There are two, and only two, keys to achieving and maintaining fitness:

• A consistent, appropriate exercise program, combining aerobic exercise and resistance exercise.

• Consistent, day-in, day-out, low-fat, high-fiber, high complex carbohydrate, nutrient-dense eating habits. This is not a "diet." It is new, permanent eating habits.

So what is an "appropriate" exercise program?

1. Walk briskly for 30 to 45 minutes every day--up to an hour if you like. (Start a little slower, and speed up as you warm up.) Maybe carry a pair of light dumbbells (3 to 5 pounds) and crank your arms a bit, to work more muscles. For weight loss, do this twice a day, or add item 2, below.

2. Use either a step-aerobics device (a platform designed to step on and off of for exercise--you can get them for $20 to $40) or a stair-climbing machine at a brisk pace for 30 minutes a day. Start slower, and work up the speed at each session. Also, start with shorter sessions until you work up your endurance. Combine with use of light dumbbells, if you can. Do it to music with a good beat. What's "brisk"? Fast enough so that your heart rate is up, you work up a sweat within about 10 minutes, you breathe deeply, but not so strenuous that you cannot talk normally, at least for a sentence or two at a time. If you are gasping for breath or cannot respond to a question, you are pushing too hard. Slow down. "Brisk" gets faster as you get fitter. Start where you are.

3. Use a pair of dumbbells--start with, say, 8 or 10 pounds (or as little as 3 or 5 pounds if you prefer)--and do forward curls, reverse curls, overhead presses, and lateral raises (elbows slightly bent--do standing and bent-over versions). Lots of them. Do as many as you can crank out for 30 minutes, two or three times a week. (Preferably not on consecutive days.) Start with less time for this and work up. As strength increases, increase the weight--maybe 12 or 15 pounds. This is important, because it will grow muscle, which in turn raises your basal metabolism As lean muscle mass increases, so does the number of calories burned, even at rest.

Regularly read a good fitness magazine for motivation and information on technique. I particularly like Muscle and Fitness for tips and techniques, although much of it is aimed at body builders and the ads tend to emphasize unnecessary supplements, so pick what is appropriate for you.

Is more exercise better?

What does the exercise do for you?

• It burns fat as you do it.
• It improves your overall cardiovascular fitness.
• It raises your metabolism for hours after you've done it--in fact a regular day-in and day-out program cranks up your basal metabolism (rate of calorie burning) continuously.

• It burns energy (and probably fat, depending on the intensity of the workout) as you do it.
• It tones, strengthens, and builds muscle, increasing basal metabolism. That is, it inceases day-in, day-out calorie burning.
• It helps to redistribute weight from fat to muscle, even if total weight remains constant.
• It improves your appearance and attitude. A consistent, appropriate resistance exercise program has prompt, gratifying results.

How long does it take to get results?

What is "low-fat, high-fiber, high complex carbohydrate, nutrient-dense eating"?

• Fresh fruit.
• Whole grain anything (bagels, cereal, bread, kashi, brown rice, oatmeal . . .).
• Fat-free pasta (spaghetti in all its shapes and forms) with very low-fat or fat-free sauces. This is a refined starch, though, so don't go crazy with portion sizes.
• Beans and other legumes (kidney beans, garbanzos, navy beans, black beans, split peas, lentils, and lots more)--as soup, chili, refried beans (Trader Joe carries excellent fat-free varieties, and Rosarita makes fat-free refried beans), baked beans, bean salad. Try brown rice and fat-free refried bean burritos, with fat-free shredded cheese and lots of salsa. Excellent!
• Potatoes (without butter, margarine, or other fats--use Molly McButter or fat-free margarine, such as Promise Ultra). There is a spray version of "I can't Believe it's not Butter" that is very good, and fat free when used in moderation (several spritzes). A small amount (a tablespoon or so) of shredded fresh parmesan cheese is very nice on baked potatoes, too.
• Low fat snack foods, in moderation (low-fat or fat-free baked potato chips; low-salt, fat-free pretzels; air-popped popcorn, with Molly McButter if you like; and lots more--read the nutrition labels). Trader Joe carries some good choices. No, some of this stuff (like the potato chips) will not taste like what you are used to. So what? Don't expect it to. Just take it on its own terms. Your tastes and preferences will change more quickly than you think. After a while you'll find the fatty products unpleasant.
• Super lean turkey breast or chicken (read the labels). Ground turkey breast is a pretty decent substitute for hamburger, but in many cases not as good as vegetarian burger substitutes (see below).
• Lean fish, broiled, baked, or microwaved. Sprinkle it with lemon pepper and lemon juice, then bake or microwaved.
• Fat-free dairy products (not "low-fat": nonfat)--skim milk, fat-free cottage cheese, fat-free cheese slices, fat-free grated cheese, and so on.
• "Protean" mix from Harvest Direct, or something of that type. Check health food stores or health food section of major grocery stores. Use it in place of hamburger for meat(less) loaf, meat(less) balls, sloppy joes, tacos, yes, even hamburgers. (Protean mix comes dry, in a package that makes the equivalent of a pound of ground beef. But I have not bought that in quite a while and cannot say for sure that the brand still exists.) It has no fat or cholesterol, leaves no grease in the pan, no waste, is easy to store. It is, sadly, not as good as the "Burger 'n' Loaf" that Harvest Direct used to sell (that was an Archer-Daniels-Midland product) but is still quite acceptible everywhere I have tried it, especially if you mix some chopped onions (fresh or dried) into the mix. Order the stuff (ten, twenty, or more boxes at a time) by calling 1-800-8FLAVOR. Make it up in advance, refrigerate, and then use it just like hamburger meat. Cook up some extra hamburger patties made from the stuff, and refrigerate. They are even better the next day reheated in the microwave. Add a heaping tablespoon of dried onions or chopped fresh onions to the mix and stir it in before adding the water, if you like (I always do). Please note that there are several good low-fat or fat-free vegetarian ground-beef substitutes available. Trader Joe's carries one in the refrigerated meats section, and Green Giant Harvest Burger for Recipes is excellent in chili or taco filling

(ready to use -- formed and browned like cooked ground beef).  Check what is available locally.
• Fat-free egg substitutes -- major supermarket carry several brands. You can use the egg substitute for everything but sunny-side up . . .
• Vegetables of any variety, prepared without butter, oil, or fatty sauces.
• Salsa--good on lots of things, including salads. Use all you like on low-fat or fat-free tacos, burritos, nachos, burgers, or what-not.
• Fat-free yogurt (frozen or regular). But this has sugar, so don't overdo.

• Fat-laden donuts or pastries. (Entemann's makes some nice fat-free pastries that are good substitutes, in moderation. They can be a real life-saver. The fudge brownies are especially good. They are not low in calories or sugar, but still a nice choice. Try them with fat-free frozen vanilla yogurt. But remember: these ARE high-sugar foods, so limit them.)
• Fatty sauces, dressings, and the like. (There are fat-free alternatives for all of these, and they are often better-tasting than the high-fat varieties. Kraft makes a fat-free mayonnaise that is really good, and Kraft and others make excellent fat-free salad dressings.)
• Beef (there is virtually no way to make it not high-fat).
• Pork (ditto).
• Anything that gets 30% or more of its calories from fat (eventually you can modify this limit a little, when a higher-fat ingredient is only part of an otherwise fat-free dish).
• Butter, whole or "reduced-fat" milk, cheese, and other fatty dairy products. ("Reduced-fat" milk is still much too fatty. "Low fat" (1 percent under the most recent Federal labeling requirements) is an ok compromise, or (better) instant Milkman powdered milk--1/2 percent fat, or mix non-fat and 1 percent in equal amounts.
• Margarine. (Try Promise Ultra, instead . . . pretty good, and fat free, or "I Can't Believe It's not Butter" spray.)
• Oils, shortenings. (Use a little Pam spray, or similar cooking spray, when necessary to grease a pan, and when oil is absolutely necessary in a recipe, use canola or olive oil. Avoid any and all hydrogenated oils.)
• Avocados (very fatty).
• Nuts (except in small amounts, say less than one ounce, and not often).
• Regular pizza.
• Frozen dinners--even the so-called diet dinners often get many of their calories from fat. (They are also full of salt.) Read the labels. There are a few exceptions, but you have to look carefully. Most Weight Watchers brand stuff appears to be highly unsatisfactory, to me at least (and small portions at that)--avoid it.
• Sugar. It is easily converted to fat by the body and screws up the insulin level. (Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, are more difficult to turn into body fat, and they help to maintain a consistent insulin level, thus minimizing hunger spikes.) Put some Equal (Nutrasweet) on your cereal instead of sugar, if you like, but avoid overuse of artificial sweeteners--they can have some odd effects, reportedly.
• Alcohol (it has 8 calories per gram, no nutritional value, and directly interferes with fat-loss mechanisms for days after ingestion no matter what the rest of your dietary and exercise regimen).

• You want a spaghetti dinner with brownies for dessert? No problem. Most spaghetti noodles are very low in fat (or fat free). Or try something interesting like spinach linguini or tomato-basil linguini. Add a fat-free or very low fat pasta sauce. Steam some vegetables on the side, or add a green salad with fat-free dressing, or both! Prepare a packaged brownie mix (pick a low-fat one--read the label) with fat-free liquid egg substitute and replace the oil with mashed bananas, applesauce, or extra egg substitute. The brownies will have sugar, but still made this way they are quite a reasonable option, and they taste very good.
• You want lasagna? No problem. Make a very low fat version with fat-free cheeses, fat-free lasagna noodles, very low-fat or fat-free sauce. The only fat might be from, say, a little low-fat turkey sausage thrown in to spice it up.
• You want pizza? No problem (see under lasagna, only substitute Canadian bacon for turkey sausage, and Boboli for noodles).
• You want hamburgers? No problem. Use Protean mix for the patties (or one of the various frozen vegetarian burgers, including Boca Burgers or the burger products from Morningstar Farms, which are quite good), and all the usual trimmings (but fat-free cheese and Kraft fat-free mayonnaise, if you use mayo on your burgers). Serve with home-made fat-free potato salad (use only the egg whites, not the yolks, and use Kraft Free fat-free mayo).
• You want a big, filling breakfast? No problem (and a good idea). Try a sliced, toasted fat-free bagel (most bagels have very little or no fat--the authentic ones have none), raspberry jam, scrambled Egg Beaters, an orange or strawberries, skim milk, and maybe a couple of vegetarian sausages (not low fat, but virtually free of saturated fat) or vegetarian bacon (ditto--and surprisingly good).

It means making a game of eliminating fat. Once you decide to do that, it's easy and entertaining.

It means eating well in every sense of the word. Low-fat eating--high in complex carbohydrates, fresh fruits and vegetables, grains, pasta, legumes--is good, filling, sustaining, versatile, and easy.

Last notes

Take a multi-vitamin tablet daily--Centrum, or something like it. A 200 mcg chromium picolonate tablet daily is also a good idea. It helps to facilitate fat loss while sparing muscle tissue.

Excessive calorie restriction is counterproductive. Below, say, 1200 calories a day, the body reduces its metabolism rate, conserves fat, and consumes muscle. It says, "Hey! I'm starving! I'd better be stingy burning the calories." Anyway, you'll feel deprived and will fall off the regimen, as well as lacking the energy for sound exercise. Adopt eating habits you can live with continuously. DO NOT "DIET"! Do not think of yourself as "being on a diet." You're eating differently than you used to. This is not a diet. It is better habits--new tastes and preferences.

Keep a notebook recording everything you eat, every day, for at least a few weeks. You will learn a lot by doing this.

If you MUST count calories, aim at, say 1400 to 1500 per day. The exercise program will burn a large part of those every day. With a regular exercise program, as described, and with low-fat, high-fiber, high complex carbohydrate, nutrient-dense eating habits, over time excess weight will come off, a pound or two or three a week (sometimes more, sometimes less). Sometimes, as water temporarily replaces fat, weight will go up, even while fat is disappearing. As muscle is gained, there is a trade-off against fat-weight loss. What you see and feel means more than the number on the scale, especially over short periods.

Limiting dietary fat (which has 9 calories per gram, versus 4 per gram for protein and carbohydrate) automatically cuts calories, as well as reducing intake of that which the body most easily converts to body fat. Dietary fat becomes body fat. That is why it is so much more important to limit fat than to limit calories. (Not to mention that fat, especially saturated fat, clogs your arteries, and fat crowds out more valuable nutrients.)

Finally, if you just absolutely crave a piece of apple pie or a hamburger, or whatever, go ahead and have it. In the context of day-in and day-out low-fat, high fiber (etc.) eating habits, the occasional exception makes no difference at all. It's fine. Enjoy it. No problem. In fact, set aside one meal a week to have anything you want, if you feel like it. In time, you'll find that cravings get rarer, and rarer, and more easily satisfied when they do come around, and that "anything you want" becomes less and less out of line with your regular low-fat, high-fiber, high complex carbohydrate, nutrient dense preferences.

Permission is granted to copy and redistribute this file, entire and unchanged, including this notice, for non-commercial purposes. If it is for use on the Web, you may link to the file, but do not copy it to another site (except of course for the temporary copy that a browser caches to disk). Please note that I am not a physician and do not offer the above discussion as medical advice. The information above is the result of extensive reading and experience, and I believe it to be sound and sensible. By all means, print this file and discuss it with your physician. If your physician disagrees with anything in "Fitness in One Lesson" I would like to know of that.