch is usually the beginning of the CortiZone. At this time, it is imperative to eat food that provides you with High-Quality/Low Stress energy at a time of day when you are becoming hungry and fatigued. Combinations of protein and carbohydrates are ideal. This includes low-fat or fat-free yogurt or cottage cheese, along with a piece of fruit.

  5. Dinner should be started anywhere from 6 to 7:30 p.m. It should include soup or salad, vegetables, and a source of protein, such as poultry, lean red meat, fish, legumes, or veggie burger. Mixed fruit could be served as a dessert item.

  6. Try to have dinner completed by 8 p.m. My favorite saying is that if "you eat after eight, you gain a lot of weight!" Try to finish eating dinner before eight o'clock at least four to five days per week. If you must eat dinner after eight, eat lighter and eat before you go to dinner.

  7. Women over the age of forty do not require dense complex carbohydrates (pasta, bread, potatoes, or rice) after 5 p.m. These foods are rich fuel sources and should be consumed in moderation, primarily during the day. At dinnertime these starches should be considered as occasional treats (once or twice a week, in small portions). The goal is to debulk your dinner of the dense calories from complex carbohydrates. These foods, which were once considered a staple, should now be an infrequent dinner treat.

  8. Dispose of all fat-free desserts and snack items in your kitchen. They are riddled with Low-Quality/High Stress refined, processed sugars.

  9. Typical restaurant portions are man-sized. At lunchtime, remember to eat only half of any restaurant portion of starch and try to eliminate it at dinner. At lunch, one piece of bread from the bread basket is appropriate. At dinner, hand the bread basket back to the waiter. Remember: the later you eat complex carbohydrates, the more weight you gain.

  10. Water should be consumed throughout the day. Often when we think we're hungry, we're actually thirsty. Eight eight-ounce glasses should be drunk during the course of the day.

Excerpted from Fight Fat After Forty, Dr. Peeke's national bestseller.