Some new research tried to figure out what might help post-menopausal women achieve long-term weight loss. And it turns out that adding produce to their diet didn’t show up as especially helpful in the short term, but in the long term it mattered.

The researchers didn’t find that eating fried chicken was just fine as long as it came with a side of broccoli. What they found was that some behaviors are hard to maintain forever, and adding produce might be easier than avoiding all fried foods for the long haul.

“People are so motivated when they start a weight-loss program. You can say, ‘I’m never going to eat another piece of pie,’ and you see the pounds coming off,” Bethany Barone Gibbs, the lead investigator, said in a statement. “Eating fruits and vegetables may not make as big a difference in your caloric intake. But that small change can build up and give you a better long-term result, because it’s not as hard to do as giving up French fries forever.”

The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, looked at overweight post-menopausal women.

Barone Gibbs, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh department of health and physical activity, said several factors work against long-term weight loss.
“Not only does motivation decrease after you start losing weight, there are physiological changes, including a decreased resting metabolic rate. Appetite-related hormones increase. Researchers studying the brain are now finding that you have enhanced rewards and increased motivation to eat when you’ve lost weight,” she says.

For older women, the additional decline in energy expenditure makes maintaining weight loss even tougher. Traditional behavioral treatments for obesity, focused on

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We asked Harvard Medical School's associate director of nutrition, the author of the book "Break Through Your Set Point: How to Finally Lose the Weight you Want and Keep It Off," Dr. George L. Blackburn, for tips on how to cut 500 calories from your diet.

Leave bites behind at every meal
This step, Blackburn says, is a "painless way to walk away from your meal feeling satisfied without really feeling like you are cutting back."

"It's effective because every bite counts, and when you leave some behind at each meal, at the end of the day you have cut potentially a few hundred calories here and there vs. trying to cut back all at one sitting."

Aim for a balance of protein/carbohydrates/fat at meals and snacks
Mindlessly munching on "low-calorie" foods can add up, so avoid reaching for foods simply because they are touted as being low calorie, Blackburn says.

"Aim to get a balance of carbohydrate, protein, and fats at your meals and snacks. Protein and fat will help you feel fuller than eating carbohydrates alone, so combining, say, a piece of fruit with nuts provides the perfect combination of satiety-producing complex carbohydrates, protein, and fat."

Don't try to cut back on calories by skipping meals
Blackburn says simply: "This tactic doesn't work."

"Generally after skipping meals you leave yourself over hungry and you are more apt to fall prey to consuming larger quantities of food at your next meal. It's much more difficult to not only control your portions after skipping a meal, but controlling your food choices. When your body is craving fuel you are much less likely to reach for healthy, balanced options, but instead to reach for something that's fast and fatty and can really hit the spot."

Check in using a food tracking app
"Simply seeing how many calories a food provides can prompt you to eat less," Blackburn says.

"Label reading is step number one, but if you have access to an online tracker or mobile app, you can easily see your calorie bank filling up over the course of the day. Tracking what you eat, as you eat it, as the day goes on helps you stay in control of your calorie bank. It helps you determine if that extra bag of chips with the sub is really worth it and it helps you minimize the likelihood that you will over consume beyond what your body truly needs."

Volumize
Incorporate high volume foods like fruits, vegetables, soups, salads and water. "This strategy helps because when you fill up on foods with a high volume (higher water and fiber content) you feel fuller, generally on fewer calories," Blackburn says. "Pile the plate high with veggies for lots of volume, not a lot of calories."

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