Do Or Diet.(diet therapy)

Byline: Cara Litke

Surrounding yourself with enough lettuce to feed a warren of rabbits isn't enough to protect you from temptation. "Learning to eat healthfully is absolutely a mind game," says Stephen Gullo, a diet expert in New York City. "You have to train yourself to learn new behaviors." Heather Allison, Deidre Sully, and Kathleen McNary are already learning the rules. "I know what it's like to eat a cookie, but I don't know what it's like to feel thin," McNary says. "I remind myself of that when I'm craving something unhealthy, and it stops me in my tracks."

Heather Allison, University fund-raiser

DIET PAST "I had a sweet tooth and a fat tooth, and on top of that I was really erratic about when and what I ate. I used to skip breakfast and eat a huge salad or a sandwich for lunch because I was starving. Then I'd have a bag of nuts on the subway ride home and eat something weird for dinner--like a pint of Ben & Jerry's low-fat ice cream."

FOOD FUTURE "Working with Stephen Gullo has made me understand that since I was planning poorly, I always felt hungry and frantic when I sat down to eat. And I rewarded myself with food, just like a toddler gets a cookie for settling down--classic stuff. Now, my key words are 'strategy' and 'substitution.' I eat six times a day, and I stick to fiber-rich foods that are more filling. I was nervous about giving up bread at first, but it really isn't that hard to have a container of low-fat tuna salad instead of a sandwich--you just buck up and deal!"

 
STATS AGE: 30 HEIGHT: 5' 6"     START     NOWWEIGHT     171 lb     165 lbWAIST     35.5"     34"HIPS     43"     42"BODY FAT     33%     32.5% 

"Now I eat six times a day."